Team leader of the 23 media practitioners who were part of a two-week training in China, Zilani Khonje-Phiri, has challenged the participants to be agents of change and use the contacts, networks and skills acquired in China to contribute to national development.
Khonje, who is the Director of News and Programmes at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), said this in Changsha, Hunan Province, during the closing ceremony of the seminar on news reporting for Malawi.
Phiri says it is imperative to learn from China and use the skills acquired to construct a narrative that will move Malawi forward.
“The training came at the right time as the Malawi media industry is struggling to cope with the current rapid technological advancements. We, as reporters from different media houses, appreciate the knowledge shared during the training, on how China’s media is adapting to the current technological advancements. It was inspiring to learn how traditional media has integrated new forms of media to create a vibrant exciting platform that maintains the existence of traditional media in China, we appreciate,” said Khonje-Phiri.
Deputy Director of the Secretariat of China – Africa Economic Trade Expo in the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province, Zhao Yuhui, said the successful seminar is a concrete action of deepening exchanges between China and Malawi.
Zhao says he is optimistic that what the team has learnt whilst in China will be applied practically and contribute to Malawi’s media development.
“As one of China’s most active provinces in local cooperation with Africa, Hunan Province is willing to continue to promote practical corporation with Malawi in investment trade infrastructure and other contributions and make positive contributions to jointly build a higher level China Africa Community with a shared future,” said Zhong.
On her part, Dean of China-aid training Faculty at Hunan International Business Vocational Training, Fu Yunhi, commended the team for their dedication to overcoming culture, language and lifestyle barriers to achieving the common goal.
Fu said she is optimistic that the training will foster collaboration between the peoples of the two countries.
While in China, the team was trained in new media development, toured various Chinese media houses and had cultural exchange visits.
The team comprised journalists from The Nation, Times Group, Malawi News Agency, Ministry of Information, MBC and Statehouse Media.
