adminJOHANNESBURG. – At the Sixth BRICS Media Forum, media executives and experts from the BRICS countries urged further promotion of cooperation to address shared global concerns.
Media executives and professionals from the BRICS countries called for efforts to further promote cooperation to address common global challenges at the Sixth BRICS Media Forum, which kicked off in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The forum, co-hosted by China’s Xinhua News Agency and the China Energy Investment Corporation (CHN Energy), is being held under the theme of “BRICS and Africa: Strengthening Media Dialogue for a Shared and Unbiassed Future.”
“The purpose of this forum is to facilitate the successful convocation of the BRICS Summit and to further promote communication and cooperation in greater depth among BRICS media and among BRICS countries,” said Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency, at the opening ceremony of the forum.
Media outlets of BRICS countries shoulder significant responsibilities in this era and enjoy broad space for cooperation, said Fu, who is also executive chairman of the BRICS Media Forum.
The BRICS Media Forum was proposed by Xinhua News Agency and jointly initiated by mainstream media outlets from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, with the forum presidium as its top decision-making body.
“Since its inception in 2006, the BRICS mechanism has gone through 17 years and has stood the test of changes in the international landscape and become an important platform for emerging markets and developing countries to seek strength through unity,” said Hu Heping, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Culture and Tourism.
Over the past eight years, the BRICS Media Forum has been operating on a regular basis and at a high level, becoming an important platform for efficient coordination and cooperation among mainstream media of BRICS countries, Hu said.
To advance the high-quality development of cooperation among BRICS media, Fu called for promoting the shared values of humanity, jointly promoting the construction of a more just and equitable international order, better telling BRICS stories in the new era, and jointly promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
Media outlets of BRICS countries should work to build a community with a shared future for humanity, promote shared values of humanity, stay committed to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, and spread the vision of global governance featuring shared growth through discussion and collaboration, said Xinhua president.
He urged media outlets of BRICS countries to actively raise voices for fairness and justice on the international stage, promote the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, oppose hegemonism and power politics, and strive to enhance the voices and influence of emerging markets and developing countries, so as to ensure a more just and equitable international order.
The diverse cultures of the BRICS nations enrich global conversations, and the BRICS media advocate for an inclusive, cooperative and just new world order, said Iqbal Surve, executive chairman of Independent Media of South Africa.
The forum sheds light on the challenges facing developing nations, providing them with a platform to express their perspectives and aspirations, Surve said.
Enhancing the voice of BRICS countries
“Since its establishment in 2015, the BRICS Media Forum has become an important platform to enhance the voice of BRICS countries,” Dakota Legoete, a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, spoke at the opening of the forum.
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