by Charlie Edwards | May 18, 2008 | Conflict and security, Global system, UK
Apropos of Alex’s post on the FCO’s new website, I’ve been checking out the MoD’s aptly named media blog ‘Defence News’ which like a tin of Ronseal doesn’t mix sophisticated narrative with insightful analysis but servers a single purpose: to defend the MoD against negative publicity and refute any allegation the press team can find. A taster:
A number of media cover the publication by the MOD of its Spring Performance report with some claiming that the armed forces are “seriously under strength”. The Armed Forces are stretched but Senior Military Officers advise that the situation is manageable.
Or
It is simply ludicrous to suggest that there is any truth to these offensive allegations. There is no shortage of personal kit or body armour in either Iraq or Afghanistan. All personnel are issued with sufficient supplies before being deployed on operations and there is no requirement for soldiers to buy or obtain their own boots, guns or shirts. Soldiers on the ground and their commanding officers regularly praise their equipment. I beg to differ.
These comments are interspersed with daily diaries of what Ministers are doing, images and an assortment of press releases. Think media communication 1.0 – for beginners. In short the MoD website needs an overhaul. All of which reminds me I am giving a talk at the Defence Image Projection and Reputation Management conference in June on the image of the armed forces in civilian environments.
by Charlie Edwards | May 18, 2008 | Influence and networks, Off topic
Swarms of ants are eating their way through electronics in America’s deep south. They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner’s gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction in Houston, Texas and the surrounding area. They have been spotted at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and close to Hobby Airport. The “Crazy Raspberry Ants” are believed to have arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship, and are causing widespread mayhem. They have been nicknamed crazy ants after they were found to randomly swarm across areas rather than move in regimental lines like other species of ant. They also appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers and when killed the colony turns it to their advantage, piling up the dead and using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.
by Alex Evans | May 18, 2008 | Global system, Influence and networks
Oooh… aaah… bow your heads in reverence before the Foreign Office’s brand new website. Especially nice: this Google maps mashup showing FCO activities around the world (with map pins colour-coded according to the relevant FCO Strategic Priority, if you please).
All the same, lovely as the new site looks, it could still do with being a lot more interactive. Sure, we can leave comments on the blogs (although I can’t help but laugh at the description box on the blogging home page, which says
This blog space provides a place for Ministers and officials to engage in a dialogue with you about international affairs and the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Reword it in your head as “this blog space provides a place for you to engage in a dialogue with Ministers and officials”, and it somehow sounds entirely different, in a good way…)
But rather than limiting public comments to the blogs (which in any case don’t remotely cover the whole FCO waterfront: they’re fine if you want to talk Kosovo or Lebanon, but there’s nowhere obvious for climate change or UN reform), why not go the whole hog and allow us to comment on every page – and have officials engage in the discussion?
That would be public diplomacy.
