Posted by Karen Hughes on Sep 26, 2007 - 04:16 PM
![Under Secretary Hughes prepares for an interview during UNGA September 26, 2007. [State Dept. photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/UNGA/hughes_0_opt_m.jpg)
As is the case at a lot of world events these days, it seems there are more journalists here at the United Nations than there are dignitaries -- and the halls and hotels are crowded with Ambassadors, Foreign Ministers, Prime Ministers and Presidents. A lot of them were in one room at the same time when President Bush hosted a reception last night. I had the rare opportunity to talk with people from Jamaica to Afghanistan to Africa to Panama all in one evening. When I travel or speak in America these days, people often tell me they don’t see me on television much anymore -- that’s because a big part of my job now is traveling abroad and communicating with international audiences through foreign media.
This morning I spoke live with hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world by appearing on Al Arabiya, one of the leading television networks in the Middle East. Whenever I visit a country, and I’ve been to about 40 during the last two years, I usually do television and radio interviews (I've even appeared on what was described as the Indonesian version of "Oprah"). And whenever I do international interviews, the questions are quite literally a tour of the world. Today I was asked by BBC about the situation in Burma and how Americans view the UN general assembly (I explained that New Yorkers probably hate the traffic, but most of us recognize it’s good for world leaders to come together to talk about common problems). Al Arabiya asked about America’s reaction to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. I pointed out the hypocrisy of his using our free speech and free media to criticize our country, yet if someone spoke out against his government in a similar way in Iran they would be arrested. I also explained that America wants to engage with the Iranian people, who are enormously talented and creative -- the concern of the international community is with Iran’s government and its policies, not with its people.
Tomorrow, I will meet with journalists from a number of different countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. With the explosion of media in the world, we’re trying to do a better job of getting American voices into that media. We have only one Secretary of State, but we have more than two hundred Ambassadors and Chiefs of Mission who represent us in countries around the world. Part of my job is to get them out there speaking up on behalf of our country.
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Comments
Ron in North Carolina writes:
Karen: It is great to see someone of your influence blogging.
It must be incredibly enlightening to speak with so many people from such diverse nationalities. It would be nice to hear how they influence your opinions rather than just how we get our message out.
Really looking forward to more from you.
Posted on Mon Oct 08, 2007
Karen: It is great to see someone of your influence blogging.
It must be incredibly enlightening to speak with so many people from such diverse nationalities. It would be nice to hear how they influence your opinions rather than just how we get our message out.
Really looking forward to more from you.
Posted on Mon Oct 08, 2007
Niles in Colorado writes:
I like your comment about Ahmadinejad. He can dish it out, but he sure can't take it.
Posted on Mon Oct 01, 2007
I like your comment about Ahmadinejad. He can dish it out, but he sure can't take it.
Posted on Mon Oct 01, 2007
Vic in Texas writes:
Thank you for articulating the U.S. governement policy and your service to our nation!
Posted on Fri Sep 28, 2007
Thank you for articulating the U.S. governement policy and your service to our nation!
Posted on Fri Sep 28, 2007
Stephen in New York writes:
Great to have keen insights from an authority such as Hughes (and I appreciate the parenthetical about our hometown gridlock, too). Keep up the good work.
Posted on Thu Sep 27, 2007
Great to have keen insights from an authority such as Hughes (and I appreciate the parenthetical about our hometown gridlock, too). Keep up the good work.
Posted on Thu Sep 27, 2007
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