Bush to name new US image-maker

There is no reason given why Hughes is leaving the job. Maybe she found it too challenging. Bush is appointing another of his own kind to replace her. However, even an entrepreneur journalist from the American Enterprise Institute may find it difficult to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Bush to name journalist as new US image-maker Tue Dec 11, 3:27 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush will nominate on Tuesday conservative journalist James Glassman as the senior diplomat in charge of improving America's battered image abroad, the White House said.



Glassman would replace a longtime Bush confidante, Karen Hughes, who has announced her intention to step down as under secretary for public diplomacy before the end of the year.

"In his new role, Mr Glassman will help effectively explain our policies and America's fundamental values to people around the world," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters, announcing the appointment.

Hughes, who has worked with Bush since his days as governor of Texas in the 1990s, will leave her post after barely two years and with little visible success in polishing the US image in the world.

Glassman will take over as the Bush administration faces new criticism from human rights groups over its handling of suspects in the "war on terror" following the CIA's admission that it destroyed tapes of interrogations.

Glassman is the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the US government's international broadcasters including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Alhurra.

He is also the editor-in-chief of The American, a bimonthly business and economics magazine of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.