Cape Town - Day two of the BRICS Media Forum has kicked off in Cape Town with a panel discussion on ways to enhance cooperation among new media outlets in BRICS countries.
Tian Shubin, Chairman and President of Xinhuanet Co. Ltd, said it was imperative to build a BRICS paradigm for international new media cooperation.
Addressing delegates representing media organisations from global and BRICS nations, Shubin said that the existing relationship between member states had provided a “strong design and good foundation” for the creation of an equitable media platform.
“I think that with this media forum – the leaders have reached a consensus and this is a good sign; we have laid the foundation for new paradigms to enter into the next golden decade of re-cooperation
“(As BRICS nations), we need to enhance training and exchange programmes so that we can build up new platforms and new mechanisms and find common solutions,” Shubin said.
He suggested that the commercial interests of the international media community should not be allowed to be controlled by what he called a “new monopoly”.
“We should establish a new order to restructure (the media). There are new buyers, a new monopoly globally that have entered the new media industry. And we need to establish a more equitable media platform.
“The new media plays an important role in the new communication landscape. It can break the information divide.”
Shubin said one way to achieve this was to coordinate the BRICS voice.
“We need to have a BRICS discourse so we can reflect our own attitude, our own needs. The mission of the media is to solve – not create – problems. This is the framework we should focus on.”