China's International Communication strategy in Latin America: the implications for the region and beyond (CICLA)

This project examines China's International Communication strategy and the implications for journalism and the public sphere in Latin America. Beyond the primary goal of reshaping its international image through gaining control of the narrative on local media organisations overseas, China's influence strategy is instrumental to achieving geopolitical goals. Over the past decade, the organisation of China-Latin American media summits has enabled the signing of cooperation agreements between Chinese and Latin American news organisations. Journalists from more than a dozen Latin American countries have participated in training courses in China. At the same time, there has been an increased use of Chinese sources by some of the most prominent newspapers and broadcasters in Latin America. Considering this, the overall aim of this project is to evaluate the extent and impact of China's communication strategy in Latin America. It will do so in three ways: 1) It will unveil and map out the ways in which China is seeking to influence the media in the region by analysing Chinese policy documents; 2) it will evaluate the impact of Chinese influence on the public sphere and for the practice of journalists in the region, by interviewing journalists that participated in training courses in China or work for media organisations that signed cooperation agreements with Chinese partners, as well as by critically analysing the reports produced by them; 3) it will gauge audience response by conducting an innovative framing study articulated through focus groups, which will test how the public engages with the narratives spread by Beijing and its "constructive journalism" approach. Empirically this study will contribute to the understanding of Chinese global influence strategy and the implications on the public sphere. Conceptually, it will challenge our knowledge of public diplomacy and international media flows, and the effects on journalism in national and regional media ecosystems.