Online newsrooms and public diplomacy

•We examined 13,714 public diplomacy texts from the U.S., China and Singapore.•Limited thematic and conceptual congruence found among the three countries.•Findings suggest modeling of public diplomacy on one-way communication.

This study analyzes a population of online information subsidies issued by the foreign ministries of the U.S., China and Singapore over a 5-year period. It found limited congruence in themes and concepts between and among the three countries, even on human rights, a major diplomatic point of contention. Such an approach to public diplomacy, modeled after a one-way model of communication, reveals fundamental obstacles to engagement, dialogue, collaboration and relationship building.