Current
Gambia Press Union (GPU) treasurer and deputy editor-in-chief of the shutdown
former pro-government newspaper; Daily Observer has addressed the Xinhua
African English Subscribers Forum held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Addressing
participants during a session on comment and suggestions of Xinhua’s coverage
of Africa, Mariatou Ngum said as the China-Africa relationship flourished,
there has been a concerted effort from Beijing to build its media agencies in
Africa to compete favorably with major Western media outlets such as BBC and
CNN.
She
said from huge infrastructural projects, to reasonable goods, the evidence of
China’s presence in Africa can be felt in every part of the continent.
“Similarly, in the past few years, China’s presence in Africa’s media can be
clearly seen through the radio, television or even on the newsstand.”
Mrs
Ngum said at a time that many Western media houses are cutting back on foreign
reporting budgets, Beijing in 2009 allocated over 9 billion dollars to increase
China’s state owned media presence in the world.
She
said Xinhua, a Chinese state news agency, emerged and has had a fairly long
presence in the continental media for over five decades, saying Xinhua’s major
forms of intervention in Africa include setting up bureaus, developing news
portfolio targeting African audiences, exchanging news with African media
subscribers, and providing technical equipment and support as well as training
African journalists.
“Xinhua
focuses on a wide range of developmental issues in their reporting in Africa.
They provide up to date coverage on a wide range of issues, stories from Xinhua
are featured in national newspapers across Africa and they tell the exact
stories, the issues, and challenges and most importantly they will give
solution rather than getting people to argue,” she said.
According
to Mrs Ngum, Xinhua’s coverage present hopes and exposed the potentials as well
as possibilities of the countries of the continent to attain greatness. Unlike
the Western outlet, which tend to focus on misdeeds and transgressions, Xinhua
highlight good things happening in Africa.
Zhang
Yanqiu, director of the Africa Communication Research Centre at the
Communication University of China, argues that western media adopt a “watchdog”
role while Chinese media practise what she calls “constructive journalism.”
“Constructive
journalism can be both positive and negative, but the purpose is to find
solutions. The idea is to give a new kind of balance and shine a new kind of
light on the continent. Instead of just reporting on the situation, it asks
‘how can we help them?’ The western
media may be telling the truth, but if you are telling the truth and things are
just getting worse and people are afraid of travelling to Africa, for whose
good is this?”
he
said the Chinese media model of reporting is increasingly being appreciated
across the African continent. Afrobarometer, an African research network, as
well reported in 2016 that about two-thirds of Africans see China’s influence
as ‘somewhat’ to ‘very’ positive. And more African countries now see China- not
the U.S. – as the biggest foreign influence.
Suggestions
Tabling
her suggestions, Mrs Ngum said as the world is witnessing China-Africa
cooperation, Xinhua workers in China and Africa should objectively report on
the cooperation and demands advantages and opportunities of both sides in order
to implement the achievement made at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum of
China-Africa Cooperation held in late 2015 in South Africa as well as promoting
the Belt and Road Initiative and development in Africa.
She
said information overflowing is a reality and as a continent, Africa most not
be trapped in fake news especially when it comes to narratives about China’s
engagement with Africa.
“Hence,
the need for more training for both Chinese and African journalists as well
Xinhua should expand to have more correspondents and Bureaus in all African
countries in order to tell better stories.”
She
said Chinese media are more interested in telling the African stories from the
African perspective rather than the hand-down script of the western media which
see nothing good about the continent except stories of wars, crimes, diseases,
among others.
“Reporting
on Africa should tell African stories such as job creation. Therefore, both
Chinese and African journalists present in this forum should use the
opportunity the forum offered to foster bonds and to learn from one another, to
discuss shortcomings they might have, and find solutions to problems,
reflecting needs of the realities.”
She
also suggested that there be more exchanges between Chinese and African
journalists and I hope more African media could go to China to see with their
own eyes.
