China S Media And Soft Power In Africa

This volume brings together scholars from different disciplines and nations to examine and assess the effectiveness of China's soft power initiatives in Africa. It throws light not only on China's engagement with Africa but also on how China's increasing influence is received in the African media.

Introduction -- A world of shared influence / Xiaoling Zhang -- Theoretical, historical, and global. Reflections of a soft power agnostic / Gary D. Rawnsley -- The scramble for Asian soft power in Africa / Daya Kishan Thussu -- Evolving media interactions between China and Africa / Ran Jijun -- China's promotion. How much "soft power" does China have in Africa? / Helge Rønning -- Why are Chinese media in Africa? evidence from three decades of Xinhua's news coverage of Africa / Dani Madrid-Morales -- Constructive journalism: a new journalistic paradigm of Chinese media in Africa / Zhang Yanqiu and Simon Matingwina -- Chinese perception of soft power: the role of the media in shaping Chinese views and discourses of foreign aid to Africa / May Tan-Mullins -- Perceptions in Africa. Journalists and public perceptions of the politics of China's soft power in Kenya under the "look East" foreign policy / Jacinta Mwende Maweu -- Building blocks and themes in Chinese soft power towards Africa / Bob Wekesa -- Positive portrayal of Sino-African relations in the Ethiopian press / Terje Skjerdal and Fufa Gusu -- Engaging with China's soft power in Zimbabwe: Harare citizens' perception of China-Zimbabwe relations / Winston Mano -- China's soft power in Sudan: increasing activity but how effective? / Daniel Johanson -- Conclusion. Chinese soft power in Africa: findings, perspectives, and more questions / Herman Wasserman

This book examines the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to improve China’s image around the world, thereby increasing its "soft power." This soft, attractive form of power is crucial if China is to avoid provoking an international backlash against its growing military and economic might. The volume focuses on the period since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, and is global in scope, examining the impact of Chinese policies from Hong Kong and Taiwan to Africa and South America. The book explains debates over soft power within China and delves into case studies of important policy areas for China’s global image campaign, such as film, news media and the Confucius Institutes. The most comprehensive work of its kind, the volume presents a picture of a Chinese leadership that has access to vast material resources and growing global influence but often struggles to convert these resources into genuine international affection. With a foreword by Joseph Nye, Soft Power With Chinese Characteristics will be invaluable to students and scholars of Chinese politics and Chinese media, as well as international relations and world politics more generally.

This book discusses the growing media engagement between China and Africa from the point of view of both these regions. The rapid increase in Sino-African contact has led to many controversies and debates in the media, often represented in simplistic terms and stereotypes that call for more in-depth scholarly analysis. Not only have the relationship between Africa and China made headlines in the media, but the media itself has also become increasingly central in the exchanges of capital and human resources between these two regions. The media has also become the terrain where China’s new foreign policy takes shape in the form of ‘soft power’. This volume brings together authors from Africa, China, the US, UK and Europe to provide analysis, comment and empirical evidence to deepen our understanding of how the geopolitical shift towards the emerging regions of China and Africa are playing out on media terrain. The implications for transnational flows of media capital and content on journalistic approaches, press freedom and normative frameworks are discussed, as well as how African journalists have responded to these changes. The result is a collection of perspectives that refuses simplistic conclusions about what the growing engagement between China and Africa might mean, but presents a range of arguments informed by scholarly research. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies.

Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox analyzes the debate on Chinese media expansion in Africa and its implication for the African media landscape by engaging with African journalists who train and work in Chinese media organizations based in Africa. Emeka Umejei analyzes how African journalists that enter the sphere of Chinese media, often with libertarian notions of journalism, are able to navigate the collisions and collusions that inform journalism in these settings. Through extensive interviews with African journalists, Umejei explores the constant negotiation of freedoms—including the ability to always work in relation to African reality—within state-controlled media organizations. These interviews bring to light the paradoxical nature of Chinese media organizations that both preach equality with Africa and simultaneously promote Chinese hegemony in the media, highlighting the diverse contours that shape and influence journalism practices in these settings. Scholars of journalism, media studies, African studies, international relations, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of China's use of "soft power" and assesses the impact this is having on the world and on the process of international relations.

The recent rapid growth in China’s involvement in Africa is being promoted by both Chinese and African leaders as being conducted in a spirit of cooperation, friendship and equality. In the media and informally, however, a different, less harmonious picture emerges. This book explores how China and Africa really regard each other, how official images are manufactured, and how informal images are nevertheless shaped and put forward. The book covers a wide range of areas where China-Africa exchange exists, including diplomacy, technological cooperation, sport, culture and arts exchange. The book also discusses the historical development of the relationship and how it is likely to develop going forward.

This cutting edge book explores the role of the media in the highly disputed area of China-Africa relations, notably how various aspects of the issue have been portrayed, negotiated and contested in media and academic discourses. As Africa’s biggest trading partner and creditor, China explores Africa not only as a marketplace for importing primary commodities and exporting manufactured goods, but also as a preferred testing ground for its media and telecommunication sector aspiring for further internationalization. At a time when the influence from Global North has been on the wane in the continent, emerging powers are regarded as new inspirations for Africa’s development. China in particular tries to bolster multipolarity in Africa by factoring in media influence and facilitating the digitalization process of the continent. This book offers an up-to-date geopolitical analysis of China-Africa, examining the role of communication and telecommunication in the power shift, especially in constructing social and cultural realities in which the idea of “development” has been recurrently redefined and negotiated in the public domain. This volume tackles the issue from the new perspective of mediatization, considering how the media on the one hand shapes public opinion with its narratives and a logic of its own, and on the other hand simultaneously becomes an integrated part of other institutions like politics, trade, business as more of these institutional activities are performed through both interactive and mass media.