Chinese media has added sparkle to the local media scene

There is a simmering revolution shaking up the media landscape in Kenya. Some sense of renewed strength, vigor and interest in all things Chinese. For Instance, I feel good watching Kenyans interviewing international figures and experts live via satellite all over the world from Nairobi on CCTV Africa live.

All the major Chinese state media with a global audience, namely China Central Television (CCTV), Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International and China Daily, have all established operations in Africa with their headquarters in Nairobi.

This is truly an exciting time, not only for Kenya but Africa in general. Most of the time, China and Africa learnt about each other from a third party, which was normally western media. International opinions were, and still are led by western media. Voices from Africa and other regions have been relatively weak. However, the entrance of Chinese media and the close exchanges and collaboration with African media will balance the situation. China and Africa can now communicate with each other more effectively, build mutual trust and eliminate misunderstanding. This is an effective way to ensure that the friendship and cooperation between China and Africa will bring opportunities to the citizens of both countries to achieve their full potential.

They have managed to portray the true picture of Africa to the Chinese people and the real China to the African people. This year, a crew from CCTV recorded a documentary of the landscape and beautiful scenery of Kenya and its magnificent wildlife. The documentary titled “Glamorous Kenya” was aired every day in China on CCTV documentary channel 9 and the effects were amazing. Chinese people are getting more interested in Kenya and Africa and the number of Chinese tourists to Kenya and Africa is rising sharply.

The Chinese media are also establishing close and constructive collaboration with Africa’s influential broadcasters to increase their capacity and share ideas for better programming and to serve both our interest. KBC channel has collaborated with CCTV to air CCTV’s “Africa live” program for one hour every day. This is just what our local media scene needed to shake up things in the newsrooms.