US halts Arabic magazine meant to boost US image

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has suspended publishing a lifestyle magazine aimed at improving America's image abroad among young Arabs, in a further sign of troubled U.S. public diplomacy efforts.

The State Department, which sponsors the $4.5 million annual publication and distribution throughout the Arab world of the Arabic-language magazine "Hi," said on Thursday it stopped the presses because it was unclear how widely it was read.
A series of studies in the United States have criticized U.S.-funded Arabic-langauge media, such as Radio Sawa and the satellite TV station Alhurra, for failing to attract a large audience.
U.S. officials made a push to boost America's image among Arabs and Muslims after the September 11, 2001 attacks. But the efforts have been hampered because many Arabs strenuously object to U.S. foreign policies, particularly over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
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But Hi, which was launched in 2003 and had a monthly distribution of 55,000 copies in around 18 countries, aimed to overcome that obstacle and reach an audience directly by tapping into a growing phenomenon of young Arabs indulging in escapism through U.S. pop culture.
A December edition of the online version of Hi, which will continue despite the halt to print copies, combines features on cooking, soccer and family life in the Arab world with a focus on life in Texas.
But following recommendations from an independent advisory panel, the State Department said in a statement that it needed to collect data to see who was actually reading a magazine that competes with popular, glossy fashion publications.
"The review is part of a broader effort to develop a 'culture of measurement' and to evaluate regularly the effectiveness of the Department's public-diplomacy programs," the statement said.
An earlier campaign to promote a video highlighting Muslims in the United States was widely derided as ineffectual.
The magazine suspension comes after Karen Hughes, the new U.S. goodwill envoy, has struggled to improve America's image in the Middle East.
Hughes, who had been one of
President George W. Bush' name President George W. Bush's closest aides before taking the senior State Department job, traveled throughout the Arab world in September.
But the fast-talking, confident Texan, who had no previous experience in foreign diplomacy, found the U.S. image a tough sell as some audiences balked at what they perceived as her cultural insensitivity.