NAIROBI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The entry of Chinese media houses into Africa has been a positive force for the continent's media industry, experts said on Tuesday.
Tom Mshindi, former managing editor of Nation Newspaper Group and former CEO of Standard Newspaper Group said that Chinese investments have opened up more opportunities in all sectors related to journalism.
"The advantage that the Chinese have is that they have the resources to help train African journalists and expose them to the latest technology," Mshindi said during the China-Africa media cooperation forum 2020.
The high-level China-Africa media cooperation forum that was organized by the Chinese Embassy in Kenya and the Media Council of Kenya, aimed to usher in a new era of friendly exchanges, sharing of knowledge, skills and experience to realize benefits of digitization in the media industry.
Mshindi, who has also been the managing director of Monitor Publications in Uganda, observed that the media industry in the continent has been one of the beneficiaries of the growing Sino-Africa ties.
Linus Kaikai, director of strategy at Royal Media Services, said that Africa can borrow critical lessons from the Chinese media industry.
He observed that African broadcasters tend to prioritize political news, unlike their Chinese peers which look at other perspectives such as development and innovations.
He noted that Africa can also leverage Chinese technology in order to streamline its operations and reach greater audiences.
Barbra Kaija, editor of New Vision Uganda said that digitization has changed the way audiences consume news due to the rising popularity of social media platforms.
She added that African news organizations can learn from China on how to develop viable business models that can monetize their online platforms that attract traffic.
Stephen Ndegwa, a communication expert, said that a lot of Western media houses have portrayed Africa as a region afflicted by chaos, poverty and disease.
Ndegwa added that the Chinese media houses have had a positive socio-economic influence on the continent because they give an opportunity for Africa to tell its story to the rest of the world. Enditem
