DAS Colleen Graffy Discusses Role of Public Diplomacy with government spokespersons and media
“Public diplomacy should be there on the take-off, not just the crash landing,” said DAS Colleen Graffy at a lunch hosted by DCM Mark Perry with Georgian government spokespersons and media representatives. She emphasized the benefit of constructive government–media relations and said that imperfect information can be damaging to a government’s policy both inside the country and internationally. Every government has the role and responsibility to explain and advocate it’s values, policies, and culture through well thought out public diplomacy. For that it is essential to bring policy–making and public diplomacy closer together. “We need an approach to media that anticipates and helps shape the stories”.
One participant noted that the Georgian government is good at promoting their activities when they deem it appropriate, but does not always anticipate problems well. Another stressed the importance of involving spokespersons in the decision-making process. A lack of coordination between Georgian government spokespersons was named as one of the impediments in improving relations with the media. |
