Country music explored as a tool of U.S. diplomacy

WASHINGTON – It is well known that Dizzy Gillespie and Dave Brubeck toured the world as American Jazz Ambassadors, and American symphony orchestras have played throughout the world. Less well known is the role country music has played and is playing in U.S. public diplomacy. That was the focus of this month's CCLP Communication Leadership Lunch Forum here, presented by David Firestein (pictured right), a China expert and vice president at the East West Institute. "For public diplomacy to be effective," said Firestein, "it has to be organic, personal and emotional." He added that it must be "true to who……

Journalists, arts organization leaders explore social media's impact on arts journalism at CCLP forum in Washington, D.C.

The impact of social media and changing audiences were primary concerns of arts journalists and leaders of cultural institutions who gathered at a Communication Leadership Policy Forum at the University of Southern California's Washington, D.C. Center on August 1. "Arts journalism is struggling for its life," said Jaime Bennett of the National Endowment for the Arts. "It's no surprise that journalists are taking to the blogosphere to share their reviews." Organized by senior fellow Adam Clayton Powell III (pictured right) and Tim Page, the USC Annenberg journalism professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning former music critic for The Washington Post, the forum……