Moira Whelan Profile picture
Aug 17, 2018 12 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
A little thread on this and #publicdiplomacy. Hopefully @StateDept, especially @shareamerica are paying attention.

Here's the thing: this is a big opportunity for America and for the White House to embrace from a diplomatic standpoint. 1/
Context: one of the top stories about America that our embassies tell is about Martin Luther King. And they don't just tell the "I have a Dream" part. They tell the Selma and Memphis parts too. This is a critical message for our country. 2/
Because MLK protested against his government. He fought to change his government. That is the American story: Standing up against your government. There is almost no other part of the world you can do that without fear of losing everything. 3/
But it isn't just in the distant past. I had to help shape our message on things like a Koran burning in Fl and race riots in St. Louis and help global audiences understand how a country with a black President was letting this happen. 4/
The message: We don't like it but we embrace it. And take a look at the coverage. Look at the people speaking out against horrible things and being given voice. That's America too. 5/
I truly loved being able to present those things--warts and all--to the world. Sure, I hated that those things were happening and was happy to say that my country had work to do bit the key was, this opposition was part of what it meant to be American. 6/
So now 300 papers are using their voice to stand up for the Constitution. And not just any Right: the one they very deliberately put First. I hope the Administration will embrace it as being emblematic of what this country stands for. 7/
Now, I'm not naive. I don't think that will happen. But we should expect it. And when we don't we should realize that we're moving to complacency and we too should hear the message these editors are sending. 8/
We should also realize what a BFD this is in the media industry. Many of these folks report on democracies and have written stories analyzing the moment when a free media turns to become part of the institutions resisting authoritarianism. We have reached that moment. 9/
What happens next should be part of our national story. I hope @VOA_News @shareamerica and others will tell it. Because we join arms with other champions of democracy around the world. And that's good for us to communicate that. 10/
But I also don't know how this is going to go, so I hope @onthemedia and others dig into this big time because the biggest mistake so far: these papers did this in August when they know no one is paying attention. 11/
The world is watching & we do best when we communicate our true self. Warts and all. The admin will be tested on this in the coming weeks and I hope they prove us wrong and praise this effort. It just might make America...great. again. 12/12

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Moira Whelan

Moira Whelan Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @moira

Oct 5, 2018
Hey @DefenseOne @smallwars @defense_news and others...I think the @NobelPrize committee would like a word with you. Because as far as I can see, you've missed something today. edition.cnn.com/2018/10/05/eur…
see, those of us in the #nationalsecurity world know that you consider rape a #humanrights thing and a little more fluffy than the big toys you all usually write about. But that's exactly the point, and why you should take the message that is being sent to you. 2/
The @NobelPrize was awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end sexual abuse AS A WEAPON OF WAR.

So you guys cover wars, right? So where is the discussion of this? From what I can see, you didn't even cover it. 3/
Read 9 tweets
Sep 16, 2018
The fact that this woman has stepped forward--and the response for Kavanaugh and the White House--shows they still don't get it.

Dr. Ford was not slowed down by Kavanaugh. She achieved great things. But the point is that there are a million Kavanaughs out there. 1/
It is possible that this event was so insignificant to Kavanaugh that he doesn't remember it because he was too drunk. On the other hand, this is etched in Dr. Ford's mind. Every time a professor talked down to her, a person got a promotion she did not. It came back to him. 2/
she talks about how it came up in her own marriage. This is a feeling MOST WOMEN UNDERSTAND. And we're over it. And crazy thing about it, we don't have faith you will apply the same treatment to us as you do to yourself mainly because this demonstrates that you don't. 3/
Read 4 tweets
Sep 5, 2018
Sheryl Sandberg and @jack have just gotten started at #SSCi but a few opening thoughts:
1) important to remember that right now, taking things down is what defines success for social media platforms. that is not a sustainable business model. 2/
2) criticisms of the platforms have been extensive and warranted, but the fact is, not many people left. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Jul 19, 2018
VIDEO PEOPLE: Can we compile a good video of Republicans walking away from common sense obvious questions? This is getting ridiculous.
this is one of my favorites of @RepMoBrooks literally running away
businessinsider.com/mo-brooks-runs…
and this one of a --shocked face-- REPORTER ASKING SOFTBALL QUESTIONS of @RepRodBlum
washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost…
Read 5 tweets
Jul 9, 2018
Here is a thread about some rude protesters who probably should have just stayed home and written letters which of course is just NOT what Americans do. 1/
The first is a shoemaker who led riots, hung stuff from trees and set it on fire. He also followed the dude he was protesting to his house and pushed him to step down. We named a beer after one of the people he hung out with. 2/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyal_Nine
and these trollops? they WALKED IN THE STREET ALONE. Ladies do NOT do that. They stood outside of a dude's house for days on end with obnoxious banners. 3/
loc.gov/collections/st…
Read 11 tweets
Jul 9, 2018
I'm really over the sob story of Trump officials whining about being harassed. Guess what, it goes with the territory. 1/
washingtonpost.com/local/dc-polit…
I'm sure historians can recount the tales for us of this happening in history. We can start with President Grant labeling the people who would yell at him while having a cigar at the Willard "lobbyists" 2/
Protesters have time and time again shut down Washington. In 1971 people who lived in the Watergate where trapped by protesters angry about Nixon and War. 3/
Read 14 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(