cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/44879690

Media expert and newspaper editor Mbugua N’gang’a has highlighted the double-edged nature of African media partnerships with China, noting that while they provide resources to strengthen operations, they often come at the cost of partial editorial independence to advance the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.

In an essay titled “China is Using African Media to Serve Its Interests. Will the African Press Survive?”, N’gang’a pointed to Chinese state outlets such as Xinhua and CGTN, arguing that they fail to provide balanced coverage. He contended that these outlets are flooding the rapidly expanding African media ecosystem with one-sided narratives that distort and ultimately unbalance it.

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N’gang’a contrasted Xinhua and CGTN with Western state-funded news organisations like the BBC and Voice of America (VOA), which, despite being government-backed, do not typically serve as direct mouthpieces for their governments’ policies.

He wrote:

"News organisations from Western allies of Kenya and other East African nations once held sway over the information flows in and out of East Africa. Now it is China who occupies that role in the region, and more broadly across Africa. Xinhua, China’s largest and state-run Chinese media and broadcasting organisation, currently boasts 37 Africa-based news bureaus across the continent. The BBC and The Washington Post have only two apiece, with a range of smaller offices. Can organisations such as the China Global Television Network (CGTN), or Xinhua, which are so overtly coupled to the foreign policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), be taken at face value?

“Of course, there are several other state-affiliated media organisations, such as Voice of America and the BBC, which have been active in Africa for decades. In some regions within Africa, they are so familiar that they are part of the furniture. Their presence is not a common cause of controversy, even though they are state-managed, and over the last decade, their management has been increasingly led by African voices from within Africa. Whilst they are state-owned, they are not perceived as mouthpieces or policy tools. Why, then, is Chinese media activity in Africa a cause of concern for some observers?

“Some Chinese media organisations, such as CGTN, which sits directly under the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP, are an extension of the CCP’s foreign policy. This is a critical difference between organisations like CGTN and the BBC."

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“The BBC, although government-owned, is independent of government management and is regulated by an independent board of ethics and standards. Whereas some Chinese outlets are explicitly designed to serve party needs. President Xi Jinping himself described CGTN’s mission at the launch of the channel after it rebranded as to “tell China stories well, spread China stories well, spread China’s voice well, let the world know a three-dimensional colourful China and showcase China’s role as a builder of world peace”.

This quote neatly sums up the function of media outlets such as CGTN; they exist as platforms that ultimately serve the interests of Beijing by transmitting narratives to achieve those ends.

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“So why do African nations, and indeed newspaper editors, put up with such an overt display of propaganda from a foreign actor on their soil? Partly for practical reasons. With the vast resources and reach of Chinese state-run media, some African media houses see partnering with these organisations as a way to obtain much-needed resources to tell their stories effectively. Even if those resources come coupled with an understanding of restricted topics and watered-down control (or no control at all) of the editorial position.

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“China also offers journalists a huge range of professional opportunities, from courses and qualifications to work experience trips. These opportunities are ostensibly an excellent method for African media organisations struggling with limited resources and underfunding to upskill their ambitious staff. But the other side of this coin is that training African journalists in China provides China with an excellent conduit to project its perspectives into the continent. There is an expectation that, in return for the free training courses and qualifications, China-positive stories will be frequently published. Joseph Odindo commented that he had erected a whiteboard to track which of his journalists were in China, and which were available to report the news; such was the scale of China’s training programmes for African journalists."

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