China in African Media: Between Influence Operations and Decolonization

(Hardback)

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Description

This book provides unique, on-the-ground insights into the expansion of Chinese media engagement and influence-building across the length and breadth of Africa.

Drawing on copious interviews with journalists from across the continent, and complementing these with detailed analyses of stories reported in ways that serve the narratives and interests of the Chinese Communist Party, Emeka Umejei explores China's ever-growing expansion of training, content-sharing, and formal media coordination initiatives across Africa. He maps these initiatives in the context of changing media economics in Africa, showing how they make strategic use of material constraints on the African side to expand Chinas footprint in the African media market. What Umejei finds is that the CCP is increasingly complementing state-led media campaigns such as the Belt and Road News Network and Belt and Road News Alliance with more local strategies, building alliances with local media organisations and co-opting critical actors in the African media ecosystem. The PRC is paying for African journalists' training in China; setting up opaque content sharing agreements along with media forums and alliances; and continuing to build soft power through its "Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages" program. All these efforts are bolstered, Umejei finds, by the retreat of Western media funding from Africa, as well as the recent failure of Western training exchanges.

This is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the past, present, and future of Chinese influence operations within African media.

Author Bio

Emeka Umejei is Research Lead for the Nigerian Community at ConflictNet, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University, UK.