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Fidelis Munyoro-Chief Court Reporter
China’s national news agency Xinhua, is seeking to bolster its ties with Zimpapers, built on common news values of both institutions for the benefit of its peoples in the era of technological advancement.
A five-member delegation led by Xinhua News Agency deputy director of African Regional Bureau Li Wenfei visited The Herald yesterday as the two seek to fortify their strategic ties on the media landscape — sharing information, exchange programmes and technology.
The delegation toured The Herald newsroom before holding a bilateral meeting with the Editor Victoria Ruzvidzo and her team.
Li stressed the need for the two institutions to work together to advance the narrative of China-Africa.
China’s role in Africa defies conventional stereotypes and punchy news headlines. The country is both a long-established diplomatic partner and a big investor in Africa.
Chinese interests on the continent span across investment, trade, security and diplomacy.
It is a major aid donor, but the scope and mode of Chinese practices are poorly understood and often misquoted in the press, hence the two institutions want to explore ways to counterbalance the negative reports aimed at discrediting the Sino-Africa relations.
“The Herald newspaper is a leading paper in Zimbabwe and Xinhua news agency is a leading media institution around the world and we need to work together to defend our position and trash the negative perceptions over China and Africa relations,” said Li.
“Because the relationship between our two countries is stronger, our media needs to scale up our publications. We need to fight together. We need to strengthen our discourse, media and the narratives to fight the negative perceptions.”
Li said given the long history of The Herald and Xinhua News Agency, the two had a strong suit to counterbalance the negative reports around the Sino-Africa engagement.
Speaking at the same occasion, Mrs Ruzvidzo extolled Xinhua for producing sound and sober news reports and analyses in the face of a barrage of toxic information spewed about Sino-Africa relations by media outlets from unfriendly countries.
She urged both institutions to fuse their relations and explore further ways of co-operation given that the media sector continues to evolve.
“We feel as The Herald, as the biggest local newspaper and you, as the biggest news agency, we need to consolidate our relations now and going forward, more so in terms of content and technology,” she said.
“Xinhua produces sober news and analyses. There is not much politicking or tainting of information to suit certain narratives. You report as it is and we want to appreciate that.
“The relationship between our two countries demands that our two institutions should also be closer in terms of information sharing,” said Mrs Ruzvidzo.
Xinhua and The Herald share stories and information about Zimbabwe, China and the continent at large.
“Also in the advent of fake news, we need to fight together against this. We are duty-bound to give people the correct information, news and analyses. Our readers and audiences expect us to do so. They run to us to authenticate information they get on the social media.
“Therefore, our strategic relationship means they can access better or more information from the two of us,” she said.
Mrs Ruzvidzo also suggested that the two organisations could initiate exchange programmes to equip their media personnel with requisite skills, especially in this era of advanced technology.
Online Reporter