Reporting Africa-China-US in the Biden Era: Issues, Skills, and Strategies.
After the joint Wits Africa China Reporting Project (ACRP) – African Centre for the Study of the US (ACSUS) virtual forum yesterday, we are proceeding to the second phase, namely, the publication of articles on the best approaches for covering the Africa-China-U.S. story. The articles will be published jointly by ACRP and ACSUS on their websites.
The articles should be pragmatic, offering practical strategies for African journalists working on the Africa-China-U.S. stories for print, broadcast and online media. The word count is 1200 words covering the following dimensions:
• Africa-China relations and their implications of the U.S.
• Africa-U.S. relations and their implications for China.
• China-U.S. relations and their implications for Africa.
• Africa-U.S.-China relations and their implications for the rest of the world.
Objectives/the elements of/in the stories.
The overriding objective is to provide practical journalistic knowledge and pathways to African journalists for efficiency and effectiveness in coverage of the intricate geopolitical relations. The specific objectives are:
• Provide a summarized toolkit of Africa-US-China relations that impact the relations today.
• Sensitize African journalists on the key Africa-China-U.S. topics, policies, and strategies and why they are important for African journalists.
• Provide information on the state and non-state actors including institutional or organizational names, why they are important and the individuals leading them.
• Provide key events and dates in Africa, China and the U.S. that journalists should key an eye on.
The key questions that the articles should seek to answer are:
• What will change and what will stay the same in the relations under the Biden administration?
• What will be the new opportunities and challenges for African countries?
• What will journalists need to be aware of (such as sensitivities and ideological standpoints) in order to cover this developing story?
• How should the story be covered? What will be newsworthy? What is the angle from an African perspective?
