China Agency To Launch English TV News

From Financial Times:

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, will launch an English-language tele­vision news programme this week on screens in supermarkets and outside Chinese embassies in Europe, in a cautious first step towards spreading Beijing’s view of the world to western audiences.

The move, planned for Wednesday, comes six months after the Chinese government launched a plan to improve its global image through English-language television news channels to be built by trusted state-owned media.

It highlights how daunting a challenge it is for media organisations that function mainly as propaganda outlets to compete with experienced commercial western groups in wooing a global audience.

Also from The Guardian:

Supermarkets in Brussels are reported to be among those that will be airing the broadcasts, along with screens outside Chinese embassies in other European capitals.

Few details have yet to be disclosed, but the launch on Wednesday will involve about a dozen European broadcast partners showing mostly 10-to-15-minute news programmes, along with short features and lifestyle items, officials said.

“China has recognised the importance of soft power, and through the medium of television and the internet the Chinese government aims to strengthen its influence internationally,” Chen Yue, a spokesman for Xinhua’s English news department, told the Associated Press.

Xinhua has not divulged which organisations have signed up to broadcast its programmes or expand on the nature of the deals with its partners. However, it has ambitious plans.

A report from The Independent is here.

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