US Government Learning to Play to the Crowd?

I'm just finishing a brand new book on the new media landscape in the Arab world,as originally crafted by Qatar-based satellite news channel Al Jazeera. It's good stuff, but an essay that really caught my eye evaluated the difference between what seems credible on Western channels, and what "sells" an idea in the Arab world. The piece looked at everything from expressions, to differences in underscoring a message (Arab "arm-waving expressions" vs. Western "sarcasm and repetition"). The piece makes a great deal of sense, and made me wonder how much training US politicians get for interviews on Arab TV channels. Based on what the book is saying, you'd doubt they get much.

But, that may not be the case everywhere in the world. An AP piece out today says the US has turned a new leaf in public relations with Japan by beating the "apology masters" at their own game in the aftermath of two recent crises.

"I figured the U.S. side would come up with some kind of excuse, but since they admitted it so honestly, it makes me think that the United States values relations with Japan," said Hisao Iwajima, political scientist at Tokyo's Seigakuin University.

Read it all.