By Stephen Asante, GNA Special Correspondent, Beijing, China
Beijing, June 06, GNA – A Chinese Professor of Communication has justified the country’s strict media laws and regulations, saying that has contributed significantly to building and sustaining a stable society.
Professor Zhang Yanqiu said the Asian economic giant had also succeeded in advancing a national identity, while protecting the good norms and values of the society because the media was accountable to the people.
“Media control and solution-based journalism are some of the key factors helping China’s prosperity, progress and national security,” she said while delivering a lecture in Beijing, China.
Prof. Zhang, Director of the Africa Communication Research Centre, Communication University of China (CUC), was speaking on the topic: “Constructive Journalism for Global Development Communication”.
Juxtaposing China’s media landscape and development trends with societies having unlimited media freedom and unrestricted space to operate, she said studies indicated that the country’s model was the best.
“The media’s role is to promote the national cause, socio-economic development and good governance.
“Encouraging the dissemination of too much negative stories as pertains in some societies is not good for the people,” she noted.
She explained that constructive journalism based around solution-focused news, instead of revolving only around negative and conflict-based stories, ought to be encouraged, especially by developing countries.
That approach, she noted, helped to give stories more context while making the consumer of the news more intelligent.
“Instead of solely reporting on conflicts and problems, constructive journalism aims to gain a more comprehensive portrayal of the issues at hand,” said Prof. Zhang, also the Deputy Dean, Institute for Community with a Shared Future, CUC.
Referencing Roland Schatz, a scholar in the field of media effects, she stated that: “Negativity is an illness caught by even serious newspapers, magazines, and not least TV news broadcasters all over the western world.”
“This journalistic negativity sickness creates fear and ignorance. It is bad for the press itself, bad for the people, bad for politics, bad for business and bad for the future,” she quoted the renowned scholar.
The media landscape in China is governed by a comprehensive framework of laws and regulations designed to maintain state control over information dissemination.
These media laws serve multiple purposes, including safeguarding national security, promoting social stability, and enforcing ideological conformity.
By regulating the media, the Chinese Government seeks to ensure that the information presented to the public aligns with its political agenda and cultural values, thereby shaping public perception.
On the growing trend of citizenship journalism, Prof. Zhang noted the need for society to be wary of that development as it was a recipe for spreading false news and misinformation.
She pointed out instances where people with no knowledge about certain technical and critical issues were allowed to disseminate news on those subjects, saying they were not in the best interest of the society.
The media’s role in national development and social cohesion was very sensitive, she stated, adding that care must be taken in ensuring responsibility in the dissemination of news.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe