write a response paper ( communication )2

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JAMS 10 (1) pp. 21–37 Intellect Limited 2018

Journal of African Media Studies Volume 10 Number 1

© 2018 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jams.10.1.21_1

Zhang Yanqiu and Simon matingwina Communication University of China

Exploring alternative

journalistic approaches to

report on China and africa

relations? Comparative

study of two best reporting

awards projects in China

and South africa

abStraCt

The media in China and Africa have dedicated considerable space and time to issues on China, Africa and their relationship. While there is quantitative growth in terms of media coverage, there is lack of knowledge on the real issues that define the relationship. In response, University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa and Tshinghua University in China initiated reporting projects aimed at training jour- nalists on the best approaches to report on China and Africa. This study analysed all the award-winning stories by using content analysis to inquire into the issues and narratives considered significant in defining China, Africa and their relationship.

KEYwordS

Africa China constructive journalism contra-narratives Tsinghua University Wits University

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The study finds that there are differences in terms of issues and focus of the stories but this shows the diversity of the issues to be covered on China and Africa. Most significantly, the study shows that the stories from the two projects used construc- tive journalism narratives that cast new light on existing stereotypes and explore new controversies. Such narratives have the potential to create better understanding between the people of China and Africa but there is a need to ensure training of more media personnel to ensure sustainability of the initiatives.

introduCtion

Distortions in the media through the use of myths, stereotypes and partial facts have the potential to lead to misunderstandings and in worst cases lead to hate and conflict. A case in point is the television advertisement in China for Qiaobi laundry detergent that was based on a stereotypical representa- tion of people of African descent. The advertisement caught the attention of the international media and attracted critical comments for reinforcing the stereotypical representation of black people. On the other hand, some Chinese commentators blamed the western media for ‘magnifying racism in China’ to discredit China and stir the emotions of Africans and their leaders (Anon. 2017). Outside these debates, the Chinese government saw the poten- tial damage that could arise from such distortions and responded by issuing a statement that reaffirmed the government’s commitment to respecting people of all descent and that China and Africa were ‘good brothers’ (Rajagopalan et al. 2016). Extreme as the case might appear to be, it captures the potential power of media distortions to create misunderstandings, mistrust and hatred.

The media have become an important window through which people see each other and understand events in other parts of the world. In China and Africa, the media have dedicated considerable time and space to issues and events from China and African countries. Despite the quantitative growth in terms of media coverage of China and Africa, the Wits University China- Africa Reporting Project (2015) observed that there is lack of knowledge on the ‘real issues’ that define the relationship and also widespread use of stere- otypes that distort news. Another observation is that the bulk of the news on Africa falls into two categories, namely, high-level engagements reflecting diplomatic relations and achievements in various areas of cooperation and the other category mainly reflected stereotypes on Africa (Tshinghua 2016). Worth noting is the use of the term ‘real issues’ by Wits University to refer to stories on Africa that are more people centred as opposed to those based on high- level engagements between Chinese and African officials and companies, and apparently this concern is also shared by Tshinghua University.

Against these observations, Wits University in South Africa and Tshinghua University in China initiated China-Africa reporting projects to train journalists on the best approaches to report on China and Africa and also give awards to journalists with stories that closely reflect the real issues. The Wits Africa-China Reporting Project (ACRP) is under the Journalism Department at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa. The project was conceived in 2009 after the realization that despite the growing economic, social and political links between China and Africa, journalism did not seem to be adequately keeping pace (Wits China-Africa Reporting Project 2015: 4). The project is funded by the Open Society Foundation and offers reporting grants, workshops and other opportunities to African and Chinese journalists. In providing the resources to

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journalist, the project encourages collaborations to investigate complex dynam- ics and uncover untold stories, with an emphasis on people-oriented perspec- tives that illustrate the lives of the people of Africa at a time of high Africa-China interactions. On the Chinese side, the China-Africa Media Coverage Research Project was launched in 2016 under the Tshinghua University’s Islaile Epstein Research Center for Outward Communication. The two-year project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to train a number of journalists on sustained, deep and professional coverage of African non-traditional issues such as public health and agriculture (Tshinghua 2016).

The China-Africa Media Report Award is China’s first international award for journalists reporting on China and Africa. The collection and selection process of the stories was done by media experts from the media industry such as Xinhua News Agency and IFENG.com. The other judges were drawn from Gates Foundation and media scholars from Tshinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China, Communication University of China and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After accepting applications, 34 outstand- ing stories were selected as outstanding in three categories (Best Current Report Award, Best Health Report Award and Best Development Report Award).

The journalist training and awards initiatives show the importance attached to the need for media in China and Africa to go beyond traditional narratives. Questions that arise are on whether there are new journalistic narratives that are descendible in the award-winning stories in order to narrate the true expe- riences of China and Africa and at the same time push back the enduring nega- tive stereotypes. This study therefore seeks to comparatively understand the issues and narratives that are hailed as models in telling the China and Africa stories. This is significant in that the analysis of the award-winning stories offers a window to best view China, Africa and the China-Africa relationship from the perspectives of the two leading universities and their sponsors. The study compares and contrasts the topics or issues considered salient. Further, the study explores the narrative techniques used in the stories and whether or not the stories offer contra-narratives in the discourse on China and Africa. Hence, this study adds knowledge to the question of agency in terms of Chinese and African media roles in telling their own stories to the rest of the world.

LitEraturE rEviEw

This section will focus on how Chinese and Africa media have defined China and Africa and their relationship. It is acknowledged that in a global media environment where there are limited boundaries to access information, the western media have remained a major player because of their dominance in terms of technological advancements and flow of information. However, the focus of this research is on Chinese and African media. In this respect, it is prudent to review the literature on African media representation of China and Chinese media representation of Africa. Thereafter, the concept of construc- tive journalism as an alternative journalistic approach is explored to provide a framework to further understand the award-winning stories selected by Wits and Tsinghua universities.

ChinESE mEdia rEprESEntation of afriCa

China has diverse local and international media. A number of studies have focused on the Chinese international media representation of Africa but there are few studies that have focused on Chinese domestic media; hence, this

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section will focus on research on Chinese international media. In view of this gap, this study uses stories published in both Chinese local and international media. One of the leading scholars, Xiaoling Zhang (2013), has researched on CCTV Africa (now CGTN Africa). The scholar analysed the three programmes on CCTV Africa, namely Africa Live, Talk Africa and Faces of Africa. The study reveals that Africa Live had more negative stories about Africa while the other two programmes had more positive stories. Another study by Wang Xi (2012) on how Chinese media represent Africa analysed text and images of Africa in Beijing News and finds that reporting about Africa was negligible and the negative images of Africa of poverty, disease and war were featuring more in text. The images were, however, more positive than the texts. A similar study was done by Ogutu (2011) but with focus on the Chinese newspaper, China Daily Africa, and reveals that voice presence in the articles was mainly Chinese although the stories were about Africa.

A similar study focusing on CCTV (now CGTN) by Gagliardone (2013) reveals that while there was a stated desire for CCTV Africa to use ‘positive reporting’ in telling the African story, CCTV Africa avoids politically contro- versial stories and focuses on more positive narratives, such as Sino-African partnership and friendship. In support, a number of scholars highlight the issue of self-censorship of journalists in their coverage of controversial issues (Wekesa 2013; Wu 2012; Yick 2012; Rhodes 2012). However, Zhang and Matingwina (2016b) advance that CCTV Africa uses constructive jour- nalism in narrating events in Africa based on the analysis of the narratives used in the content selected from three CCTV Africa programmes. The scholars argue that the deliberate efforts to sidestep controversial issues were a reflection of the constructive journalism principle of avoiding focus on problems but instead casting light on stories that explore solutions to the problems.

The Internet has become an important platform for international commu- nication and Shen (2009) conducted a study on Chinese Internet users’ perceptions of Africans. The study of online perceptions of Africa in China reveals that Africans are represented as poor, lazy, sexist and threatening. The findings are supported by a similar study by Yinghong (2011) in a study on cyber racism. The study finds that Chinese discussions on Africans have shown blatant racialism against Africans. The studies are insightful in their focus on new media platforms that are growing in popularity. However, it is pertinent to note that while these studies show negative perceptions of Africans in cyber discussions, the characteristics of new media such as anonymity have the potential to encourage people to exaggerate and express extreme views. At the same time the views by these select individuals cannot be totally dismissed as they show the often unexpressed sentiments of some people.

The findings of the study are enlightening in that they show that the media in developing countries such as China have also maintained the nega- tive images of Africa that have been noted in western media by a number of scholars (Chidzonga 2016; Michira 2002; Mahadeo and Mckinney 2007; Mawdsley 2008). In addition, they show that Chinese media largely focused on Chinese sources and voices in narrating the events and issues in Africa. On the other hand, there is the argument that the approaches by Chinese media when reporting on Africa are in line with the tenets of constructive journalism that places emphasis on solutions and people-centred approaches to news gathering and reporting.

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afriCan mEdia rEprESEntation of China

China and Africa have developed bonds of friendship and cooperation that historians have traced as far back as 1418, when Admiral Zheng landed on the shores of East Africa. Over the centuries, the relationship has developed like an intricate web with many strands of cooperation and partnerships. The evidence of this growing relationship is seen in increasing volumes of trade, state-of-the-art infrastructure projects such as the recently commissioned Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya and investments in agriculture, mining and industry. The increased cooperation has also been reflected on the media front with establishment of Chinese media in Africa, financial and technical support to Africa media institutions and the increasing presence of China in the local African media.

China’s relationship with Africa has attracted a mixture of favourable and unfavourable images. Wasserman (2012: 1) observes that China’s presence on the continent is often viewed in stark binary terms as either an exploita- tive, predatory force or a benevolent, development partner. A number of stud- ies based on the media in Africa have reflected these contrasting images in the public and private media. A study by Mano (2016: 171) notes that the public media in Zimbabwe, The Herald, represented the relationship between Zimbabwe and China as beneficial while the privately owned media such as Daily News and NewsDay depict it as the reenactment of colonization. The findings are confirmed by Matingwina (2016) in a study that shows that the private media, Newsday, had more content (23.33 per cent) on the negative outcomes of the relationship than the public media, The Herald (1.79 per cent). Significant to note from the study is dominance of themes such as economy over themes on culture and people-to-people exchanges in both the public and the private media.

A study of African media framing of China based on newspapers from Kenya (Daily Nation), South Africa (Times) and Nigeria (Punch) by Wekesa (2015) reveals the combined finding that China is framed foremost, more pessimistically, second pragmatically and third, optimistically from the point of these newspapers. The scholar, however, notes that the margin between the three frame categories is not substantial and the three newspapers seem to be fairly balanced between optimism, pessimism and pragmatism. The study shows the two opposite views of China in the optimism and pessi- mism frames and adds a third view characterized by pragmatism frames that acknowledges the positives and negatives and seeks to get the best out of the relationship.

Worth noting from these studies is the traditional top-down approach of reporting issues with a focus on diplomatic relations, politics and economic related activities. While different perspectives are offered on these issues, they, however, do not offer much understanding of the real China and its people and rich culture and history to enable people in Africa to understand the people of China. It can be noted that the African media have been polarized on the sides of either defending China or attacking China.

ConStruCtivE journaLiSm aS an aLtErnativE journaLiStiC ConCEpt

Against the literature on Chinese media representation of Africa and African countries and African media representation of China, it is worth reviewing constructive journalism as an alternative journalistic framework.

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The shortcomings of global media structures and traditional journalistic approaches have long been noted particularly in explaining and narrating experiences of the people in developing countries. The MacBride Report (1980) noted that in addition to under-representation of news from developing coun- tries, there were qualitative distortions in the media in both developed and developing countries. It is significant to note that while the recommendations of the MacBride Report were proffered in the context of the unbalanced flow of information between the developed and developing countries, the insights remain insightful to understand the media relationships between developing countries.

The qualitative distortions result in ‘highly skewed pictures of reali- ties’, with much coverage dedicated to crises, coups and violent conflicts (MacBride Report 1980: 149). The report elaborates on how distortions of news occur by identifying the use of inaccuracies or untruths to replace facts, use of slanted interpretations and use of random facts to form the appear- ance of a complete truth as some of the causes of distortions (MacBride Report 1980: 157–58). In response to these apparent shortcomings, there have been calls for the redefinition of news and alternative forms of jour- nalism. The MacBride Report noted that in developing countries, there was a need for expansion of the concept of news so that events and issues are given a broader context that ensures their accurate presentation (1980: 157). Baran and Davis (2010) note that one of the leading framing theorists, Gans (2003: 99), was among the proponents for what he called participatory news. The defining characteristic of this type of coverage was the focus on how citi- zens routinely engage in actions that have importance for their communities and seeks to report why events and statements described by conventional journalism took place.

Constructive journalism has emerged as an alternative journalistic approach with the potential to address the major shortcomings of traditional journalism approaches. Zhang and Matingwina (2016a) locate the roots of constructive journalism approaches to the normative tradition in view of the observation by McQuail (1987) that social responsibility theory imposes a burden on media practitioners to pursue new ways to service their communities with news that reflect their perspectives. The Constructive Journalism Project (2015) defines constructive journalism as ‘rigorous, compelling reporting that includes positive and solution-focused elements in order to empower audiences and present a fuller picture of truth, while upholding journalism’s core functions and ethics’. The definition brings out the element of empowering the audiences through adoption of a journalistic style that focuses on solutions without violating the core principles of journalism.

Constructive journalism has the potential to offer alternative narratives through a number of techniques and approaches that it employs in news gath- ering and news narration. Constructive journalism entails that the media pose questions that explore conflict and common ground or solutions (Gyldensted 2011). It therefore demands that journalists and also media scholars revisit the fundamental question of journalism on how to narrate news. The standard jour- nalistic training is that a news story is narrated by answering the basic 5Ws and 1H questions (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How). However, construc- tive journalism calls for adoption of the positive psychology questioning model developed by Tomm (1988) to complement the traditional approaches to news. According to the scholar, the four types of questions that can be used by journal- ists are linear, circular, reflexive and strategic.

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Complementing the questioning techniques are narrative techniques such as accomplishment, hero, solution and context (Gyldensted 2011). These narratives form important frames to understand whether the award-winning stories from the Wits and Tshinghua reporting projects offer new narratives in telling the stories in China and Africa. However, a major concern in the discussions on constructive journalism is whether constructive journalism will replace investigative journalism. This is indeed an important question and Ellis (2014) states that ‘constructive journalism exposes the core causes of problems alongside emerging ideas and developments with the objective of expressing how change is possible and that each member of society has a role to play’. It can therefore be noted that constructive journalism will not shy away from all the controversial stories or omit some facts all for the purposes of creat- ing positive emotions, but it goes beyond all these narrations to engage the people to look at their circumstances and discuss how the situation can be improved.

It can, therefore, be noted that the top-down logic places emphasis on narrating stories from the viewpoint of the political leaders and experts report- ing on the successful engagements and supposed benefits for the people. On the other hand, the constructive journalism logic calls for people-oriented approaches to news, thus broadening the lens to view and understand China and Africa, and their relationship. These characteristics also distin- guish constructive journalism from established journalistic approaches such as investigative journalism. However, it is critical to point out that constructive journalism is not discussed in this article as better than any form of journalism but only as an alternative to complement existing approaches, thus enriching the ongoing news coverage of China and Africa by exploring more solutions and context.

Based on the literature reviewed, it worth interrogating the award-winning stories from the two universities with the view to seeking answers to the following research questions:

RQ1: What issues are given salience in the award-winning stories? RQ2: What narrative techniques were used to report on issues in China

and Africa? RQ3: What are the emerging alternative journalistic approaches in the

award-winning stories?

mEthodoLogY

The study is based on the Trailblazers: The best of the Wits China-Africa Reporting Project (2009–14) and the Tshinghua University China-Africa Report Award (2016). The entire population or all the award-winning stories were selected for the study. As a result, the study used seventeen stories from the Trailblazers: The best of the Wits China-Africa Reporting Project (2009–14) and 34 from the Tshinghua University project. The sampling is limited to the award-winning stories on the basis that the selection process had adjudged them as the best in narrating stories from China and Africa; thus, this provides an important window to interrogate what issues and approaches are used in these stories.

Content analysis was used to create meaning from the data. A number of codes had to be developed for the different research questions. On the ques- tion of issues covered, eight categories emerged after analysis of the content

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(development, economy, diplomacy, military, resources, immigration, health and others). The ‘others’ category catered for all issues outside the seven stated. On the narrative techniques used to report on the issues in China and Africa, five categories were developed. The five categories are Throw new light to existing stereotypes; Backup the existing stereotypes; Draw more attention to new controversies; Offer no new perspectives to controversies; and Raise the importance of non-controversial issues.

In analysing the approaches used in narrating the stories, four major categories were used. The first is Traditional Top-Down Narrative, which has all stories that used the vertical flow technique where news and events are reported from the perspective of government officials and other authoritative sources. The second category is Stereotype, which has oversimplified clichéd images of China and Africa. Constructive Journalism is the third category and it has four narratives;

✓ Solution: These are stories that discuss issues and proffer solutions from the perspective of the people in a particular situation.

✓ Context: These are stories that are based on holistic coverage of issues by offering background and context.

✓ Hero: Stories that focus on people who overcame numerous obstacles to change their own circumstances and those of the people around them.

✓ Accomplishment: Accomplishment narrative shows collective achieve- ments and interrogates whether lessons were learned from problems that might be life-changing.

The final category others included all stories falling outside the main three categories.

findingS

This section will focus on how the media have defined China and Africa in a global media environment where there are limited boundaries.

Salient iSSueS on China and afriCa

The selection of what is news is critical in focusing the attention of the intended readers and audiences on particular events and issues. Previous studies have shown the penchant for the bizarre or out of the ordinary when reporting on Africa and other developing countries. It was therefore worth exploring the issues that were considered salient in telling the stories of China and Africa from award-winning news reports from Wits and Tshinghua universities. Below is a graph that summarizes the salient issues.

The issue with the highest frequency for the Wits University China-Africa reporting project was resources with a frequency of (29.42%), which contrast- ingly has the lowest frequency for Tshinghua University-selected stories. The second highest frequency for Wits University is immigration (23.53%) and, interestingly, this was not covered at in the Tshinghua University stories. The third highest frequency (11.76%) has stories in the others category, which included stories on such issues as wildlife conservation, while economy had the fourth highest frequency (11.76). On the other hand, the Tshinghua University award-winning stories mainly focused on development (32.35%) and health (29.41%), which contrastingly had the lowest coverage of 5.88% each in the stories selected by Wits University. The other salient issues for

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Tshinghua University award-winning stories are economy and diplomacy, with frequencies of 14.70% each.

Significant to note from all the issues covered is the absence of issues such as war, poverty and disasters that have in the past been the major issues when both international and Chinese media reported on Africa. This shift suggests a deliberate attempt to showcase issues that have in the past have been under- reported on China, Africa and their relationship. Another significant observa- tion from the data is the glaring differences between the two universities in terms of salience of issues. The differences in terms of salience placed over issues by the two universities are significant to note. While there is no single factor that can explain these differences, it could also be attributed to the nature of sponsorship. The Tshinghua University reporting project is spon- sored by the Gates Foundation while the Wits China-Africa reporting project is sponsored by the Open Society Foundation.

narrative teChniqueS uSed in StorieS on China and afriCa

After a detailed analysis of the issues covered in the selected stories, it was therefore worth exploring the techniques used to narrate the issues. The graph below explains the techniques using four categories, namely, exploring exist- ing stereotypes; exploring new controversies; non-controversial but significant to China-Africa; and others that did not fit into any of the previous categories.

The majority of the Wits China-Africa reporting project stories explored new controversial issues in the China-Africa relationship (47.06. %). Examples of these types of stories include ‘Chinese ivory smugglers in Africa’; ‘Sweltering heat, golden dreams: Chinese galamsey in Ghana’ and ‘Chinese herbal medi- cine death sentence in Uganda’. Non-controversial issues have the second highest frequency (41.18%) while stories exploring existing stereotypes and offered new light had a frequency of 5.88% and those that reinforced existing

Figure 1: Range of issues covered in the stories selected by Wits and Tshinghua universities.

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Figure 3: Journalistic approaches evident in the stories selected by Wits and Tshinghua universities.

Figure 2: Narrative techniques used to tell stories by Wits and Tshinghua universities.

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stereotypes also had a frequency of 5.88%. In contrast, Tshinghua University- selected stories placed emphasis on exploring existing stereotypes (50%). The stories with the second highest frequency explored non-controversial issues (35.30%). Stories exploring new controversies have 8.82% frequency while stories backing existing stereotypes have the least frequency of 5.88%.

emerging journaliStiC approaCheS in StorieS on China and afriCa

How the stories of China and Africa are told is an important consideration in an inquiry on journalistic approaches to explore a better approach to report on China and Africa. All the stories were therefore put to the test using four criteria for narratives. Figure 3 above is a graph with the result.

The findings show that the large majority of the stories from the two universities have elements of constructive journalism, with Tshinghua having a higher frequency of 97.06 per cent, while Wits has 82.36 per cent of the stories using elements of constructive journalism. The Table below details the elements of constructive journalism used.

From the four constructive journalism elements, context was mostly used in the Wits University-selected stories (52.94%). It can be noted that the tech- nique was mostly used in stories that explored new controversies, thus allow- ing for story telling from a more holistic perspective. An example is the story ‘Chinese companies going for gold in Zambia’. The story explores the issue of gold mining from different perspectives, thus bringing out issues such as conflict between workers and Chinese employers and the resolution processes, environmental damage concerns and efforts made by the new Chinese mine owners. In the end, the story also dispels the rumours that Chinese workers sent to Africa were prisoners by providing background on how the rumour started and then allowing locals who have worked with Chinese to narrate their own experiences. Other stories that use the context narrative include ‘Chinese ivory smugglers in Africa’; ‘Sweltering heat, golden dreams: Chinese galamsey in Ghana’ and ‘Chinese herbal medicine death sentence in Uganda’. In all these stories, context is used to give background to controversial issues such as ivory smuggling, artisanal gold mining in Ghana and illegal traders of fake Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Other elements of construc- tive journalism used in the Wits University stories are solution (17.66%) and accomplishment (11.76%).

On the other hand, the Tshinghua University award-winning stories mostly employed solution narratives (49.05%), such as ‘China develops ark for vaccine storage’ and ‘Egypt seeks economic revival in its predica-

Table 1: Constructive journalism elements used in the stories on China and Africa.

Constructive journalism

Wits frequency (%) Tshinghua frequency (%)

Solution 17.66 47.05

Context 52.94 29.41

Hero 0 5.88

Accomplishment 11.76 11.76

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ment “Structural Healing”：China supports capacity building to help Africa develop sustainable health systems’. The approach allows journalists to move beyond the traditional top-down narratives and explore possible solu- tions from the perspectives of the people of the people faced with particular situations in Africa and China. It can be noted that the focus of the majority of the stories was on exploring existing stereotypes and the use of solution narratives therefore offers alternative views that have the potential to chal- lenge and push back existing stereotypes. Stereotypes by their nature are enduring such that they cannot be simply wished away but narratives such as solution explore the stereotype with the view of offering alternative views. Other constructive journalism narratives used in the selected Tshinghua University stories are context (29.41%), accomplishment (11.76%) and hero (5.88%).

diSCuSSion

Charting new discourses by confronting controversies

The relationship between China and African countries has been character- ized by cordial relations at the diplomatic levels and has long been described using terms such as ‘win-win’ and ‘all weather friendship’. The media from China and the majority of Africa countries, for various reasons, have in the past shied away from controversial issues and instead only sought to report on positive outcomes of the engagements (Wekesa 2013; Gagliardone 2012; Yick 2012; Rhodes 2012). Resultantly, the western media and a few African independently owned media were left to highlight such issues, largely using western interpretative frameworks. The findings from this study show that the China-Africa reporting projects from Wits and Tshinghua saw the existence of the communication gap and equipped journalists to push the traditional barriers to bring to the fore controversial issues that were once considered negative news.

The distinction between the coverage of controversial issues by western media and in the award-winning stories from Wits and Tshinghua reporting projects is the use of alternative narratives that are associated with construc- tive journalism. The earlier assumptions on constructive journalism were that it was aimed at reporting only positive outcomes. However, constructive jour- nalism scholars have underlined that unlike traditional journalistic narratives, constructive journalism will go beyond exposing controversies by locat- ing issues within their specific context and then reaching out to the people involved to narrate their experiences. This approach allows for holistic cover- age of issues that cast new light on controversial issues such as artisanal gold mining in Ghana and ivory smuggling, among other issues.

ConStruCtive journaliSm Contra-narrativeS Challenge newS diStortionS

News distortions as a result of the use of stereotypes by media have been a major concern for developing countries and numerous calls have been made for new narratives that tell the true stories of China and African countries. An analysis of the selected stories from the Wits Best of the China-Africa Reporting Project and Tsinghua China-Africa Media Coverage Awards shows that there are new contra-narratives that explore long existing stereotypes to not only debunk them but create new knowledge.

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Stereotypes by their nature are enduring; hence, they cannot be simply ignored or wished away. This research shows that the majority of the stories from the Tshinghua’s awarded coverage (50 per cent) explored existing stereo- types on China and Africa with the view of casting new light, thereby chal- lenging the stereotypes, as coverage such as ‘China’s logistic hub in Djibouti to stabilize region, protect interests’ and ‘China’s $60 billion investment in Africa, is poor generousity or Neo colonialism?’. One of the outstanding traits of these new contra-narratives is the use of constructive journalism themes such as solution that allowed for in-depth discussion of issues and then reflecting on possible solutions. Such approaches have the potential to engage media consumer and users, thereby creating a platform to challenge the existing stereotypes and news distortions.

While this is positive development in efforts to tell the true stories of China and Africa, it is pertinent to point out that debunking stereotypes and other news distortions will require sustained and deliberate use of these new contra-narratives by the majority of the media in China and Africa. This, therefore, underscores the need for expansion of training programmes offered by Wits and Tshinghua universities to more journalism institutions in China and Africa so that more journalists are equipped with the new skills and concepts.

divergenCeS on iSSueS refleCt diverSity of China and afriCa

The study shows that the Wits and Tshinghua reporting projects significantly differed on the issues and focus of the stories. The differences, however, do not reflect that one institution is better than the other but instead they reflect the diversity that exists in China and Africa. One of the major observations by Wits and Tshinghua reporting projects was that the majority of the news on China and Africa followed the traditional top-down approach, resulting in the domi- nance of news on official programmes such as aid and investment projects. As a result, there was lack of information on other issues that have the potential to create a better understanding of the people of China and Africa.

Constructive journalism entails that journalists engage the people to tell different stories from the perspectives of the people involved. The range of issues covered in the award-winning stories from the two universities there- fore shows that there are many stories in China and Africa that still remain to be told. It would, however, be folly to fail to acknowledge the role played by sponsorship in facilitating coverage of certain issues. On the other hand, questions arise on the sustainability of such initiatives since most media are not willing to shoulder the costs associated with deployment of journalists to ‘remote’ areas for longer periods, as was the case in the majority of the award- winning stories.

ConStruCtive journaliSm training to enhanCe journaliStiC SkillS in Charting new narrativeS on China and afriCa

The evidence of use of constructive journalism narratives in the award- winning stories from the reporting projects by Wits and Tsinghua univer- sities does not point to deliberate training of journalists on constructive journalism approaches. It can, however, be noted that the training offered to the journalists and the selection criteria used by the judges in selecting the best stories have many similarities to constructive journalism. While there is this convergence that has resulted in new and insightful perspectives on

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34 Journal of African Media Studies

China and Africa, we advance that the lack of formal training in construc- tive journalism in the two China-Africa reporting projects means that the elements of constructive journalism cannot be fully exploited by journalists in their narratives.

The common information gaps identified by Wits and Tsinghua univer- sities and a number of scholars on China and Africa reporting include the lack of voices of ordinary people and diverse stories. Constructive journalism has been shown to be engaging because of its people-oriented approaches (Baden 2015; Haagerup 2014). Adoption of constructive journalism in training Chinese and African journalists will equip the reporters with additional skills such as constructive questioning techniques and narratives to tell stories from many perspectives.

Another area that could potentially benefit from the full exploitation of constructive journalism as a result of formalization of training is development, which is a common concern for China and African countries. Over the past few years, the top-down approach to development has proved to be not enough for development and new approaches such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underline the central role of people-centred development initi- atives. When constructive journalism is used for development communica- tion in China and Africa, it means that the stories told go beyond the images of poor starving people in Africa and China-Africa brotherhood in Chinese media; instead, it explores how the people perceive their own situation and what solutions they need for a better understanding of China-Africa issues. It is from this perspective that we advocate the adoption of constructive journal- ism training in the two projects on China-Africa reporting and by institutions in China and Africa.

ConCLuSion

The western media, through their global dominance, have set the agenda on the discourse on China and Africa. The media in Africa appears to be caught up in this web, with binary opposites emerging in the representation of China in the public and private media. On the other hand, the media in China have shown a preference for Chinese official voices to narrate African issues and also evidence of negative representations of Africa. In cases where there are negative representations, stereotypes and even distortions could also be frequently spotted from the media coverage both in China and in Africa. Missing from these narratives are the voices of the ordinary people and perspectives that offer a deeper understanding of issues and the cultures of the people in Chinese and African countries.

The study has shown that the training offered by Wits and Tsinghua universities allowed journalists to dig deeper to explore issues once sidelined as controversial and also challenge the existing stereotypes. Evident from the stories were constructive journalism elements such as context, solution, hero and accomplishment that provide holistic coverage of issues, thereby challenging the traditional narratives in the western media and the media in China and Africa. It can be argued that the award-winning stories from the two projects have offered contra-narratives that have the potential to creating a better understanding between the people of China and Africa.

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SuggEStEd Citation

Yanqiu, Z. and Matingwina, S. (2018), ‘Exploring alternative journalistic approaches to report on China and Africa relations? Comparative study of two best reporting awards projects in China and South Africa’, Journal of African Media Studies, 10:1, pp. 21–37, doi: 10.1386/jams.10.1.21_1

Contributor dEtaiLS

Zhang Yanqiu, Professor of communication, is currently the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication at the Communication University of China (CUC). She also serves as the Director of Africa Communication Research Center, and the Director of the International Master of International Communication Program to Developing Countries.

E-mail: [email protected]

Simon Matingwina is a holder of Doctoral degree in Communication Studies from the Communication University of China (CUC). In addition, he holds a Master of Arts in International Communication degree from CUC and Master of Science in International Relations from the University of Zimbabwe. Research interests include constructive journalism, development communica- tion, public diplomacy and new media and security studies.

Contact: Communication University of China, No.1 Dingfuzhuang East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.China, 100024. E-mail: [email protected]

Zhang Yanqiu and Simon Matingwina have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

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