China has no political influencers or domestic private press; all media in the country are run by the government and the ruling party, Chinese experts and researchers reminded Burkinabe journalists undergoing training in Changsha, Hunan province.
The Chinese media landscape, with more than 2,200 outlets according to Hunan Broadcasting System senior journalist Nie Xiong, is exclusively occupied by public authorities, from the central to the municipal level.
“There is no private media in China and there is no private share in public media,” said Sheng Boji, a special researcher at the office of the Hunan provincial government adviser.
Chinese media are divided into four levels according to their central, provincial, communal and district levels, which would be equivalent in Burkina Faso to the national, regional, provincial and communal levels.
“Chinese people prefer local news and entertainment channels,” said Mr. Sheng Boji, who was deputy editor-in-chief of the Hunan Broadcasting System.
Data from China
‘s National Bureau of Statistics cited by Sheng Boji indicate that Chinese radio and television programs cover 99.59 percent of the population.
Mr Sheng also said that CCTV and some 30 other provincial and professional TV stations “cover every corner of China. And each of these stations covers a population of hundreds of millions to more than a billion people.”
In Sheng’s opinion, there are also no web activists or political influencers as they exist and express themselves on social networks in Burkina Faso, for example.
Sheng points out, however, that there are many “positive” influencers, those who help sell products, and the most important of whom are subject to obligations.
“There is an internet content control office that deals with major influencers, promoters of local products, and those involved in positive influence,” the researcher noted.
In addition, all content distributed on the Internet is scrutinized by machines that remove lies and unwanted content, not to mention regulatory bodies, recom
mendations from experts and denunciations from other Internet users that help control what is distributed on the Internet, in Sheng’s opinion.
The Chinese expert further reveals that the publication of films or micro-films on the Internet requires a broadcasting license issued by the provincial authorities.
Moreover, income generated by individuals through the internet is subject to taxes, according to Zhou Huanfang, a former journalist and associate professor at Changsha University.
Zhou cited the case of an influencer who accumulated 40 million yuan last year and tried to evade taxes. The state tracked her down and fined her.
Conversely, as soon as a content reaches 500 views, it benefits from promotion from the platform so that it becomes more popular.
A delegation of media officials from Burkina Faso, led by the mission officer of the Ministry of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Bakary Koné, is participating in a training seminar in Hunan from October 11 to 31, focusing on today’s media and
cultural promotion.
The seminar is organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Hunan International Trade Professional Institute, within the framework of Burkina Faso’s cooperation with China.
Source: Burkina Information Agency