How China Used Foreign Media to Reset Image During Pandemic

WASHINGTON - In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, China sought to block news of the rapidly spreading virus, detaining those who tried to speak out. But in the months that followed, as the pandemic ravaged families and economies worldwide, Beijing sought to reset its public image through foreign media, research published Wednesday by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) shows.

A survey of 54 journalist unions in 50 countries found a rise in the number of countries reporting a visible Chinese presence in their media, from 64% to 76% in a year. In countries where China has offered support and training to local media, a higher percentage said coverage of Beijing was more favorable, the IFJ report found. "The coronavirus story over the past 12 months has been successfully used by China to create a more positive image of China, in a number of countries," Jeremy Dear, the IFJ's deputy general secretary, told VOA. Survey respondents were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 coverage of China since the start of the pandemic, with 1 being the most negative and 10 being the most positive. The survey found that the continent whose China coverage saw the greatest positive change was Europe, scoring 6.3, while North America's saw the most negative change, scoring 3.5.