"This book interrogates the possibilities of global thinking from the south in the field of media, communication, and cultural studies. Through lenses of millennial media cultures, it refocuses the praxis of the global south in relation to the established ideas of globalization, development, and con
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ditions of postcoloniality. Bringing together original empirical work from media scholars from across the global south, the volume highlights how contemporary thinking about the region as theoretical framework - an emerging area of theory in its own right - is incomplete without due consideration being placed on narrative forms, both analogue and digital, traditional and sub-cultural. From news to music cultures, from journalism to visual culture, from screen forms to culture-jamming, the chapters in the volume explore contemporary popular forms of communication as manifested in diverse global south contexts." (Publisher description)
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"In contrast to earlier publications on Chinese propaganda and media, 'Chinese propaganda seducing the world' offers the first comprehensive analysis of propaganda from Mao to today. Here lies the book’s strength. The author, Jeanne Boden, holds a PhD in Oriental Languages and Cultures (Ghent Univ
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ersity), and draws on years of experience studying the complexity of cross-cultural cooperation, in particular, between Europe and China. She has conducted an impressive analysis of more than 2,500 photographs of propaganda in public spaces all over China taken between 1994 and 2018, and, additionally, on other formats like propaganda movies, television programs, and myriad publications. Displayed throughout the book, these materials include gems such as the unique picture taken in Lhasa in 2002 with a Chinese propaganda slogan dating back to 1966–1976 (pp.61), the somewhat surreal Communist Party Theme Park (pp.82), or the striking example of a public humiliation campaign from during the Cultural Revolution that has been turned into a tourist commodity (pp.64). Substantial context is added to the analysis. For example, how “[c]onstruction itself has become a political measure of China’s success and growth and is therefore actively put to use for political purposes” (pp.31), or how “the absence of the idea of privacy in the socialist work unit paved the way for the technologically advanced control seen in China today” (pp.142)." (Review by Jono van Belle in: Communications, vol. 45:1, 2020)
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"This book analyzes the ways in which China’s soft power growth faces dilemmas in East Asia through both online and offline platforms. One dilemma for China’s transnational soft power-field expansion lies in the intersection of its source and receiving countries. The author discusses how transna
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tional audiences’ consumption and reception of Chinese television series are shaped by domestic factors, with interpretations of and desires for different forms of capital, further inhibiting the foreign export of these series. Another dilemma is the “outsourced soft power.” While Hong Kong and Taiwan play significant roles as outsourced soft power mediators, their under-established emerging digital media platforms have yet to meet the expectations of transnational audiences in a virtual transnational soft power field. Grounded in the author’s multi-site field research focused on television spheres, Soft Power Made in China argues that China’s soft power paradox in South Korea and Japan—two quasi-Sinophone countries—is not due to a lack of state-level strategy, but linked to soft power pathways that rely on production in one source country, and both distribution and reception in a receiving country." (Publisher description)
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"The high-profile appearance of Chinese media organizations in Africa has attracted considerable attention. How Chinese correspondents in Africa actually go about their work is, however, little understood. A posting in Africa gives journalists at Xinhua News Agency or China Central Television a degr
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ee of freedom not experienced in China combined with greater local visibility than a posting in the West and more market opportunities. At the same time, it carries the rather heavy responsibility to act as a pioneer of a new, distinctive global voice for China envisaged by the Chinese government. Based on interviews and observation at several Chinese media organizations in three African locations and in Beijing over the course of 3 years, this article suggests that Chinese correspondents in Africa are unable to make use of the opportunities their postings offer. While the greater investments of Chinese media in Africa have been framed to date as a challenge to their struggling competitors, in reality, journalists working for Chinese media not only feel some of the constraints that have characterized international journalism in the past decade but also face additional ones: the problem of finding and communicating a clear identity; of remaining relevant in a space where national media are growing fast and becoming more professional; of testing new styles without appealing only to a niche." (Abstract)
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"This article uses data from seven focus groups with media and communication university students in Kenya and South Africa to explore the efficacy of Chinese-mediated public diplomacy. We show that Chinese media have little impact on students’ information habits, demonstrate that attitudes toward
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China are predominantly negative, and argue that this stereotyping affects opinions about Chinese media. We also suggest that some students’ favored news values overlap with those associated with Chinese media. This may indicate a potential affinity between the journalistic practice of Chinese media in Africa and that of future Kenyan and South African media professionals, which could increase the chances of China’s media engagements having an impact in the long term." (Abstract)
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"Introduite dès les années 1930 sur les terres africaines et durablement ancrée au lendemain de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, la radio s’est peu à peu adaptée à l’environnement culturel, social et politique africain. Ses évolutions successives ont suivi la courbe des mutations culturelles
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et sociopolitiques qui ont traversé l’histoire contemporaine du continent. Car, comme le dit André-Jean Tudesq, « on ne peut séparer les médias des sociétés dans lesquelles ils se diffusent. Ils ne forment pas un système autonome, mais participent à la fois aux systèmes politique, économique et culturel locaux » (2009). Mais si l’on s’intéresse uniquement à la situation de ce début de siècle, on pourrait noter plusieurs changements par rapport à celle de la dernière décennie du XXe siècle." (Résumé)
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"The increased presence of Chinese media in Africa has been the focus of much debate since the early 2010s. Discussions tend to revolve around issues of production and content, providing little evidence on the way audiences decode media messages aimed at extending China’s “soft power.” This ar
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ticle uses data from seven focus groups with media and communication university students in Kenya and South Africa to explore the efficacy of Chinese-mediated public diplomacy. We show that Chinese media have little impact on students’ information habits, demonstrate that attitudes toward China are predominantly negative, and argue that this stereotyping affects opinions about Chinese media. We also suggest that some students’ favored news values overlap with those associated with Chinese media. This may indicate a potential affinity between the journalistic practice of Chinese media in Africa and that of future Kenyan and South African media professionals, which could increase the chances of China’s media engagements having an impact in the long term." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the relationship between journalism in Africa and foreign investment in the African media space through an analysis of newsroom practices and the power relations that inform such practices in Chinese media organisations based in Africa. It illustrates the discrepancies between
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China's promise of mutuality and equality and the lived experiences of African journalists working in Chinese media organisations such as CGTN, Xinhua News Agency and China Daily newspaper. The article draws on the routine and organisation levels of Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchy of influences model and interviews with African journalists working in the three Chinese media organisations based in Nairobi, Kenya. The findings indicate that an African and a Chinese level of gatekeeping and journalistic agency exist within Chinese media organisations based in Africa. Even though these levels co-exist, the Chinese levels are dominant over the African." (Abstract)
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"As part of China’s ‘going out’ strategy, China is using its media to promote its views and vision to the wider world and to counter negative images in the US-dominated international media. China’s Media Go Global, the first edited collection on this subject, evaluates how the unprecedented
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expansion of Chinese media and communications is changing the global media landscape and the role of China within it. Each chapter examines a different dimension of Chinese media’s globalization, from newspapers, radio, film and television, to social media and journalism cultures and practices. Topics include the rise of Chinese news networks, China Daily as an instrument of China’s public diplomacy and the discussion around the growth of China’s state media in Africa. Other chapters discuss entertainment television, financial media and the advertising market in China." (Publisher description)
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"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 Afri
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ca 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." (Publisher description)
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"There are five key reasons why China encounters problems in trying to manage the global conversation. First, the power and scope of conversation is not under China's control, but rather resides in the audience [...] Second, the audience's image of China is conditioned by the politics of the country
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: the authoritarian politicalsystem, a flaccid approach to human rights, the rise of an aggressive style of nationalism, the treatment of dissidents [...] The third problem in China's strategy follows the second. China's public diplomacy activities strain to achieve credibility [...] Fourth, the public diplomacy architecture, with the international broadcasters securely embedded within the political system, reinforces popular suspicion that the Chinese are engaged in state-sponsored propaganda [...] Fifth, China's international broadcasters are considered by the leadership as a remedy for the apparent defects in the global flow of information. Moreover, at the heart of cultural imperialism lies a belief that power over the global flow of news and information translates into strategic and political power. However, the continued relevance of this theory is open to disucssion ..." (Conclusions, page 471-472)
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"In general, the internationalisation of China's television in the past several decades can be divided into four intertwined paths. The first is importing media and cultural products from other countries, which initiated the exchange of China's television with the outside world, and so far is still
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popularly employed by all levels of Chinese television units. The second is coproducing television products with foreign media. The third is exporting television dramas to other countries; and the fourth, which demonstrates the new trend of internationalsiationof China's television, is an aggressive strategy of expanding China's media outlets and their informational and cultural products abroad." (Page 427)
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"China’s footprint in Africa’s media sector over the last decade has reached dimensions that make it impossible to go unnoticed. In South Africa, one of the countries where this imprint is most diversified, Chinese media have been engaged in a varied range of activities, including content produc
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tion and distribution, infrastructure development, direct investment in local media and training of journalists. Building on previous exploratory studies by the authors, this paper addresses an unresolved question in the study of China’s media internationalization: the impact on journalism. Using data from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with editors, journalists and policy makers, we investigate how much influence Chinese media exercise on journalism in South Africa. We present responses along three dimensions: consumption of and attitudes towards Chinese media, impact on local journalism and views about South Africa–China relations. Our data offer evidence that, despite having substantially increased their presence, Chinese media are far from having a profound impact on media professionals. While some interviewees report the adoption of some Chinese media in their daily news consumption, scepticism towards China, and by extension its media, dominates. We discuss these findings in the context of Chinese state-owned media’s attempts to increase their discursive power globally." (Abstract)
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"This article aims to analyse the process of emergence of China-related stereotypes in Angola, which have started to appear with an increasing number of Angolans establishing direct and non-direct contacts with the Chinese. The article investigates this issue based on the content of China-related ar
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ticles and netizens’ opinions published online from 2010 to 2015 in Angolan media (altogether 5005 cases) supplemented with coded results of 61 in-depth interviews. The results of qualitative and quantitative analysis suggest that the general image of the Chinese held by Angolans is rather positive. However, the influx of Chinese migrants into this country and a relatively high number of problematic situations involving members of the Chinese diaspora have resulted in gradual worsening of the image of this specific group. Such problematic issues include the low quality of engineering projects, maltreatment of Angolan workers and a possibility of Chinese neo-colonization of Angola." (Abstract)
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"Sustained media interest in African countries, funded from deep pockets in Beijing, may well attract admirers if the coverage is positive or uncritical. The forward-looking narrative promoted by 'constructive' or 'positive' reporting may help developing nations by not crushing them under too much e
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arly scrutiny. However, lacunae in CCTV [China Central Television]. Africa's critical focus harm its overall journalistic credibility, no matter how widely its features and some of its news reporting are praised. African journalism - rooted in Western traditions — is acquiring the tools to hold its own leaders to account. CCTV Africa may disseminate Chinese soft power, but its state media position militates against the notion that it can be a source of soft power itself." (Page 117)
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"Is China's engagement in the global governance of global public goods (GPGs) credible in terms of China's projected image as a new responsible power? Only through global cooperation can GPGs such as climate and security be effectively provided. International decision-making structures are currently
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undergoing major changes due to emerging economies such as China. Despite common interests regarding GPGs and global challenges such as climate change, there are still many obstacles for the cooperation between China and Europe." (Publisher description)
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"More than US $441 million was spent on media development worldwide in 2012, with African countries receiving 28% of that amount. This funding came from a variety of sources, including both established Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries and emerging donors such as China. These countrie
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s and their funds represent a plethora of diverse governmental systems as well as media systems, such as public service broadcasting, privatised media, community media and, in the case of China, state-run media. This paper looks at the divergent approaches to media and development promoted by both DAC countries and China, and how ideologies have led these actors to pursue similar styles of public diplomacy and political intervention through the front of media development aid." (Abstract)
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