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Hi Magazine (also Hi International) is a glossy, teen lifestyle publication targeted at Middle Eastern and Muslim youth. Like Al Hurra and Radio Sawa, the magazine is a tool of public diplomacy, produced by the US State Department in conjunction with The Magazine Group, an external publishing company.
To approach the teen market, the U.S. Department of State launched Hi International in July of 2003 with a $4.2 million yearly budget. It features celebrity interviews, music reviews, lifestyle stories, advertisements for hip gadgets, and other morsels of Americana. The State Department hired The Magazine Group, professional magazine publishers who also publish titles such as Package Machinery Today and Diabetes Forecast, to produce Hi International. Its initial issue (in Arabic) appeared on newsstands in the Middle East in July of 2003; a website (www.himag.com)followed soon thereafter. The magazine costs less than two dollars and is also available for subscription. Hi's writers are American, generally of Middle Eastern or Muslim descent, and write in Arabic. In the summer of 2004, About a year after its initial launch, Hi made its English-language debut on the web at www.hiinternational.com.
Hi International is an instrument of public diplomacy – the attempt to promote national interests by informing, engaging, and influencing people around the world. The State Department produces Hi with the explicit goal of informing the youth of the Middle East and Muslim world about American culture. The project is based on the supposition that if this demographic had a clearer understanding of what America is really like, then some of their hostility could be assuaged. Consequently, the publication attempts to characterize America in a flattering light – as a stylish, multicultural sanctuary for technology and innovation. Political issues are largely ignored.
External Links
Middle East Report Article by Elliott Cola and Chris Toensing