Implementation And Effectiveness Of China's Media Diplomacy In Malawi

Malawi is one of Africa's smaller landlocked countries located in the eastern part of southern Africa.With a population size of 18 million,it is also known as the republic of Malawi.Malawi and Peoples Republic of China established their bilateral ties in December 2007 which was followed by the opening of embassies in Lilongwe and Beijing,in January and March 2008 and entered a brand new era of mutual beneficial corroboration and development.Media diplomacy comprises many features of public diplomacy which include media and other things that are not directly related to the latter.Media diplomacy is also defined as the procedure of expressing or getting a message across through the use of media,whilst promoting foreign policy at the same time.It has been considered as a very significant part of public diplomacy especially in this new coming media era.Various of China's media diplomatic approaches began after the two countries established ties.China has been more involved with their media diplomacy in Malawi more especially over the last 5 years.The study was conducted in order to find out how effective their approaches have been and what ways they implement media diplomacy.In this study,the researcher identified the tools used in China's media diplomacy particularly in Malawi and also the types of tools China has used with other African countries in relation to media diplomacy.It has been found that their current involvement in terms of media is in content production,content distribution,infrastructure development,professional training and direct investment.All of that varies according to the countries.Whilst other countries have greatly benefited in infrastructure development,others have benefited in content distribution.Chinese media and telecommunication companies have spread out across the African continent which is part of Beijing's “going out policy”.They have expanded and managed to branch out across the continent.One of China's reasons for its diplomatic approach has been to be able to reach out in hard to reach areas across the continent.They have made it possible for millions of people in Africa to have access to Chinese media.China's policies and programs seem to be working in favor of China as now,more than ever,many Africans are learning a lot about the Chinese culture through media diplomacy.China's media diplomacy has been implemented in many ways in Malawi and it has been proven effective as Malawi also plays a role.In order to map out Malawi's role in China's media diplomacy under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC),the Government of China has been providing technical support and personnel training for the digitization of radio and TV as well as the development of the industry in Africa.In that regard,a number of journalists from various media houses in Malawi including those from the Ministry of Information,Communication and Technology and Malawi News Agency(MANA)have had the opportunity to be trained in China.The Government of Malawi has also received a lot of provision from the Government of China for the installation of TV satellite services such as digital TV integrated with decoder,solar projector TV system and digital decoder aimed at enhancing access to information.Many Malawians have benefited from the free satellite sets while others have also benefited by purchasing affordable satellite sets from StarTimes.It is affordable and StarTimes even offers free satellite installations and have been able to reach out to areas where they had no access to digital media.Their approach through Startimes has proven very effectives as they have shown to have a good strategy when it comes to reaching out to millions of viewers.They have managed to promote digitalization and informatization to the African people and as well as to the people of Malawi.The main reason why the study was conducted was to examine the effectiveness of China's media diplomacy in Malawi.The research is of importance in order to help the Chinese government map what they are doing and if it has been very effective.As well as help identify the gaps if they are any,it would assist them with possible ways of improving China's media diplomacy.The main objective of the thesis is to examine the effectiveness of China's media diplomacy in Malawi.To be more specific,it could be divided into following specific objectives.Firstly,to identify the tools used in China's media diplomacy approach.Secondly,to examine the reason for China's diplomatic approach choice.Thirdly,to assess Malawi's role in the media diplomacy approach.Fourthly,to map out the challenges faced in implementation of the media diplomacy approach in Malawi.This research is based on two communication theories which includes two step flow theory and the framing theory.The two theories describe how people perceive the media and what sort of steps are taken when information is shared and the functions they play in the promotion of media diplomacy.And the researcher also made detailed illustration about China's media diplomacy implementation in Malawi with practical cases and data and the programs used in the promotion of media diplomacy.To map out the effectiveness as well as the challenges and risks faced in the implementation of China's media diplomacy in Malawi,a quantitative survey was conducted.From the quantitative research the findings show that even about 90.1% of the research respondents have access to media but out of this number only 59.8% have knowledge of China's media.And there were some challenges about the preferred audience and delivery language which should be improved gradually.China's media diplomacy has proven to be effective as several tools used by China for implementation in various countries are used in Malawi.According to Malawi broadcasting cooperation which is one of Malawi's media house that they have over the years been working with and still are working with China.It was stated that they provide various Chinese television programs which are aired during their peak hours.This shows how effective the messages they are trying to carry across are,as this is the time when most people are watching television.Many have benefited from the shows through education,entertainment and mostly to form an understanding of China.Not only the positive national image of China has been effectively established but also the citizens of Malawi have been benefited.China's Media diplomacy approach has been very effective as Malawi has greatly benefited economically,technologically and through exchange visits organized by the Chinese government as well as their various media houses.China's media has enriched the lives of the people of Malawi as now they are well informed regarding China/Malawi relations and about China.Besides the media providing important things,they have also been afforded the opportunity to be entertained by the shows they watch on television more especially those with Chinese content.They now know more about the Chinese culture,their music style.With being informed about China,as of now a lot of Malawians travel to China for businesses on daily basis.As they have learned a lot from current affairs,the news that they read and the shows they watch or listen to on radio.Media has proven to be a very convenient way for them to attain different types of information.