• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.57-79
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• 2021

Drawing on the theories of mediated public diplomacy, intermedia agenda-building, and homophily, this study aims to compare the effectiveness of the public diplomacy efforts made by the Saudi and Qatari governments during the Gulf diplomatic crisis. The study examines the respective international agenda-building influence of the state-sponsored media from the two competing Gulf states on the regional and international media's coverage of the crisis. Results show that, compared to Saudisponsored Al Arabiya, Qatari-sponsored Al Jazeera was more effective in shaping the agendas of the regional and international media. Whereas Al Arabiya has a weak first-level agenda-building influence and a moderate-to-strong influence at the second and the third levels, Al Jazeera demonstrates a strong agenda-building influence on the foreign media outlets at all of the three levels. We also analyze the impact of political proximity and the language of the media content (English or Arabic) on the agenda-building relationships. Still, the results suggest that, compared to Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera was more successful in shaping the agendas of the regional and international news media-no matter where they are based in the allied or the opposing countries. Also, we observe a higher level of consistency between Arabic- and English-language content in Al Jazeera.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-35
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• 2021

Where government communication in the early 20^th century fell under the umbrella term, "propaganda," the post-WWII era saw a paradigm fracture into public affairs for domestic audiences, public diplomacy for foreign audiences, and psychological operations for hostile audiences. The continued diffusion of the Internet, however, has blurred such distinctions, mending this fractured paradigm. Based on in-depth interviews, this study typologizes government communication to contextualize how various tactics functions within the 21^st century digital media ecology, through an "Information Intervention" taxonomy. In an age where state-sponsored disinformation and computational propaganda are tantamount threats, this paper elucidates the field's fundamental concepts by articulating who communicates with what audience, in what manner, with what intent, and with what desired outcomes.