Obama's Muslim appeal: Internet and TV

by Mark Silva

The president's address to the Muslim world will be televised. And the White House will be placing President Barack Obama's words on other "platforms'' as well - namely the Internet.

At the same time, the White House is attempting to walk people back from any great expectations from one talk

"Obviously our goal is to ensure that the greatest number of people with an interest to see this -- not just through newspapers and television, but can see this through Websites,'' said Robert Gibbs, press secretary for the president, as the White House was preparing to pack up for its flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, tonight. Obama will deliver his long-promised speech from Cairo on Thursday.

"The Internet team here is working with a host of others to get this information to as many platforms as humanly possible so that people will get a chance all over the world to see what the president has to say,'' Gibbs said of an operation that already moves the president's weekly addresses on the White House's own Website.
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Yet, at the same time, with just a quarter of the people in many Arab nations surveyed saying they hold a positive view of the new American leadership - still up, significantly from last summer - the White House is attempting to downplay expectations for any impact that this one address will have on its intended audience.

"The president has always looked at this as a process, not as a single point in time,'' Gibbs said. "And I think if you look at the efforts that the administration has undertaken thus far in terms of outreach -- whether it's in interviews, whether it's speeches, the speech in Turkey -- this is about resetting our relationship with the Muslim world.... (a world that Obama knows something about, as we reported in the politics of biography today._

"I think you'll hear the president say, we don't expect that everything will change after one speech. I think it will take a sustained effort and that's what the president is in for.''

So what's the benchmark for success?

"We see public polling that measures the perception of the country throughout the world, and particularly in the Muslim world,'' Gibbs said. "I think there will be a great effort on our part to distribute this through different means, social networking sites, in order to get this in front of as many eyes throughout the world as we can....

"I think our perception in the world is a big measurement by which to look at this,'' Gibbs said. "I think the willingness and to be able to work with countries on our common interests are important.

"The president sees this as a series of events, not something that may or may not be easily quantifiable at any given -- or after the end of one speech,'' he said. "Let's just say this... If the president thought one speech would cure that relationship I doubt we'd be giving that in June....

"What is important is that we demonstrate that the United States wants to pursue a different relationship and ensure that Muslims around the world understand the message of the United States: That we share common hopes and dreams, and that we can work together to fulfill those hopes and dreams, understanding that there are -- separating that from that the extremism and extremists that wish to do us harm. But I think the great -- as the president has often said, we have more in common than we have disagreement about, and I think that's what he wants to ensure that the vast majority of the Muslim world hears.''