David Lexner

From Source to News Story: the Media Dimension of Public Diplomacy and the Penetration of Messages in the Press David Lexner

"Tickle the public, make ?em grin; The more you tickle, the more you?ll win. Teach the public, you?ll never get rich; You?ll live like a beggar and die in a ditch.?. It is uncertain whether the poetic paperboys of Fleet Street hundred years ago foresaw the mass communication developments that would grow out of their roots. Whether tickling or teaching, efforts to affect opinions of foreign audiences, has become a central means of governments to gain international support for their policies. The efforts, defined as Public Diplomacy, has become a determining factor in international conflicts. As Israel has found its conflict-policies attacked, it has been argued that the public diplomacy campaign of the Jewish state was ineffective. This argument has been supported in literature and by opinion makers, but comprehensive analysis of the efforts was not conducted. This study analyses, characterizes and explains Israeli public diplomacy efforts to influence the Scandinavian media during the second Intifada. It further provides a deeper understanding of the public diplomacy campaign as directed towards audiences whose opinions lie in a different political spectrum.