Theauthorisaneconomist,journalistandformerheadoftheSenegalesedailyLeSoleilSince2012,ChinahasrisenfrombeingSenegal’s24th-rankedtradingpartnertoitssecond,withatradevolumeof$2.19billionin2017,accordingtoChina’sMinistryofCommerce.Thisincreasedcooperationbetweenthetwocountrieswasmadepossiblebyastrongmutualpoliticalwillatthehighestlevel.
Itisundeniable,however,thattobettermaintainandbenefitfromsustainablecooperation,thepartnercountriesneedtoestablishmutualtrust,especiallysincetheyhavedifferentcultures.Themediahaveanimportantroletoplayinthis;theycanassistindeepeningthefriendshipandpartnershipbetweenChinaandAfricaasawhole.
Forexample,afterayearinBeijing,ModouMamouneFaye,formerheadoftheEditorialBoardoftheSenegalesedailyLeSoleil,saidheadmirestheChinesemedia.Theyhavediversifiedthemselves,anticipatingthecrisisinwhichmanyWesternmediaoutletsarenowboggeddowninasaresultoffiercecompetitionfromtheInternetandsocialmedianetworks.ThislucrativediversificationstrategyhasallowedtheChinesemediatofinanciallystrengthentheiroperations.
Faye’sstayinBeijingwasmadepossiblethankstooneofChina’scooperationprogramswhichenabledadozenseniorAfricanjournaliststoundergoaformativestayinthecountry.Twoyearslater,AlyDiouf,alsofromLeSoleil,benefitedfromthesameexperience.TheAfricanjournalistswhospenttimeinChinareturnedhomewithadifferentunderstandingandamoreobjectiveviewontherealitiesofthecountry,whichoftenreceivesnegativepublicityintheWesternmedia.
Seeingisbelieving
TheexperiencesoftheSenegalesejournalistsinChinaallowedthemtocloselyfollowhowrelationsbetweenChinaandAfricancountriesareevolving.ThetradevolumebetweenthetwohasexperiencedanextraordinaryboomduetokeyandhugeChineseinvestmentsparticularlyintheinfrastructuresector.TheincreaseinChineseinvestmentsinAfricahasnotescapedthecriticismoftheWesternmedia,relayingthewordsofEuropeanandU.S.leaderswhoareapparentlyworriedabouttheriseofthisdynamicnewcooperation.
SomeWesternanalystsevengosofarastoaccuseChinaof“recolonizing”Africa.TheWesternmediahavebecomethemouthpieceoftheseattacks,forgettingthatcooperationbetweenChinaandAfricahasledtoachievementsthatthecontinenthasnotbeenabletoreachforover50yearswhileworkingwithEuropeandtheUnitedStates.OneonlyhastotakealookathowChinaiscoveredintheWesternmediatobeconvincedofthis.
InChina,themediaaremainlyownedbythestate.Duetoimportanteconomiesofscale,thecirculationofmajorChinesenewspapersusuallyexceeds1millioncopies,generatingsizeablerevenuesfromadvertising.Thisisapartfromtheadditionalresourcesderivedfromthediversificationpolicies.
Ontheotherhand,theWesternmediaaremainlyownedbylargefinancialorindustrialgroupsandareexperiencingasharpcrisisinthefaceofincreasinglyferociouscompetitiononthepartofsocialmedia.
AlyDiouf,ajournalistwiththeSenegalesenewspaperLeSoleil,coverstheNinthBRICSSummitinXiamenonaChina-AfricamediaexchangeprojectinSeptember2017COURTESYPHOTOInAfrica,foritspart,mediacompaniesareoftenentitiesrunbyformerjournalistsconvertedintomediaowners.Themoststablemediaarestate-ownedenterprises,partiallyfinancedbypublicresources.
ToovercometheglobalmediacrisisthatonlytheChinesemediaseemtohavebeenabletoavoid,itisnecessarytoimagineandimplementapragmaticcooperationprogramtoassistAfrica’smediahouses.Sincetheearly1990s,thesemediahaveplayedagreaterroleintheconsolidationofdemocracy,thestrengtheningoffreedomandthepromotionofeconomicdevelopmentonthecontinent.
Optionstoexplore
Unfortunately,inAfrica,thesmallsizeofprintmediacompaniesandtheiroverabundanceineachcountryarenotconducivetoaconsistentpolicyinsupportofthemedia.AnycooperationwithChinainthemediasectormust,therefore,takethisintoaccount.Sincethemediaareoperatinginasectorthatisoverlycompetitive,withaweakreadershipandanadvertisingmarketthatfavorsotherformsofcommunicationmedia,ChinaandAfrica,andespeciallySenegal,shouldfindanewmediacooperationdimension.
Infact,cooperationshouldfocusonseveralpoints:sharingcontentbetweentheChineseandAfricanmedia,organizingstudytoursofAfricanmediaownersandjournalistsinChina,strengtheningthestatusofforeigncorrespondentswithaworkperiodofatleastthreeyearsinBeijing,andinvestinginyoungAfricanmediacompaniesorsettingupdedicatedfinancingsupportcooperation.Todate,ChinahasdonatedcomputerhardwaretoSenegalesemediaoutletssuchasLeSoleilandfacilitatedvisitsofmediadelegationstobothcountries.
Asforcontentsharing,ElHadjHamidouKassé,ministerinchargeofcommunicationsofthepresidentoftheRepublicofSenegal,madeaneloquentplea.DuringaseminarorganizedbytheChineseEmbassyinSenegallastyearinSalyPortudal,aseasideresortsouthofDakar,heargued,“ContentsharingshouldfeatureprominentlyinthecooperationbetweentheChineseandSenegalesemedia.”Kasséexplainedthatthisapproachwouldstrengthenmutualunderstandingandtrustand“promotevaluesoffriendship,opennessandsolidaritybetweenthetwocountries.”
Today,thepartnershipmustfindanewdimension,arelevantdynamismandfurtheroptionstoexplore.Already,theFrenchmonthlyChinAfriquehasspearheadedanewformofpartnershipwithLeSoleilbyprintingitsmagazineinSenegal.Itisamutuallybeneficialarrangement,verysimilartotheonemadebyitsEnglishedition,ChinAfrica,inSouthAfrica.
Inaworldinperpetualchange,itiscriticalfortheAfricanmediatofollowtheexampleoftheChinesemodel,underwhichthemediahavebeenabletomodernizeandadapttoadifficultenvironment.Toadaptortodisappear,thisisthelessontobelearnedfromChina’smedia.
CopyeditedbyFranciscoLittleandRebecaToledoCommentsto
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