Programmes, Soft Power, and Public Diplomacy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the programmes produced by international broadcasters for distant listeners. It relates these to ideas about persuasion, propaganda, soft power, and public diplomacy. It examines news broadcasting, but focuses on the other content carried by international radio services, notably music, ‘media events’, technically complex international relays, and user generated content. It looks at the schedules of early international broadcasters including the BBC and Germany’s Zeesen station, and also at Radio Bari. It assesses the use of soap opera by the BBC during the Second World War, and rock ’n’ roll music by Western broadcasters during the Cold War. It considers who was able to speak on-air, and who was not, paying particular attention to the attempts of international broadcasters to harness a diverse range of voices to their purposes. Case studies examine dramatic and literary programming on the BBC Arabic Service, and Eddy Startz’s Happy Station show.