Thursday, November 16, 2006

The memorandum that was the subject of "Karen's Rules on Diplomacy: Talk to the Media -- if You Dare" [Federal Page, Nov. 8] was originally distributed more than a year ago and is having its intended effect of freeing U.S. ambassadors to engage with the media around the world. It's disappointing that neither The Post nor the organizational psychologists it consulted bothered to check with the State Department before publishing the article. If you had, you would have learned that these guidelines empower our ambassadors rather than restrict them.

When I arrived at the State Department and met with ambassadors last year, many told me that they felt they were not allowed to speak on the record to the media unless the interview was "pre-cleared" by Washington. While this perception was not entirely accurate, many ambassadors hesitated to speak on the record without specific permission. Given time differences and journalists' daily deadlines, that meant too many ambassadors did not regularly engage with the media. Yet it seemed to me, and to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that if we trusted our ambassadors to represent our country overseas, we should also trust them to use good judgment in speaking to the media about U.S. policies.

As I began encouraging ambassadors to engage more vigorously with media, they requested clear guidelines. The resulting rules cited by The Post have been applauded by our missions abroad; in fact, they were reissued at the request of public affairs officers because many ambassadors are new.

We have dramatically increased the appearances by our ambassadors on media outlets around the world. This expanded engagement is good for our country.

KAREN HUGHES

Undersecretary of State

for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs

Washington