Zhang Yanqiu (Left) is a professor from Institution of Communication Studies at Communication University of China.
Wang Mei (Middle) is executive editor of International Communications by China Foreign Language Publishing Administration.
Jia Wenshan (Right) is a professor from School of Journalism and Communicaiton at Renmin University of China. He is also a professor from the Department of Communication Studies at Chapman University.
Photos: Ma Yuhong/CSST

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With globalization, the spread of information has become more international and more diverse, opening opportunities for deeper exchange among countries. However, Western nations have long dominated the mainstream discourse, creating information inequality. China calls for a discourse construction that corresponds with its rising economy. In this context, scholars were invited by Social Sciences in China Press to a recent forum on international communication to explore ways to enhance the country’s global communication and build its discourse in international academia.

 

Status-quo of Chinese journalism, communication
Zhang Yanqiu: China’s journalism has drawn attention from Western and African countries as China’s state-run media organizations have been making moves on the global stage in recent years. In 2012, the CCTV Africa channel set up a production center and broadcast its programs on African soil, marking a milestone for its history on the continent. But criticism followed. For example, some African scholars feared that the move may change the free media environment or pose a threat to the already fragile democracy there. Meanwhile, some others held that Chinese media supplies a different perspective that is a supplement to its Western counterparts.
It is notable that African and Western scholars tend to put their critical-toned journalism in opposition to Chinese journalism’s more active and positive reports. Therefore, China’s international communication gets little praise for its discourse and value. I think it is too simple to define China’s communication in Africa as simply positive reports. And the assertion is partial that the history of Chinese communication is all about good news.

Under the critical conceptual framework, the Western reports about China and Africa have long been negative and stereotyped, whereas China and African countries are pursuing peace and development through cooperation with the outside world. In this context, China’s state media has the unshirkable duty to convey real China in all respects. It is more an inevitable choice than a way to fight back, so that China can rebuild its state image in the era of globalization.

Chinese scholars on international communication must find a way to untether from the Western academic monopoly by defining China’s news dissemination in Africa with new discourse.

Wang Mei: China is facing difficulties in international communication. The ongoing China-US trade war is only strategies and phenomena. With disputes going beyond trade, Western countries have labeled China as a threat to their overall development.

In 2017, the United States accused China and Russia of exerting sharp power across the globe in a report by the National Endowment for Democracy. The report said that China and Russia used propaganda techniques to promote their cultural and political goals. Unlike soft power, sharp power centers on distraction and the manipulation of information and is waged by dictatorships and authoritarian powers in targeted countries. The concept has been hyped by Western media and scholars.

Also, in November 2017, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission delivered a report to Congress, claiming that Chinese media had been involved in espionage and political propaganda in the United States. It called upon Congress to register relevant staff as foreign agents. In March 2017, three Republican senators advised listing the Confucius Institutes in America as foreign agents. If this happens, the credibility of these organizations will suffer a lot.

This is the complex external environment of China’s international communication.

 

Trend of social thought in Western countries
Jia Wenshan: Western countries have put an increasing emphasis on big data and artificial intelligence, particularly in the social sciences. In 2017, four journals on new media were among the world’s top ten journals on journalism and communication in the Social Sciences Citation Index, implying that traditional Western social sciences are still supporters of technological determinism. It takes time for emerging economies and developing countries to digest and localize traditional Western social sciences, while the recent Western studies on the internet and new media have abandoned previous academic paradigms. This is a problem. Their pursuit for better technology also indicates their discriminatory attitudes toward other cultures.

Other civilizations have abundant resources to amplify and develop Western social sciences system, but Western countries refuse to understand them equally. These countries also spend more effort on statistics and big data to achieve academic dominance which can help them become more powerful. As Chinese scholars, we embrace new disciplinary paradigms, but we also encourage our Western counterparts to treat other civilizations equally and discover the values embedded in other civilizations, which can amplify and develop existing knowledge systems.

Wang Mei: In most cases, people consider international communication to be an issue that only media should care about. Indeed, media is a major player in terms of technology, but international communication is a concept supported by thought, theory and discourse. And such supportive factors are our shortcomings. Universities, institutes and think tanks should lead the construction of a discourse system with Chinese characteristics.

Chinese communication studies was imported from the West, mostly following the trajectory of Western circles by adopting Western theories to examine local issues. The Chinese field has been poorly received by global academia due to a lack of scholarly discourse, which runs against the country’s significant status in the world. The phenomenon doesn’t only apply to international communication. It is true when it comes to all social sciences disciplines in China. Chinese scholars have insufficient confidence in their ability to publish research outcomes in world top journals or to succeed in global competitions. English writing skills are another barrier for them. In addition, few Chinese academic journals are available in foreign markets.

 

Constructive journalism 
Jia Wenshan: Projects funded by the National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences have produced plenty of major achievements. Many Chinese books have been released as foreign-language versions in the global publication market. With the help of renowned international publishers’ platforms, Chinese scholars who have been actively engaged in global exchanges have established English-language journals on multiple disciplines. Currently, some of these journals are on par with the top scholarly publications that were started earlier.

Since the foundation of the new China, the Chinese social sciences community has been promoting its research achievements to the world, allowing the country to increase dialogue and cooperation with global academia. In the future, there may be an innovative form of integration between the Chinese and global academies, and the impacts would be far more expansive and profound than those of the worldwide Confucius Institutes. Chinese scholars need to convey original academic concepts and theoretical systems in a way that conforms to global practices, so that these new ideas can gain currency among their foreign fellows. Only through this approach can scholarly exchanges between China and the world be promoted.

Zhang Yanqiu: The communication field in China has been working on how to tell Chinese stories well through media efforts. In my opinion, scholars can complete this mission as well by putting academic discourse to good use.

At present, the main responsibility for disseminating news in Africa falls to state-run media

organizations, whereas the international community always raises doubts about their official status. A few years ago, I proposed a concept of “constructive journalism” to interpret the role of Chinese media in international communication and shake off the “positive reports” label. Some innovative Chinese terminology could shift the field of Western-dominated journalism. Also, this term aims to redefine and explore Chinese media’s global practices in some respects, such as value orientation, thus seeking common grounds between Chinese and African media. Such interpretation can help avoid the awkwardness caused by media ownership. In addition, African countries have the intent to develop their journalism and communication, but they fall short when it comes to guidance. Therefore, the Chinese practices will probably offer experience and cases for Africa.

Some African graduate and doctoral students studying in China joined my project team. We conducted serial studies based on “constructive journalism” and published English theses over the past few years. I adopted the concept to explain China’s stance of news dissemination in Africa, which has been well received by many African journalists.

This fresh perspective has solicited attention from the West and Africa. A host of African scholars and journalists showed a great deal of interest in the concept, even though their Western counterparts, represented by Howard French, a professor at Columbia University, cast doubt on it. They hope to introduce the relevant cases to their countries’ journalism education and practice.

Speaking in terms of international communication, the purpose of “constructive journalism” is to avoid prejudice caused by negative reports, which coincides with China’s pursuit of news dissemination in Africa. “Constructive journalism” focuses on the possibility of the change and engagement of each social member. These emphases have positive implications for African development.

Based on constructionism and positive psychology, “constructive journalism” aims to generate a new journalism framework. It is a fresh attempt in the field of journalism and communication to gain a new paradigm for China’s news dissemination in Africa. The concept deserves further discussion and improvement in the future.

 

(edited by MA YUHONG)