Florida State University Libraries 2015 Public Diplomacy or Propaganda: A Case Study of Voa Deewa Pashto Radio Service for the Tribal Region of Pakistan and Afghanistan Mehnaz Gul Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION PUBLIC DIPLOMACY OR PROPAGANDA: A CASE STUDY OF VOA DEEWA PASHTO RADIO SERVICE FOR THE TRIBAL REGION OF PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN By MEHNAZ GUL A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Mehnaz Gul defended this dissertation on November 10, 2015. The members of the supervisory committee were: Stephen McDowell Professor Directing Dissertation Lance Dehaven Smith University Representative Jennifer Proffitt Committee Member Patrick Merle Committee Member Jay Rayburn Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This dissertation is dedicated to my husband Zia, our son Faiz and daughter Malina, to my parents, parents in law, brothers, sisters and their families for their enduring love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This onerous yet rewarding journey of pursuing a PhD would not have been possible without the guidance and support of many people and organizations. I owe my gratitude to all those people and organizations that made this dissertation possible and because of whom I will always cherish this achievement. Foremost, my parents, for encouraging me to get higher education, for confidence in my abilities and for their unconditional love and support that made it possible for me to reach where I am today. My parents in law, for their support and prayers, who spurred me to pursue my dreams. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Stephen McDowell for agreeing to be my supervisor and to guide me in this arduous journey. He always listened to me patiently, helped me refined my ideas and transformed my ideas into meaningful and presentable words. His invaluable insights and constructive criticism immensely helped me in completion of this dissertation. He has been my big supporter, always backed me in dire straits. I am thankful to him for guiding and supervising me in earning number of scholarships and helping me in presenting my work in leading conferences. I am obliged to Dr. Jennifer Proffitt for agreeing to be on my committee, and for her insightful and detailed comments. Her constructive criticisms were always thought provoking that helped me focus and hold me to high research standards. I am grateful to Dr. Patrick Merle for being a valuable member of my committee and for helping me in writing my literature review by providing many research articles. I am very grateful to Dr. Jay Rayburn, for accepting my request to serve on my committee at a very last moment. His contribution is valuable for this study. I owe my deepest gratitude to Dr. Lance Dehaven Smith for agreeing to be on my committee and he guided me in this journey with his valuable insights that helped me improve my knowledge in this area. I am indebted to the Graduate School at Florida State University for awarding me with an International Dissertation Semester Research fellowship in 2014 that helped me in visiting Pakistan and conducting interviews and audience analysis for my study. I am grateful to the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan and the University of Peshawar, Pakistan for arranging focus group interviews with students of the Tribal iv region. I am indebted to Ms. Corinna McCarthy for assisting me in transcribing the data, and to Mr. Fawad and Mr. Salman for assisting me in collecting data in Pakistan. I am indebted to Mr. Nafees Takar, VOA Deewa chief program officer and Mr. Arbab Ali, VOA Deewa staff, for arranging my visit to VOA Deewa, for helping me in collecting data and for their generous hospitality. I want to pay my deepest gratitude to all the participants of the study for agreeing to participate in this project. I am grateful to them for their valuable time and candid responses that helped me achieve the study objectives, and for providing the crucial human element required for the study. I am also thankful to my employer, the University of Peshawar, for granting me the study leave to pursue my PhD degree. I owe my deepest gratitude to my teachers in the School of Communication, Florida State University and back at home in Pakistan for guiding me throughout my student life and helping me achieve this degree. I am thankful to friends that I made at the School of Communication and elsewhere who helped me stay sane through these difficult years. I am grateful to my friend and office mate, Youngsun Lee, for her love, support and precious friendship of sharing joys, sorrows, and secrets during all these years. Lastly but definitely not the least, I would like to express my heart felt gratitude to my husband and our kids. My husband Zia Obaid has been my pillar of strength and supported me through all the ups and downs. He believed in me and has been a constant source of love, support and strength all these years. The credit for successful completion of my degree goes to him. My son Faiz and my daughter Malina I thank for their love, patience and understanding through out this journey. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW.......................................................................................1 2. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PROPAGANDA: ORIGINS, DEFINITIONS, CONCEPTS, PRACTICES & CHALLENGES ...................................................................................................11 3. RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................31 4. SENDERS’ PERSPECTIVE: WHO SENDS WHAT, WHY, HOW, & TO WHOM .............60 5. THE MESSAGE .....................................................................................................................126 6. VOICES OF LOCALS ............................................................................................................198 7. CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................................................245 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................269 A. HUMAN SUBJECTS IRB APPROVAL ................................................................................269 B. INFORMED CONSENT FORM SENDERS .........................................................................270 C. INFORMED CONSENT FORM RECEIVERS .....................................................................271 D. INFORMED CONSENT FORM RECEIVERS (ILLITERATE, CANNOT SIGN) ..............272 E. EMAIL TRANSCRIPT ...........................................................................................................273 F. FOCUS GROUP/ INTERVIEW GUIDELINE FOR AUDIENCE (LOCALS)......................274 G. INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR VOA DEEWA WASHINGTON STAFF ..................................276 H. INTERVIEW GUIDE VOA DEEWA STAFF PAKISTAN ..................................................277 I. LIST OF DRONE STRIKES 2013 IN PAKISTAN .................................................................278 J. CONFIDENTIALITY CONTRACT .......................................................................................282 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................283 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................293 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Comparison of Similarities and Differences of Public Diplomacy and Propaganda .....28 Table 3.1 News Hour - 8pm to 9pm ..............................................................................................38 Table 3.2 Morning Show – Saher Pa Khair ...................................................................................39 Table 3.3 Hello VOA .....................................................................................................................40 Table 3.4 VOA Deewa Staff ..........................................................................................................44 Table 3.5 Regular Listeners (Telephone Interviews) .....................................................................46 Table 3.6 Internally Displaced People (Individual Interviews) .....................................................47 Table 3.7 Students of Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar (Focus Groups) ...................52 Table 3.8 Students of University of Peshawar (Female Students, Focus Groups) ........................53 Table 3.9 Codes and Meanings ......................................................................................................55 Table 6.1 Yes, Propaganda ..........................................................................................................237