Better view with wider media window

Coverage on the ground gets a boost as chinese broadcasters present unbiased picture

In the past, Africans got to know about China and its economic and investment projects in Africa mainly through media from the West and the Middle East. China-Africa relations in large part were defined from the perspective of a third-party media.

With economic and trade exchanges between China and Africa becoming more frequent, Chinese media is starting to emerge in the continent, challenging the old media market pattern.

Xinhua News Agency has more than 25 bureaus in Africa where, as in Latin America, it is becoming a competitor to Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press. In 2006, Xinhua moved its Africa newsroom from Paris to Nairobi, and in 2011 started a Xinhua news APP in Africa.

The Chinese national broadcaster CCTV launched its English channel program Africa Live in January 2012 - the world's first media to produce special reports on Africa for an hour a day - while Western media, such as CNN and the BBC, usually report on Africa weekly. Shanghai Oriental TV came to Africa in April 2012. Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV has been there since 2006.

The increasing growth of Chinese media in Africa can be attributed to the following factors. First, after the 2008 financial crisis, media from developed countries reduced their budgets, the number of employees and office locations in Africa. In contrast, the emerging countries such as China and Russia increased investment and sent more correspondents.

Second, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Western media's distorted reports on the Darfur issue made China accelerate the globalization of its mainstream media. Third, China is closely linked to Africa in agriculture, energy and manufacturing.

It is not difficult to find several market growth points in Africa.

Because of limited economic development, there is a small number of news media organizations in Africa. The least developed countries have only one national newspaper and television station.

The overall level of the media also falls way behind that of the international mainstream media. In this context, the African market presents more opportunities to foreign media. Some African countries often broadcast CNN, Al Jazeera and other international media programs to fill the schedule.

At present, Africa's urban population accounts for only 26 percent of the total TV audience. In Kenya, only 63 percent of the urban population and 25 percent of the rural can watch TV. With economic growth and urbanization, more people will have TV in African cities and villages. Satellite and digital TV coverage will also increase rapidly, so there will be a greater demand for local news.

Seeing this huge market demand, some Chinese companies are actively cooperating with African countries, helping to lay out communication networks that in turn will greatly help Chinese media groups establish a presence in Africa.

China Beijing Star Communication Network Technology began investing in Africa in 2007, and has launched a digital TV system in Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic and Guinea.

The company and Nigerian state television set up a joint venture in 2010 in Abuja to carry out the transition from analog to digital TV.

The number of digital TV users in Nigeria has reached about 450,000. They can watch 36 domestic and foreign channels, including news, entertainment, sports, children's and movie channels. Chinese in Nigeria can watch CCTV's English channel and Phoenix international programs. It is worth mentioning that, of the seven channels run by the joint venture company, the Chinese martial arts channel is the most popular in Africa.

With China's active involvement in African economic development and the breaking of Western monopoly in the continent, Western media have criticized Chinese enterprises there. The distortion is shockingly hypocritical. Many of the reports intentionally exaggerate problems in Sino-African relations. This requires Chinese media to strengthen its network in Africa.

Although Chinese leaders have visited Africa many times, and Chinese businesses, volunteers and tourists continue to come to Africa, many ordinary people's understanding of China in Africa is still limited. In the eyes of many Africans, China is a friendly country, but seems distant and mysterious. They generally know very little of the Chinese.

With cooperation between China and Africa progressing, Africans are increasingly eager to learn about Chinese people and their culture, and demand for Chinese news has gradually increased. CCTV in 2012 and 2013 broadcast live the great migration of animals in Kenya, a first in world media, and this greatly boosted the Kenyan tourism market.

In general, as a huge, emerging economy, Africa's growth potential is unlimited in the media sector.

The author is a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin, who specializes in China-Africa policies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/10/2014 page9)