African journalists are finding jobs with Chinese media

 It is universally understood that informationlies at the center of all forms of development, whether these be diplomatic, cultural or economic. In the context of Sino-African relations, one of the major drivers of the deepening ties has undoubtedly been the growing presence of Chinese media in Africa and the information being disseminated.

"The China-Africa relationship is historical," said Amina Mohammed, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, adding that the presence of Chinese media platforms on the continent is a blessing that will cement the "old and gray haired" bond between China and Africa.

Moses Wetang'ula, a senator and former cabinet minister in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, supports the Chinese media presence in Africa. He said that China is beneficial to Africa's development and that the role of the media in nurturing bilateral ties is obvious.

Being proactive

Chinese media has, through its factual reporting of events in Africa and informing Africa of China's reality, been well received on the continent.

Tervil Okoko, a journalism lecturer and regional coordinator for media freedom, advocacy and research at the Djibouti-based Eastern African Journalists Association, said China's media presence in Africa, which has traditionally relied on Western media for information, was long overdue and does much to promote the Sino-African relationship.

"Objective reportage was often elusive in Western media, with the loudest stories of China-Africa relationship being those of exploitation, neo-colonialism and propping up of leaders," said Okoko.

He added that the policy of Chinese international media should refrain from following in the footsteps of other international media, capturing only the negative episodes in Africa.

Bob Wekesa, Executive Chairman of the Kenya Journalists Association and Ph.D student at the Communication University of China, echoes Okoko's sentiments. Wekesa said that news reports of foreign news services like France 24 and Russia Today often mitigate negative images of their countries and that the Chinese media should not shy away from nurturing the already strong bond enjoyed between China and Kenya.

In fact, Wekesa's counsel qualifies renowned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe's cautionary warning against crying louder than the bereaved - as the Chinese/African media should themselves take a proactive move to promote the Sino-African relationship via objective coverage, rather than sitting back to wait for media from elsewhere to fill the void.

Media is also a vehicle to communicate the messages of how a nation sees itself and its place in the world - which in turn promotes understanding from readers and listeners.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Deustche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany, in June this year, Yu-Shan Wu, said that a media presence is one way to communicate a country's point of view to the world.

"People are more sympathetic to the narratives they hear," said Yu, who has been tracking the rise of Chinese media companies in Africa as a researcher at the Global Powers and Africa Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Deng Yanting, a researcher at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in aChina Dailyopinion article in February last year that to make the world aware of China's role in Africa, the Chinese mass media has to break the monopoly of their Western competitors in Africa and spread the facts, as well as the views, of the Chinese Government and think-tanks across the world.

Building cultural understanding is a big part of Chinese media in Africa

Long history

Chinese media first entered Africa in the 1950s, a tenure as long as the independence of many African countries. However, in recent times, there has been a sharp increase of Chinese media on the continent. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and East Africa's economic and social hub, is the preferred base for most Chinese and other international media outlets in Africa.

Despite Kenya's strategic position in East Africa, Nairobi's preference as the seat of Chinese media was not by fate, but design. Wetang'ula, who was Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, said that during the 2006 China-Africa summit for heads of states in Beijing, Kenya's then-President Mwai Kibaki signed an agreement that established capacity building with China in media and communications technology.     

The above mentioned agreement enhanced exchange programs between the Kenya News Agency and its Chinese equivalent, Xinhua News Agency. "It was part of the agreement that China Radio International ended up installing two state-of-the-art radio studios at the Kenya Broadcasting Corp.," Wetang'ula said.

Perhaps apart fromChinAfrica, a Sino-African oriented monthly current affairs magazine that has its African bureau in Johannesburg, quite a number of Chinese international media houses that focus on Africa are based in Nairobi.

Beyond the Xinhua News Agency that established its presence in Africa in the 1970s and now operates more than 20 bureaus across the continent, Nairobi also hosts Xinhua's television station, the CNC World.

The China Radio International, formerly Radio Beijing, and originally Radio Peking, broadcasts in Nairobi in Kiswahili, English and Mandarin.

Last year, the China Central Television (CCTV) joined the top three international media empires: CNN, BBC and Aljazeera, when it launched its Africa bureau office in Nairobi's affluent suburb of Hurlingham. Elsewhere in Africa, CCTV has state-of-the-art studios in Johannesburg, Khartum in Sudan, and Abuja in Nigeria.

Media benefits

Eric Shimoli, news editor of theDaily Nation, Kenya's leading newspaper and the largest independent media house in East and Central Africa, argues against the floodgate of criticism about the proliferation of Chinese media in Africa.

"Allegations, especially by international media houses also operating in Africa, that the Chinese media [in Africa] has little value hold no water," Shimoli said.

Shimoli said the Chinese media does not compete with the local African media and that beyond conveying news, their presence has other benefits, like the creation of opportunities for advertisement revenue and employment of African journalists. "These [Chinese] media houses have the distinction of employing African editors and reporters, unlike other international media that relies on their own citizens as field reporters in Africa," Shimoli said.CA

(Reporting from Kenya)