How Media of the BRICS Association are Reconfiguring Global Media Power

The BRICS association is made up of five of the worlds fastest emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Among its objectives is to adopt self-sufficiency instead of depending on the domination of institutions from Western nations. Media organizations from the BRICS member states are looking at opportunities for a shared future. They recently launched the Action Plan to Strengthen Cooperation Among BRICS Media. This plan advocates for united efforts to balance global opinions, deepen understanding among citizens of member countries, and enhance the medias social responsibility. They will try to expand their cooperation, set up digital platforms for BRICS, as well as offer financial information services. This essay shows how the media of the nations from the BRICS association are reconfiguring global media power. It will in particular focus on the media from China.

The past decade or so has seen BRICS expand into a platform for multilateral cooperation and dialogue. More than 60 mechanisms of cooperation have been set up among the five nations despite the seemingly stagnant global economic environment. Economic aggregate of the nations account for about 23% of the world, which is an increase from 12% a decade ago. It contributes to over half of the worldwide economic growth. All in all, the BRICS association is yet to have a say in the global governance system that matches with its increasing economic power. There is skepticism on the international stage over the developmental prospects of member countries and even the association itself. This situation increases the need for more media cooperation.

A lot has happened since the initial agreement reached in December 2015 in Beijing at the BRICS Media Forum. For instance, there has been an increase in exchanges between the media organizations of member countries since that time. The interactions led to the establishment of a liaison office in 2016 whose role is to organize and coordinate relations between the media. The significant role played by the internet and information technology in media also paved way for further cooperation of BRICS media. Technology appears to put an end to the monopoly of information. Media outlets of member nations are now on a par with their counterparts from western countries. The astronomical rise of mobile devices and video clips has contributed to the wave. To take advantage of the momentum, a sharing and cooperative momentum called On-Scene Cloud was set up by the Xinhua News Agency in 2016. It provides BRICS media outlets with new media services such as channels, programs and content for free. In addition, the Agency intends to spend $ 1 million to establish the BRICS Media Fund. This fund will support pragmatic collaboration that includes training, exchange visits and interviews. As the association enters its second decade, the media organizations of member states are looking united. They appear set to continue serving as the solid link between BRICS nations while at the same time boosting the associations joint development.

For a long time, Chinas system of domestic internet censorship was perceived as a textbook example of how an authoritarian government can stifle the political effect of information and communication technology. The system has managed to filter out politically sensitive information and undermine collective action. At the same time, it still allows the vast majority of internet users in China to access entertainment, social networks, and certain forms of news. All in all, the country is no longer content with merely managing the information space within its own borders. It has now shifted its attention to other areas, trying to exert its influence over the global information environment. Through a blend of propaganda, market-oriented mechanisms, action and pressure tactics in the international arena, China is trying to hitch the worldwide information ecosystems in ways that have not been witnesses before. The nation has mainly focused on three avenues: controlling the evolution of the internet globally, influencing global culture via Hollywood, and outlining international news media. The cumulative effect of this worldwide reach is yet to be fully analyzed or understood.

The Chinese multidimensional effort mirrors a modern and nuanced understanding of what power is made up of in this age of information. When it comes to taking advantage of the global information ecosystem, China is definitely not the only authoritarian regime doing that. Russia, its fellow BRICS member, has a series of disinformation campaigns in place that have been dominating news cycles in recent times. However, China now has the most comprehensive and successful such authoritative power of this kind, and acts as an example to other BRICS members on how it is done. Beijing may claim that it is not trying to promote its own political system. However, its successes can encourage other BRICS member states to also try and reconfigure global media power. In turn, such a situation can go a long way in undermining existing democratic institutions and ensuring that international media outlets are not inclined towards democracy. The efforts that China is putting to dominate the media across the world can have far-reaching effects of global democracy and how the international order is currently structured.

While many media outlets from the west are undergoing budget cuts, those from China are busy recruiting staff members and expanding their offices. For example, Xinhua News Agency at the moment has more than 180 news bureaus across the world, publishing news text, audio/video programmes and photographs in several languages around the clock. China Central Television (CCTV) broadcasts to 171 nations and regions in 6 United Nations official languages, and has more than 70 foreign bureaus. China Radio International is the second largest radio station in the world after the British Broadcasting Corporation, broadcasts from 32 foreign bureaus in 64 languages and reaches 90 radio stations across the world. Other official Chinese media outlets such as Peoples Daily, China Daily and Economic Daily are all stepping up their efforts of global appeal.

In the current digital era, Chinese media outlets are avid users of social networking websites, just like many of their western counterparts. For instance, Xinhua News Agency re-launched its worldwide social media platforms in January 2015. It rebranded its Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts under an integrated title New China, which is a literal translation of the word Xinhua. By July that year, it had accumulated 1.5 million followers on Facebook, 2.1 million Twitter likes and 58,000 followers on YouTube. In August, the agency launched Spanish language accounts on the three platforms. Likewise, CCTV News, China Daily, Peoples Daily, and an English language newspaper under the Peoples Daily Group called Global Times are all active participants on English social media. They have content updated on an hourly basis that features not just stories from China. It also included increasingly worldwide news which tends to appeal to a wider range of social media users.

Apart from the government-run media outlets, Chinese provincial and business media are also spreading their wings to overseas markets. For instance, a television channel under Shanghai Media Group called China Business Network was incorporated to Starhub TV of Singapore. Well-known provincial television stations such as Hunan TV, Beijing TV, Jiangsu TV and Guangdong TV are enjoying a growth in viewership from a global audience after they partnered with overseas satellite TV program providers. A top entertainment channel called Zhejiang TV that took over The Voice of China show is now exporting its own content.

Mobile applications present a new gateway for Chinese media. Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba all count as media considering that they are content producers. In addition, they happen to be super platform apps that provide users with the opportunity to connect to more content. The globalization of these and other upcoming Chinese apps are increasing the chances of users from other countries of acquiring information related to China. WeChat by Tencent has more than a billion users across the world, can be accessed in over 20 language version in at least 200 nations and regions. Tmall by Alibaba is concentrating on expanding overseas. The Baidu search engine has been adapted to several languages for countries such as Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia and BRICS member Brazil, and can serve more than 30 million overseas users each month.

When it comes to international news reporting, China strives to maintain coverage that is favorable to its own interests. It does this by influencing and pressuring how foreign media report news, and setting up its own outward-leaning news media to non-Chinese audiences. It also influences the values and structures of the media in foreign jurisdictions where it has notable influence. The evolution of the internet globally is another strategy that China utilizes to reconfigure global media power. Together with other authoritative BRICS members like Russia, it has been a supporter of internet sovereignty that favors forceful tactics aimed at controlling the spread of information. The country has put in place erudite cyber capabilities while at the same time promoting the interests of its biggest internet companies located abroad. All in all, such an approach can undermine the trust that users have in the global internet and restrict free flow of information across the world.

China may be engaged in a wide range of efforts aimed at boosting its cultural soft power. Notable examples include sports, language and cultural institutes, and festivals. However, its arrangement with Hollywood presents the biggest potential reach. Since China is increasingly becoming a crucial market for Hollywood films, the film industry has been striking deals that gives it access to that market. However, there is a catch in that the films undergo heavy Chinese censorship. Their content are either reproduced to fit the Chinese market or edited to remove anything considered politically sensitive by the government. The edited film versions are also more likely to include positive depictions of the Chinese culture.

For the BRICS cooperation to endure another golden decade, there has to be some joint efforts by media outlets of member nations. The media is expected to highlight the cooperations bright future, support a win-win way of working together, and promote cultural exchanges and friendship among members. Media in BRICS nations should study the world economic situation together and deal with it. Also, they should better showcase the strong actions and firm will of the cooperation in creating an open world economy.

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