A fascinating report has come out of a group at Oxford University that is looking at Chinese policy in Africa. The basic divide between east and west is that China prefers to fund big projects directed at government media institutions and Ministries of Information. The west, however, prefers to fund private media and puts a lot of emphasis on training individual journalists.

The other divide has to do with how each see the role of media in society. The Chinese view is that journalism should strive for social harmony and advancing the development agenda. Western media practice sees journalists as watchdogs and critics of those in power. It’s not surprising that many African leaders are leaning more towards the Chinese view of things.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has just released an analysis of Africa’s increasingly harsh treatment of its journalists.

The Oxford report should be of interest to students of China’s Africa policy as well as media assistance in general. It has some great suggestions for further research in these areas.

Michael Keating