Chinese media need to do more to report the true Africa

“At the beginning of this year, there was an international news forum for senior journalists from major Chinese media who discussed how to report Africa effectively. Now, the first ever academic grants for covering China-Africa relations have been created. We encourage journalists to submit proposals for covering the continent, which will be funded by our project. For long, Africa's story has long been neglected in international news," Lianxing Li said.

He added that seminar participants were quite responsive and offered positive feedback at the end. "This is because guest lecturers from various sectors showed them a comprehensive picture of this bilateral relationship, which was unfamiliar to them before. We need time to see how they focus on reporting this field and what works they will produce," he clarified.

It was understood that field experience was the top criterion for selecting facilitators of the seminar. In this light, diplomats, bankers, investors, journalists and academics with vast knowledge of and living or serving in Africa for long were invited to share their experience. The seminar was part of a series by the Department of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University to create a critical thinking environment for media reports on China-African relations.

Regular exchanges between Chinese and African journalists are necessary to enhance understanding

“A country's hard-won success could be less important than a simple tweet by the US President! More vivid development stories need to be told, while real information is required by potential partners and investors. The Chinese media has an important role to tell African stories in order to improve this bilateral relationship," Lianxing Li noted.

“Myths about Chinese journalism might have been broken by your own experiences. This is why we are critical and constructive. The only challenge for now is having first-hand experience and knowledge. We hope that more Chinese journalists will get engaged in covering Africa and consistently focus on related stories from a more diverse perspective," Lianxing concluded.

More person-to-person exchanges between Chinese and Africans boosts understanding and cooperation

Kimeng Hilton Ndukong is Sub-Editor for World News with Cameroon Tribune bilingual daily newspaper in Cameroon. He is currently on media attachment with People’s Daily Online in English. 

 (People's Daily Online, August 8, 2017)