Newsweek columnist launching new PBS series

NEW YORK - Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria, a regular panelist on ABC's "This Week," is starting his own weekly public broadcasting show on international topics in April.

"Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria" will discuss global issues such as outsourcing of jobs, diplomacy and trade issues in a format that mixes reporting and panel discussions, its host said on Wednesday.

Americans have become much more interested in international affairs since the 2001 terrorist attacks - a topic that television gave very little time to before and still comes up short, he said.

"What are the trends? What are the debates? Now, more than ever, you have the demand but not the supply," Zakaria said.

There's even less of a TV supply for Americans to learn how the rest of the world feels about their country, he said.

"I'd like to have a discussion about the future of democracy in the Arab world with an Arab," he said.

"Foreign Exchange" is being produced by Azimuth Media in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. The Oregon company is trying to sell the show to PBS' 170 member stations; it wasn't clear Wednesday how many had decided to run it or when they would air it.

Each of the weekly half-hour programs will touch on several topics, Zakaria said. He's putting together an informal network of correspondents across the world to report for the show.

Besides his TV work at ABC and now PBS, Zakaria writes a column for Newsweek and edits its international edition. He's a former managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine.