To what extent do Chinese training programs for African journalists provide alternatives to overcome (historically Western) colonial practices of knowledge production, or instead perpetuate those same colonial practices? And how much agency do African journalists have in this process? Recent pieces in Chinese and African media offer some potential answers. Last week, Dalia Parete at China Media Project interviewed Dani Madrid Morales, a media scholar at the University of Sheffield who has closely tracked China’s media engagement in Africa. They discussed “how historical anti-colonial sentiments continue to shape the reception of foreign media, and how African journalists and audiences engage with these competing global narratives.” One part of the conversation focused on how African journalists view Chinese media in relation to Western media and Western journalists:
How journalists in Africa view media from different countries, especially China, Russia, and the West, differs significantly from the mindset many of us might have in places like Europe or the U.S.
[…] The BBC has a different legacy for older African journalists — especially those who lived through colonial rule. They remember it as a tool of British colonialism, even though the UK and its foreign policy have changed. In their view, whether it’s China, Russia, or the UK, all these foreign powers come into their countries with their interests. And none of them are genuinely looking out for the local people. So, for many African journalists, it’s not about trusting or distrusting one foreign power more than the other. They tend to be equally cautious of all foreign media, viewing them through a lens shaped by their history with colonialism.
While journalists who studied in the West might still give more respect to French or British media, that’s not the case across the continent. The general sentiment is much more skeptical of foreign press, even if they treat Western media like the BBC differently from Chinese or Russian outlets. And that’s where the real difference lies. Western journalists might see China or Russia as dictatorships that control information, which requires caution when handling their news. However, for many African journalists, that same level of skepticism should also be applied to French or British outlets, given that they, too, have agendas. [Source]
Despite their skepticism, many African journalists are themselves active participants in the reproduction of foreign media narratives on the continent. J. Siguru Wahutu published an article in the International Journal of Press/Politics last month titled “Consuming a Foreign Africa: Outsourcing Knowledge Construction About Africa[ns],” which analyzed the extent to which African journalists privileged narratives from Western countries on important issues in contemporary African history. Similarly, Wahutu’s latest book, published in November and titled “In the Shadow of the Global North: Journalism in Postcolonial Africa,” explores the historical, cultural, and institutional forces that contributed to the marginalization of African narratives by African journalists themselves.
China has now joined Western countries as a major foreign source of knowledge production for African journalists. Chinese training programs for African journalists have flourished over the past decade, receiving thousands of media personnel from dozens of African countries in what Chinese propaganda officials hope will boost China’s soft power. Demonstrating this link, Mistura Adebusola Salaudeen and Steve Guo published an article in the Journal of Contemporary China last month that examined the efficacy of China’s soft power in Nigeria and found that Nigerians’ “personal experience (engagement with China’s presence) and their second-hand experience (exposure to China-related news in local media)” positively shape their attitudes towards China more so than any of China’s diplomatic strategies in the country. (In an interview about Chinese soft power with CDT, Maria Repnikova also touched on the effects of Chinese training programs for African journalists and how those compare to Western initiatives.)
This goal of shaping perceptions about China has been emphasized by Chinese officials in training programs for African journalists, as recent examples reveal. In December, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya said it began a training program for local journalists in Nairobi that attracted 70 participants. At the opening session, Deputy Ambassador Zhang Zhizhong stated, “Journalists and reporters, you are the core of media and also the key factor in the success of media in conveying information and shaping perceptions and leading a country or nation into the correct direction.” Last week, the Chinese Embassy in The Gambia organized an event where Gambian alumni from the China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) Program shared their experiences with dozens of young journalists about their time in China. Highlighting the goal of narrative building, Ambassador Liu Jin said that the Gambian journalists who participated in the program “not only received media training and improved their professional skills, but also witnessed and reported on a large number of stories of China-Gambia friendship and China’s development.”
These positive narratives also appear in the words of African journalists, who have portrayed China in juxtaposition to the West’s colonial history of exploiting Africa, but often as a result of participating in Chinese training programs. For example, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) published an article last month titled “African journalists hail CIPCC training programmes.” It quoted Samuel Ayammah, a reporter with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who “noted that China’s relationship with Africa is in contrast [to] the West’s often perceived condescending attitude” and who “added that China, unlike Western powers, does not carry the historical burden of colonisation and [its] associated legacy of exploitation across the African continent.” Moreover, the author of that ZBC article, Jonathan Marerwa, also participated in a journalist training program in Beijing, whose “aim is to […] promote its international image […and allow] foreign journalists to experience firsthand Beijing’s investment environment and opportunities,” as the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office described. Writing last month in Zimbabwean outlet the Chronicle, Tichaona Zindoga presented a glowing picture of new cooperation agreements between China and Zimbabwean media, including journalist training programs, that would allow them to “better tell the story of China-Africa friendship”:
Zimbabwe’s largest media companies, Zimpapers and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) as well as the news agency, New Ziana, signed Memoranda of Understanding with the China Media Group.
[…] The parties agreed to carry out pragmatic cooperation in content exchange, joint program production, personnel exchanges and technical exchanges, so as to contribute media power to consolidate the traditional friendship between China and Zimbabwe and promote the cultural exchanges and bilateral relations between the two countries to a new level.
In the larger context, China and African countries agreed that press and media cooperation was an important component of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, with great significance for promoting mutual understanding between the Chinese and African people. The two sides undertook to strengthening exchanges and dialogue, and deepen the cooperation on press and communications, so as to better tell the story of China-Africa friendship and showcase the fruitful results of their cooperation.
[…] There is no doubt the deal by CMG and local players could transform Zimbabwe’s media industry in a revolutionary way and absorb other players, journalists and media workers at a time the local sector is facing immense challenges relating to employment opportunities, sustainability and challenges occasioned by the proliferation of social media and economic challenges. [Source]
