China's charm works both ways

Greater media exchanges can provide more viewpoints for african audiences to choose from

At a recent conference in Berlin where the impact of the rising BRICS countries on media development was discussed, Shi Anbin, a professor from Tsinghua University in Beijing coined the term "charm defensive" referring to China's increased involvement in Africa's media.

This is an inversion of the term "charm offensive", more commonly used in relation to China's "going out" policy and its use of the media for public diplomacy efforts internationally. It was formalized by Joshua Kurlantzick's 2007 book, Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power is Transforming the World.

According to Shi, however, China's efforts to obtain a bigger media footprint on the African continent should not only be seen as an "offensive" - a campaign to strengthen its own position - but also as a way for China to defend itself against the negative images that the global media have been producing.

The reality is probably somewhere in between. China has clearly made an effort to extend its media frontiers in Africa. At the same time, this increased presence should not only be seen in terms of China's public diplomacy efforts. It also could have the effect of offering an alternative perspective on China to African media audiences and practitioners who may desire alternative sources of information about China to those they can find in the mainstream global media.

Some observers have noted that China's increased investment in Africa may be seen as a way to influence opinion on the continent and present a positive image of China to counteract negative stereotyping and fear-mongering in the African media.

Examples of China's media presence on the continent include the launch of the state broadcaster China Central Television's African operations in Nairobi in 2010. This presence makes it possible for CCTV news reports to be broadcast across the continent.

The state news agency Xinhua has been present on the continent since the 1980s, but in 2011 launched an application that makes its news service available to the continent's millions of mobile phone users. Xinhua's English-language channel CNC World is now also being broadcast to subscribers of the digital satellite television platform DStv, after the South Africa-based company MIH agreed to carry it on its African networks.

On the print side, the opening of the bureau in Nairobi of this newspaper, China Daily, has extended its reach to English-language readers in these major African centers, as well as online.

Exchange programs for media groups and journalists to visit China and vice-versa have also been seen as a way to further extend cultural influence.

The South African media company Naspers is benefiting greatly from its investment in the media platform Tencent in China. Media are therefore part and parcel of the flow and counter-flow of capital between Africa and China.

These involvements have not always been without controversy. Some critics - for example, the media commentator and journalism professor Anton Harber - have said that the Chinese media culture will not sit easily with the media culture in some African countries, such as South Africa.

Other editors, such as the secretary-general of the South African National Editors' Forum, Hopewell Radebe, seem less concerned about the suggested influence of China on the South African media. Radebe has been quoted as saying that Chinese investment in South African media will be "business and nothing more than that".

Content analyses of South African media reports about China's involvement in South Africa have generally been balanced, although these stories have largely concentrated on business aspects and not so much on cultural, social or media-related matters. There does not seem to be uniformity or consensus about the impact of these developments, and they are likely to continue to be a point of debate.

Some journalists and editors on the other hand have welcomed the greater availability of Chinese media in Africa. These editors see the range of Chinese media as contributing more perspectives on China and helping them understand the growing relations between China and Africa.

In a recent study, South African editors indicated that they consult Chinese media from time to time to understand what the official Chinese state perspective on developments such as the BRICS group and international relations are. Some have declared that the opportunity to access Xinhua, for example, has made it possible for them to develop a more nuanced understanding of China-Africa relations.

It would therefore seem that the increased presence of Chinese media on the African continent can both be read as a charm offensive and a charm defensive, and that greater exchanges between these various media perspectives - despite their different media cultures - can ultimately provide a bigger range of viewpoints for African audiences to choose from.

The author is professor in the School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa.

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