WASHINGTON, March 3 - Charlotte Beers, the former advertising executive who
has been the Bush administration's point person in efforts to improve
America's image among Muslims, is quitting her State Department job after
17 months of mixed reviews.
A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said Ms.
Beers, 67, is resigning for health reasons. The official said her
resignation would become effective in about two weeks.
Ms. Beers, a former chairwoman of J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather,
was appointed undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in
September 2001, just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Her task was to
devise a multimillion-dollar public diplomacy campaign, complete with
academic exchange programs and slick public service advertisements, to
soften anti-American feelings.
Some people who followed American foreign policy wondered whether it was
appropriate in the first place to have an advertising executive try to
change the image of the United States. But others credited Ms. Beers with
reinvigorating efforts, through discussions and training sessions, to paint
a truer picture of the United States.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell came to the defense of Ms. Beers soon
after she was appointed. "Guess what?" Mr. Powell told a group of senators
in November 2001. "There is nothing wrong with getting somebody who knows
how to sell something."
Ms. Beers concentrated on ways to erase stereotypes about Americans that
are widespread in Islamic countries.
She acknowledged only last week that her mission has been daunting. "The
gap between who we are and how we wish to be seen and how we are in fact
seen is frighteningly wide," she testified before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
The interim replacement for Ms. Beers will be Patricia Harrison, now head
of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0303-10...
Ms. Beers is completely out of touch with reality. She believed she could
improve worldwide perceptions of "Brand America" the same way that Calvin
Klein sells underwear. This quote is classic. When asked why there was
negative world-wide opinion about America she said that America "was just
not getting the word out."! No Ms. Beers, the problem is precisely that
America IS getting the word out.
