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In recent years, China has made tremendous efforts to increase its soft power in Africa by expanding the presence of its media on this continent. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of Chinese media in Africa by examining public perceptions of its presence in Kenya, especially with regard to the audience’s knowledge about CCTV Africa andChina Daily. Against the backdrop of scholarly criticism, the study focuses on the issues of independence and the credibility of Chinese media in Africa. The findings showed that Chinese media in general helped to promote the public’s understanding of China, and their role was viewed as providing an alternative channel of information with potential benefits for Sino–Kenyan relations. However, the findings also showed that the engagement of Chinese media as a soft power in Kenya has not yet shown the intended effects. Both the awareness and influence of the Chinese media in Kenya are limited compared to the dominance of Western media. Therefore, Chinese media should consider a balanced strategy to achieve a favorable influence in Africa by addressing the challenges of Chinese journalistic stereotypes, the African free media environment, and reasonable narrative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Media engagement in Africa is a component of China’s contemporary strategy of public diplomacy, which is aimed at promoting deep bilateral diplomatic and economic relations. This article provides the context and impetus that have motivated Chinese state media players to provide their own content and points of view since 2009. Although China’s public diplomacy seeks to achieve a widely enabling environment rather than specific objectives, its singular approach to the dynamic and changing continent of Africa is overly simple. In this article, the case study of South Africa is used to demonstrate the limits and potential of China’s engagement in public diplomacy. This article also highlights the nature of South Africa–China relations and the South African landscape as defining factors that affect China’s meaningful engagement in that country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the influence of African mass media and communication technologies on China. An overview of the economic aspects of the international relations between China and Africa, as well as its implications for development in latter, is offered. Information on the share of Chinese resources to media and telecommunications in supporting Africa's information infrastructure is also discussed.

Does the news element of theAfrica Liveprogram broadcast by CCTV News represent an alternative to influential Western global news agendas? The Chinese state broadcaster promised “African news from an African viewpoint” when it launched the program in 2012 from its new broadcast center in Nairobi featuring African reporters and presenters. However, ultimate editorial control resides in CCTV’s headquarters in Beijing. In 2014, in a comparison with BBC World News TV’sFocus on Africaprogram – also launched in 2012 with similar ambitions and a similar parent broadcaster outside Africa –Africa Live’s news bulletins underwent quantitative content analysis. Qualitative comparative multi-modal discourse analysis was applied to selected news events. The early results from this continuing project indicate substantial differences in the way the two broadcasters set about their goal of delivering an “African story”. AlthoughAfrica Livedid indeed show signs of developing an alternative to the “Western gaze”, which reduces Africa to a litany of conflicts and famines, Chinese subject matter and Chinese interests had a disproportionate effect on its editorial agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, China's increased economic activity in Africa has elicited much scholarly and journalistic attention. The debates about China's presence in Africa have assumed the now familiar contours of asking whether China is a friend or foe, imperialist or ally, in addition to the meaning of these developments for the old powers of the USA and Europe. While the media has often facilitated these debates, in recent years China's activity in the African media sphere has also come under scrutiny. For the past several years, China has increased noticeably its influence on the African media space. Several state-owned Chinese media houses have established offices on the continent, especially in Kenya and South Africa. These media include the news agency Xinhua, the newspaperChina Daily, China Central Television, and China Radio International. In South Africa, flows and contraflows of private media capital have also included investments both in and by China. Drawing on an exploratory survey of South African journalists across various platforms, the following aspects are investigated: • Coverage:Journalists' views on the China–South Africa relationship in general within the context of the wider BRICS grouping and their views on the media coverage of this relationship. • Norms and practices: Journalists' views on the meaning of China's media push on the continent and its involvement in the South African media landscape might mean for current norms (e.g., press freedom) and journalistic practices. • Media as vehicle for soft power: Journalists' views on the usefulness of the Chinese media as a source in their own work and the influence of such media on their conceptions of the China–Africa relationship The article concludes with some preliminary observations about the challenges that Chinese soft power faces in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Chinese entry into the African continent and the subsequent effect on soft power in global relations are of increasing interest to many scholars. This article explores local perceptions of this trend by analyzing the media coverage of China in Africa, using Uganda as a case study. The literature review of general perceptions of China in the West revealed a predominantly negative image that portrayed China as bringing neo-colonialism and a new capitalist system to Africa, thus reflecting China’s relationship with Africa as exploitative. However, our findings showed that the local perceptions of China in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa are largely neutral and positive, rather than negative. Both the engagement and the actors largely remain at government levels, and the major focus is on politics, foreign affairs, and trade. Most respondents believed that Uganda benefitted from the relationship with China, but despite the portrayal of China as a benevolent nation, a considerable part of the coverage focused on China’s lack of transparency in its procurement processes, its marginalization of local companies, and the low quality of its products. This article makes a valuable contribution to the global discourse on China–Africa relations from an African perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]