"Hi" How ya doin'? Ask America a question.

[Jara sang]

Don't fear us because we indiscirminately aerial bomb your cities or lust after your natural resources. We are just regular "folks" just like you. Check out this propagandist shit.

http://hiinternational.com/askamerica/askamerica.cfm

Arabic:
http://www.himag.com/

English language version:
http://hiinternational.com/


Hi Magazine (also Hi International) is a glossy, teen lifestyle publication targeted at Middle Eastern and Muslim youth. Like Al Hurra and Radio Sawa, the magazine is a tool of public diplomacy, produced by the United States State Department in conjunction with The Magazine Group, an external publishing company.

To approach the teen market, the U.S. Department of State launched Hi International in July of 2003 with a $4.2 million yearly budget. It features celebrity interviews, music reviews, lifestyle stories, advertisements for hip gadgets, and other morsels of Americana. The State Department hired The Magazine Group, professional magazine publishers who also publish titles such as Package Machinery Today and Diabetes Forecast, to produce Hi International. Its initial issue, in Arabic, appeared on newsstands in the Middle East in July of 2003; a website followed soon thereafter. The magazine costs less than two dollars and is also available for subscription. Hi's writers are American, generally of Middle Eastern or Muslim descent, and write in Arabic. In the summer of 2004, About a year after its initial launch, Hi made its English language debut on the web.

Hi International is an instrument of public diplomacy – the attempt to promote national interests by informing, engaging, and influencing people around the world. The State Department produces Hi with the explicit goal of informing the youth of the Middle East and Muslim world about American culture. The project is based on the supposition that if this demographic had a clearer understanding of what America is really like, then some of their hostility could be assuaged. Consequently, the publication attempts to characterize America in a flattering light – as a stylish, multicultural sanctuary for technology and innovation. Political issues are largely ignored.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_%28magazine%29

Then there is this little gem at the bottom of the State Departments USINFO publications website:

The documents located here are electronic versions of publications originally produced in print by the U.S. Department of State. Print copies may be requested from the Public Affairs Section of any U.S. Embassy or Consulate http://usembassy.state.gov. According to the Smith-Mundt Act, products developed by the Bureau of International Information Programs are intended for foreign audiences; print copies may not be distributed within the United States.

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/

[stillcool]

1. reminds me of my....

high school history class. No wonder....