Watching Obama’s interview last night on Al Arabiya was like watching a clip from another planet.
Finally!!!
Time magazine calls it “an unprecedented reach-out to the Muslim world”.
I was delighted to hear Obama talk about the years he spent living in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country.
This is what we need at this moment in history. This kind of connection and ability to relate to people in other parts of the world, their way of living and thinking.
It is amazingly encouraging to hear a US president use this language :
“My job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect.”
I have enjoyed writing in our book about the way in which journalism is changing in the Arab World and the important role Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are playing in this process.
It was incredibly smart of Obama to choose Al Arabiya for his first interview granted to a TV channel. This move sets a precedent in international PR.
It is a new kind of outreach we are witnessing, one that lowers barriers.
I hope Obama’s PR strategy will help people understand just how important communication is for the success of peace-making efforts.
|
|
Silvia! Hello from Toronto!
You are so right!
Obama’s approach is “fresh” even though it follows many basic PR principles. He and his team are skilled at identifying key stakeholder groups and reaching out accordingly. They seem to be keen on being as proactive as possible. This is not a one-interview-fits-all approach.
Proactive communications are so much stronger, more controlled and do more justice than reactive communications! I think it also gives a level of transparency to the whole thing: it says we’re thinking about what is going on and we want you to know.
Great post!
Thanks, Kyla. People are really starting to realise that communication is about building and managing relationships.
We are finally witnessing the death of the cookie-cutter approach!