-Says Namibia’s CND-News Chief, as African Media seek Strategic Partnership with Zhejiang Daily Press Group
By Francis Pelenah, Jr. (nahba2006@yahoo.ie)
CHINA- Media representatives from developing countries including Africa and Asia Pacific have established ties with the Zhejiang Daily Press Group, one of the biggest media conglomerate in Mainland China.
Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding for Media Cooperation, parties have agreed on content sharing, learning exchanges, and capacity building among others.
The MOU came out of a just-ended Zhejiang Media Cooperation and Communication Forum with International Friendship Cities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China.
The Memorandum of Understanding draws its strength from the appreciation of party outlets as being among the leading ones in their respective countries with a track record of providing timely, trustworthy and professional news to their end users.
The MOU states that ‘parties and Zhejiang can cooperate with each other for co-building featured reports on topics related to global issues or regional topics and present that content in different media forms’.
Over thirty Journalists from Africa attended the gathering with many of them signing the MOU, in a bid to cement relationship and promote the growing ties between Africa and China.
Speaking on behalf of the African contingent at the elaborate ceremony, the Chief Editor of Namibia based Current News Daily (CND-News) Elvis Muraranganda said the time is right to tell a better Sino-Africa story.
He added: “so far, Chinese-African cooperation on media has seen hordes of journalist receiving training here in China on different media exchange programs over the years. China has also contributed to the efforts of Africa in digital broadcasting, although there is still a need for improvement in the areas of signal quality, audio visual, training and retraining of African broadcasters to improve quality of reportage, especially on Sino-Africa relations.”
His comment about training were echoed among the African participants at the forum, with many believing that training will enhance a better understanding of China and Africa in order to help dismiss the negative perceptions often held about both sides.
Elvis Muraranganda concluded his speech by stressing the need for Chinese media practitioners to also journey on similar media exchange programs in Africa to see how African journalists are telling the Africa-China story on the grounds.
He wants a unitary platform for news and content exchange to ensure coherence in the reporting of Sino-Africa relations, something similar to the initiative by the Zhejiang Daily Press Group.
The Zhejiang Daily Press Group is one of the leading media conglomerate in Mainland China and operates independently of other state owned media houses in China.
The group owns 26 newspapers and magazines, radio, television, online and several other channels.
It is the official organization of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China established on June 25, 2000.
Its influence has grown beyond the borders of China and has now established relationships with over 100 media partners around the world.
The forum also brought together Journalists, Academics, Diplomats and other Think Tank drawn from Europe, Latin America, the USA and Asia.