The U.S. government announced it will set aside US$30 million to fight Internet censorship.

Michael Posner, assistant Secretary of State for human rights, is quoted in the Guardian that the projects will include “slingshot” technology that will identify censored material and throw it back on to the web for users to find.

“We’re responding with new tools. This is a cat-and-mouse game. We’re trying to stay one step ahead of the cat,” Posner said. Censored information would be redirected to email, blogs and other online sources, he said. He would not identify the recipients of funding for “reasons of security”.

See rest of story at: New Efforts Announced To Fight Internet Censorship

Last week was a busy one for identifying press freedom issues. Freedom House came out with its Map of Press Freedom and Reporters Without Borders released a list of top predators against free media.

Status of world press freedom

Freedom House released its annual Press Freedom survey this week as part of World Press Freedom Day.

And the news is not good. By the Freedom House figures, about 85 percent of the people in the world live in countries where the media are either “Partly Free” or “Not Free” from government interference.

Click here to see the rest of the story.

The top predators against free media

Reporters Without Borders has a great page that identifies the top predators in the world against free and independent media.

Thirty-eight heads of state and warlords sow terror among journalists

The list is the usual group of anti-freedom government types: Hu Jintao, Raul Castro and Kim Jong-il.

There are also the Arab country leaders who are fighting against the Arab Spring uprisings such as Muammar Gaddafi and King Hamad Ben Aissa Al Khalifa in Bahrain.

Iran is so dedicated to controlling the press that it has two identified predators: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Khamenei.

Click here for rest of story.

Despite what most Americans think — and obviously some members of Congress as well —  non-military foreign affairs does not take up a quarter of the federal budget.

The core State Department budget for 2012– that part that pays for embassies and the salaries of diplomats WORLDWIDE — is $14.2 billion. That works out to about $46 per year for each person in the United States.

Once you add in non-military foreign aid — you know the stuff that allows other countries to grow enough so they can buy U.S. products and services — the entire non-military foreign affairs budget is $47 billion — $152 per person per year.

And yet what Americans think about the foreign affairs budget is way off.

According to a survey by Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland late last year the American people think the U.S. spends 25 percent on foreign affairs.

The public thinks 5 percent is the about the right amount.

The real number is ABOUT 1 PERCENT.

But it seems that even this small amount is too much for some.

• Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has made it clear her goal is to cut the State Department budget.
• In the last-minute deal to keep the government running, the State Department took a hit. Even a former Pentagon assistant secretary called the move a disaster. (The War on Soft Power)
• The Ryan Plan would cut the budget for international affairs and foreign assistance by 29 percent in 2012 and 44 percent by 2016. At the same time, the defense budget would be increased by 14 percent during the same time frame.

It seems that those who want to cut the civilian foreign affairs budget look at just the cash and not the human cost. (Think about the men and women in the military who would have to go into harms way once the diplomatic corps is gutted.)

There are damn few talking about how the small foreign affairs budget provides a large positive impact both for U.S. security and for U.S. jobs.

There is a disconnect between the day-to-day diplomatic and development work and the American people. The folks on Main Street get the idea of a strong military defending freedom and all, but they don’t see how diplomacy fits in.

And part of the blame for this disconnect is the inability of local news organizations to see how global issues affect local events.

The mantra of “Local! Local! Local!” has led the accountants at news organizations around the country to think that anything that touches on international news should be avoided. Such a view denies the every increasing connection between Main Street and the rest of the world.

A local paper or radio station can always find a church group that sends a mission to some country. The trick is to find economic and political connections.

For example, the state of Florida is highly dependent on tourism from Brazil. For every 82 visas issued in Brazil to visit the United States 1 job in Florida is created. The U.S. mission in Brazil (3 consulates and the embassy) issued 620,000 visas last year. (For the math impaired that is 7,500 jobs created in Florida as a DIRECT result of visas issued to Brazilians by U.S. diplomats. No diplomats. No visas.)

Miami NBC got the connection a while back with its story about how Brazil was the #1 trading partner with Florida.

It is not difficult to make the connections between the world and Main Street. Stories that make these links put international events into a local context. And with context comes a better understanding of the world.

The stories might also help dispel myths about  the U.S. foreign policy apparatus. If nothing else, the public would be educated as to the real cost and value of the civilian foreign service.

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World

Too often we read or hear about some diplomat “getting off” from a crime because of diplomatic immunity. (Really bad example in “Lethal Weapon 2.” More common example in New York City with unpaid parking tickets.)

For some reason I always thought that the international agreement that provides for diplomatic immunity — The Vienna Convention — went way back in time, like right after the Napoleonic Wars. Actually, the Vienna Convention is only 50 years old.

Many thanks to Paul Behrens at the Guardian for his article about the Convention.

The curious world of diplomatic relations

It would have been nice if at least one U.S. newspaper did a similar story. Especially when the latest and most public case involved an American in Pakistan.

Think about it. There are hundreds of consulates scattered around the United States. The foreign employees of those consulates (and their families) have some form of diplomatic immunity.

The governments of Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City regularly complain that they cannot get the diplomats in their towns to stop parking illegally and to pay their parking tickets.

There are loads other cities much smaller than the ones mentioned above that have some sort of foreign diplomatic presence.

Wouldn’t it be nice if a news organization used the anniversary of the Vienna Convention to write a few stories that

1. Explained why a particular country located a consulate where it did,
2. Explained how international law has reached into a local community,
3. Discussed the economic impact of the foreign community in the area that prompted the country to set up a consulate.

And lastly, maybe explain how the Vienna Convention, while it lets diplomats in the US to get away without paying their parking tickets, also protects American diplomats abroad.

But maybe I am asking too much of local publishers and editors to see the importance of explaining the global connections to their local communities.

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World

Just about any community paper can do a story about a church or civic group going to Honduras or the Dominican Republic to run a dental clinic or build houses for the poor. (About half of the stories in the US media about the DR are just these type. The other half are about baseball players.)

But what really makes a connection between local news and global events is good old business. Bottom line: Does the global connection mean jobs in a U.S. town?

Mlive.com has a great little story about how a medium-sized company in a medium-sized Michigan city has a business deal with other countries. The deals are worked out through a local charity (another angle for the story) but most important to the global-local connection, the deal means jobs in Michigan.

Add to this the fact that the company, HydrAid, exports all of its products overseas.

Without saying so directly, the Mlive.com story points out the link between Grand Rapids, Mich., and a dozen or so countries AND the importance of international trade to a small-medium sized company.

Now there are links that work and won’t get lost in “compassion fatigue.”

West Michigan company lands major deal to provide water filters to Honduras

I would bet that similar examples of small-town business connections to the rest of the world can be found just as easily. If people would just open their eyes.

The United States will be the international host of World Press Freedom Day 2011 May 1-3.

A conference on press freedom issues will take place over three days at the Newseum and National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The theme of the conference is 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers.

Click here to register.

Day 1: Sunday, May 1 (Newseum)

6:30-7:30pm

Opening Ceremony

7:30-9:30pm

Opening Reception hosted by Omidyar Network

Day 2: Monday, May 2 (Newseum)

9-9:30am

Roll-out of Freedom House’s Press Freedom Map for 2011

9:45-10:45am

Plenary Session 1: Press Freedom: How Far Have We Come and Where are We Going?

11:45-12:45pm

Break Out Sessions

2:15-3:45pm

Plenary Session 2: New Barriers: Censorship in the Digital Age

4:15-5:45pm

Break Out Sessions

6:30-8:30pm

Reception at Newseum hosted by Google

Day 3: Tuesday, May 3 (National Press Club)

9:00-10:30am

Plenary Session 3: New Frontiers: Transforming Media in the 21st Century

11:00-12:30pm

Break Out Sessions

12:30-2:00pm

NPC Lunch

2:00-3:00pm

Concluding Plenary Session and Adoption of the Washington Declaration

3:30-5:30pm

Cano World Press Freedom Award Ceremony

5:30-6:30pm

Closing Reception at National Press Club

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World.

Here it is the 63rd anniversary of the signing into law the Foreign Assistance Act of 1948. Better known as the Marshall Plan.

Seems whenever there is talk of helping a country rebuild — think Haiti — inevitably someone mentions the Marshall Plan. What people tend to forget is that the Marshall Plan was designed to rebuild societies that already had stable political and industrial infrastructures.

What Haiti and many other countries need is development help.

The Marshall Plan was not so much a “development” plan but a rebuilding plan.

The Marshall Plan, by providing goods to a war-ravaged Europe also provided support to democratic forces — from democratic socialists to conservatives. Without the Marshall Plan the Soviet Union would have grabbed more influence in Western Europe by playing on the deprivation of post-war Europe.

The marching orders from Moscow were clear to their satellite parties in Western Europe: Stop the Marshall Plan. For example, while the French Communist unions refused to unload Marshall Plan goods at the ports, the French Socialist unions were anxious to do so.

Oh, by the way, the aid was offered to Eastern Europe as well. The Soviets made sure their puppet governments rejected the help.

Again, the Marshall Plan was designed to assist societies that already had a history and culture of industrial life and democratic rule. All they needed was a little help to get back on their feet.

With the help of the Marshall Plan Europe got back on its feet. In the process the U.S. gained new trading partners instead of clients. And we got political and military allies instead of adversaries.

All in all we got a good return for our minimal investment.

The problems countries such as Haiti and many in Africa face are a lack of democratic institutions and stable and safe infrastructure. What these countries need is not so much a Marshall Plan, but rather development support on a broad front.

The development of democratic institutions is vital to economic development. People have to see they have a stake in the growth and development of their country.

When only the political elite get the benefits of industrialization and when the workers are denied their basic rights, the embers of revolts and violence start to glow. Add unchecked corrupt government practices — because of no free press or independent watchdog — can only help the embers burst into an inferno.

Fortunately, the U.S. Agency for International Development figured out some time ago that along with building roads and power grids, development programs had to include the building a pluralistic culture.

In the past 15 or so years, AID has run programs that help local journalists understand what it means to have independent media. Sessions are run on how to either get the government to enact freedom of information laws or how to improve and use existing laws.

Adding to the development issue is the work of the National Endowment for Democracy. This private, government-funded group provides funds to the international arms of the Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO and the Democratic and Republican Parties. The programs these groups run help build business and labor groups and  the political parties run programs to improve the stability of political forces independent of government control.

Back to the main point:

Under the Marshall Plan, no one had to worry about building democratic institutions or building and industrial culture. The people were anxious and ready to do that. The Marshal Plan gave the people the material support they needed.

What is needed in the developing world are programs to get to that first step of development: the building of a pluralistic society with independent organizations to serve as a check and balance against government excesses.

So, please, let’s get our terms right in the future. Please let’s not see any more stories that say “Haiti needs a Marshall Plan.” It’s just bad history.

Freedom of information laws are a growing phenomenon in the world and more needs to be done to help the forces of FOI win their battles.

In Mexico, the forces of transparency won a major victory in a key congressional committee as damaging proposals were cast aside and proposals to strengthen the law passed.

And Twitter played a role.

Improvements to Mexican Transparency Law Passed

1 APRIL 2011

A handful of potentially harmful proposals to change the Mexican freedom of information law were defeated March 30 as a key congressional committee approved a package of more positive reforms.

Although approval by several other committees and the full lower body of Congress still lies ahead, and activists are concerned about the possible opposition from some in the current government, the deletion of certain parts of the Senate-passed bill was considered a major success by Mexican supporters of freedom of information. Their effort was bolstered by a targeted barrage of Twitter messages.

Rest of story at Freedominfo.org

The Carter Center and the Knight Foundation have been running a series of seminars and conferences around the world to promote the concept that citizens have a right to know what information their governments have.

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World.

Congrats to NBC Miami. They see a world beyond their local beat.

The station ran a story today about how Brazil is now the No. 1 trading partner with Florida. (Brazilian Businesses Booming in South Florida) (And that doesn’t count all the Brazilian tourists that are flooding into Florida creating jobs in Florida.)

Here is another example of how a local news organization uses local information to build on an international story.

FYI: According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, while Brazil is the #1 international trader with Florida, Florida is the #2 exporter of U.S. goods and services to Brazil. (Texas is the #1 exporter.)

It is a pity that so few local news organizations have taken the time to use the occasion of Pres. Obama’s trip to South and Central America to look at how the politics and economies of that area directly affects their own local areas.

BTW, Besides being the #2 exporter from the United States to Brazil (value $7.2 billion), Florida is also the #2 U.S. exporter to Chile (value $2.8 billion) and ranks as #1 to El Salvador (value $2.4 billion). And it took me less than five minutes to get that information. Now think about how much those export sales add to the income of the state and how much the state budget would be hurt if those exports were cut or ended.

First posted at Journalism, Journalists and the World.

Congratulations to Herb Jackson, Washington correspondent for the [New Jersey] Record.

He not only understands the idea that there is a connection between international and local events, he knows how to dig into the various databases to get the numbers to back up the link.

Obama’s trip to Brazil key to N.J.

He did what I and a few others have been arguing for a long time. He took information already on hand from the wire services, looked up some data and did some local interviews.

Without spending extra money to send someone overseas, the readers of the Record got a news story that was specific to their local area AND showed how the New Jersey economy depended on global trade.

This is called providing context.

It would be nice to see more LOCAL reporting like this.

Too often most Americans don’t know or care about global events. In part, this is because the U.S. media don’t show enough intelligence to provide the context of why understanding what goes on in Brazil or Japan or Germany means to the local reader/listener/viewer.

Again, congrats to Herb Jackson for being a good journalist who sees connections vital to his readership.