Department of State "rapid response office"

"The U.S. Department of State has set up a rapid response office dedicated to countering international news reports about the US in the Middle East and the Muslim world that diverge from the ideas and values the Bush administration is seeking to export," Mark Hand reported November 17, 2005, in PR Week.

In her November 10, 2005, testimony before the House Committee on International Affairs, Karen P. Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Diplomacy and Public Affairs, said:

"We have set up a new rapid response office at the state department. It monitors global news and issues a one page report each morning with alerts as needed so that busy policy makers focus not only on the news environment in Washington or America, but also around the world. This has already proven to be an effective early warning system that helps us respond quickly to misinformation or emerging stories. We are asking ambassadors and public affairs officers to speak out on major issues, to do more speeches and television interviews, and my office is providing tools and guidance to help them do so in ways that are clear, concise and coordinated. We’re proceeding with plans to set up regional public diplomacy platforms to expand our television presence, and make programs such as our speaker’s bureau more targeted and strategic. We are at work on a technology initiative to make greater use of web chats, graphics, streaming video perhaps even text messaging to help amplify our message and make it relevant to younger audiences."

Same Old, Same Old

• Coalition Information Center
• Office of Global Communications
• Office of Strategic Communication
• Office of Strategic Influence
• Office of Strategic Initiatives
• Total Information Awareness
• White House Iraq Group

Possible Members

• Karen P. Hughes
• Karl Rove

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

Bloggers' Roundtable

• Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
• U.S. Department of State

External articles

2004

• Michael Isikoff, "A New Window on the War Room. Condi Rice heads for the Hill as the battle over blame for 9/11 is joined," Newsweek, April 12, 2004.

2005

• William Fisher, "Global anti-Americanism is spreading, U.S. agency says," FinalCall.com, April 26, 2005.
• Public Diplomacy Testimony, Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Washington, D.C., November 10, 2005.
• Michael Jay Friedman, "State's Hughes Sees Public Diplomacy as 'Generational Challenge'. Under secretary of state explains new department initiatives for House committee," Department of State, International Information Programs, November 10, 2005.
• Mark Hand, "US State Dept. to Use Al-Jazeera to Promote American Public Diplomacy," Friends of Aljazeera, November 17, 2005. (Posting of PR Watch article.)
• "The State Department's, uh, War Room," PR Watch, November 17, 2005.
• Howard Fineman, "Bush at the Tipping Point. A hawkish Democrat calls for an Iraq withdrawal, setting off a bitter fight in Washington over how, and when, the troops should come home," Newsweek (MSNBC), November 28, 2005 (issue).

2006

• Steve Inskeep, "State Department Defends America's Image Abroad," "Morning Edition," NPR, March 27, 2006.
• Steve Inskeep, "Hughes: No Short-Term Fix for U.S. Image Abroad," "Morning Edition," NPR, March 28, 2006.
• Glenn Kessler, "Hughes Tries Fine-Tuning To Improve Diplomatic Picture," Washington Post, April 19, 2006.