Getting chummy with the foreign media
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With an all-around upgrading, Xinhua launched on July 1, 2009 its first TV programs designed to bring a fresh angle on current events to English-speaking audiences. Besides Chinese International, English, French and Spanish channels, CCTV inaugurated Arabic Channel last July catering to 300 million people in 22 Arabic countries. In addition, the TV powerhouse planned to have 11 international channels in seven languages by 2012.
Among a range of professional international media, China International Publishing Group (CIPG), established in October 1949, was renowned as one of the earliest and biggest. It publishes over 3,000 titles annually, operates 30 magazines and 30 websites in some 20 languages, with a readership covering over 180 countries and regions. CIPG is also a leader in selling copyrights abroad. The series Chinese Culture and Civilization, done in cooperation with Yale University, is the largest ever publishing project between China and the U.S. Of its 70 plus titles that have been published so far, several have won publication awards both in China and the U.S. Against the tide of the financial crisis, CIPG sailed through 2008 with stable growth in copyright exports, increasing its royalty incomes by 7.1 percent over the previous year.
CIPG started to implement a localization strategy in 2004. This magazine, China Today, has set up branch offices in Mexico City and Cairo to explore markets respectively for the Spanish and Arabic editions. Other magazines under CIPG like People's China (Japanese language), China (Russian), and Beijing Review (English) have also launched offices in target countries.
The philosophy of localization is also adopted by many other media. China Daily, the dominant English daily newspaper, launched a U.S. edition last February. Global Times, subordinated to the largest newspaper People's Daily, started to publish an English edition last April. Last October Xinhua, CCTV and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) started to provide free mobile news to iPhone users in the U.S. via an American partner.
The Chinese media is ready to embrace the world, remarked Liu Changle, CEO of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television. He thought the World Media Summit was the best indicator and also showed the clear thinking of Chinese policy makers. Taipei-based China Times commented in the article "China Looking for a Louder Voice," "China initiated the summit because, as a big emerging country, it requires a voice that carries as much as its economic power entails. On several occasions when the country's core interests were at stake, the government's position and vital facts failed to be reflected by international mainstream coverage." The French newspaper Nouvelles D'Europe celebrated that the rally of media magnets at the summit made the event a media Olympics and a wonderful opportunity for exchange.
As for the efforts the Chinese government has made in the interests of information transparency, David Schlesinger, Editor-in-Chief of Reuters, believes China's rapid progress is worthy of praise. Peter Tichauer, editor-in-chief of China Contact in Germany, said every department of the Chinese central government has introduced a press spokesperson, and shows greater willingness to help foreign media in their work in China.
There seems to be every reason for optimism with respect to the domestic media industry. Rupert Murdoch is certain about China's media industry, which, he believes, has the very best prospects for expanding both international influence and profit.
