China and Chinese Media in the World - Foundation Office China
Event Reports
For the fourth time now the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation conducted together with the School of Journalism in Cologne a workshop. The participants discussed questions regarding “China and Chinese Media in the World”. The 22 participating students are currently on a two week long study tour throughout China. This year participated also students and faculty from Shanghai University, which is the local partner of the School of Journalism in Cologne.
This workshop focused mainly on the Chinese government's strategy of globalization and the - mostly- state-owned media. Furthermore, the participants investigated - very much like in the years before - the transformation of the Chinese media under the influence of social media.
Mr. ZHOU Lei (media analyst, Nanjing University) spoke at the beginning of the workshop about the relationship of Chinese media with the new Chinese soft power. He presented a different view on the rhetoric and style o Xinhua, which is the biggest state-owned news agency in China. For a better understanding of Xinhua news, he believes it is of utmost importance to give more attention to the socio-economic background then to the actual style and rhetoric of the article. Moreover, Mr. Zhou elaborated on the relationship between Chinese and international news agencies.
Anschließend stellte Professor JIA Min (China Executive Leadership Academy (CELAP)Shanghai) die strategische Herangehensweise chinesischer Medien auf dem Feld der internationalen Kommunikation vor. Er führte die Teilnehmer in die nationale und internationale Bedeutung des staatlichen Entwicklungskonzepts vom „chinesischen Traumes“ (Zhongguo meng) ein. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit widmete er den negativen Konnotationen in der Berichterstattung westlicher Medien über die Olympischen Spiele in Peking im Sommer 2008. Dasselbe gelte für die westliche Berichterstattung zu Spannungen in Tibet. Diese Erfahrungen haben zu einer Strategieänderung in der Herangehensweise staatlicher chinesischer Medien gegenüber internationalen Medien geführt. Das aktuelle Konzept des chinesischen Traumes könne nur dann voll verstanden werden, wenn auch die Biographien der aktuellen Führungsgeneration Chinas berücksichtigt würden.
Professor JIA Min (China Executive Leadership Academy, Pudong) gave a presentation on “the Chinese Dream Goes Global: The Strategic Approach of International Communication of Chinese Media”. He gave special attention to the negative connotations many aspects of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 had been presented with in Western media. He also believes that the same holds true for Western journalists reporting about the tensions in Tibet. According to Mr. Jia, it was this kind of reporting that led to a chance in the attitude Chinese state-owned news agencies approach other international media with. Furthermore, he mentioned that that concept of the “Chinese Dream” (Zhongguo meng)can only be fully understood if one pays close attention to the history and personality of the new Chinese leadership.
In the following A&Q session the participants from Cologne showed great interest in the functioning of the Chinese propaganda committee and its relationship to Chinese media.
MATTHEIS Philipp (journalist, Wirtschaftswoche) spoke about the working conditions of international journalists reporting from China and the role of the Chinese Media on the national and international level. In the eyes of Mr. Mattheis there has been an impressive modernization within Chinese media and he believes that most Westerners are not fully aware of the scale of this development. Nevertheless, he stressed repeatedly that a fundamental difference remains between Western and Chinese media. This difference has mainly to do with certain aspects of freedom of speech and independence of journalists, said Mr. Mattheis.
Mr. WEI Lai (Global Times, Beijing) introduced the audience to the characteristics of online-journalism in China. He brought attention to the enormous growth rate of social media in China. Wechat—the Chinese equivalent of WhatsApp—has already more than 600 million users. However, Mr. Jia believes this does not mean that traditional media are doomed to disappear. He did mention the tendency of decreasing revenue among most of China’s daily and weekly publications, yet, at the same time, he cited examples of Chinese print media who reopened already closed down business operations. He also referred to the case of the Global Times, who is one of the rare Chinese newspapers with steadily increasing revenue.
