CHENGDU: Delegates at the China-Africa Media Conference of the Fourth Press Seminar for African Officials yesterday in Chengdu proposed setting up a network to facilitate the exchange of information between China and African countries.
The relationship between China and African countries has developed significantly in recent years, marked by the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held last year.
However, compared with State relations, cooperation between China and African countries in terms of news and media is not close enough, Qian Xiaoqian, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said.
Reporting by Chinese media on African countries and vice versa is fragmented. Both sides rely on Western media reports about each other, he said.
"Exchanges and cooperation between government departments in charge of the media in China and Africa have to be strengthened. Exchanges between journalists' associations and media units on both sides should also be encouraged," Qian said.
He suggested journalists visit each other's countries and that news stories and programs be exchanged freely between the two sides. Chinese media companies should be encouraged to provide news stories and programs for their African counterparts, he said.
Several of the African delegates shared Qian's view.
Thabo Masebe, chief of the African delegation and government spokesman for South Africa, said reports on China and Africa are seriously influenced by false perceptions propagated by the Western media.
The mainstream media continue to show little or no interest in South-South related or development stories. These are often seen as boring because they are not full of drama, sensationalism or negativity on which most of the mainstream media thrive, he said.
The media controlled by the West is often interested in reporting on confrontations between clans and disease in Africa, Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, the minister of information for Chad, said.
To build a strong voice that will make it possible to tell the true and accurate story of China and Africa, a media exchange network and mechanism has to be built, Gonda Banafion, special advisor to the president of Central African Republic, said.
Sponsored by Qian's office, the conference involved 28 Chinese government officials and journalists and 40 of their counterpart from more than 30 African countries.
Source: China Daily
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