New ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has outlined plans to renew an international expansion into overseas markets like China as part of a “soft power push” to influence Australia’s standing on the world stage. Two years after the controversial Australia Network was shut down because the government did not believe the ABC was meeting its contractual obligations, Ms Guthrie has foreshadowed a new offensive. 

British television network BBC2 is planning TV shootings in Thessaloniki and Imathia from July 24-31, with the support of the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT), with the view to promoting popular and lesser-known Greek destinations abroad, through the entertainment industry. Other “filming trips” with the support of EOT are ongoing in Athens, Peloponnese and Crete by the Australian television travel programme “The Travel Bug TV Show”. 

There’s been a growing tendency lately (particularly on BBGWatch, an online watchdog) to compare, unfavorably, the Voice of America's (VOA) performance, as measured by number of stories or live reports from the scene of breaking news, with other national and international news organizations. Behind much of this criticism is an implicit expectation that VOA’s coverage should be as fast and broad as that of large wire service-type enterprises such as AP or CNN, or even the BBC. 

The BBC then is central to the branding mobilisation of public neutrality. The degree to which this branding of neutrality has come naturally to Britain with the long ‘culturing’ of physical empire can be readily tracked. It is seen in the way London itself has become a degree zero of nation-branding.

At a time when the government has taken a lot of heat in parliament and the media - on tax, welfare and Europe to name but a few issues - one issue has escaped high-level political scrutiny: ministers' plans for the future of the BBC. Ask yourself this: who is sticking up for the corporation’s funding and who is fighting for its independence? 

The BBC World Service has launched its first ad campaign in seven years, in a seemingly counterintuitive move to promote the international service to the British public. The BBC said the decision to promote the World Service at home – it is synonymous with being a popular and trusted news source in foreign countries – was to address the misconception that it is solely for overseas audiences.

The 21st century has redefined power dressing for western women on the world stage, reflecting a seismic shift in our society. Ironically, the culture of “dressing down” has infiltrated the corridors of power in Europe and the US, making the elite more accessible and “of the people”.