Interview: Russian expert urges media to promote cooperation for mutual understanding

Russian and Chinese news organizations should strengthen cooperation in order to help the two peoples better understand each other, says a Russian media expert.

Mass media in the two countries should tell the truth about China-Russia cooperation initiatives, Andrei Bystritsky, dean of the Faculty of Communications, Media and Design at Moscow's National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.

He added that the consensus to link China's Silk Road Economic Belt undertaking with the development strategies of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union is also one of the major subjects at the China-Russia Media Forum held here of late.

He said the mass media should create a favorable atmosphere for integration, and explain to the audience the advantages their countries will enjoy.

As China-Russia relations are at an all-time high, there are broad prospects for media cooperation, which is expected to play a positive role in deepening strategic partnership and enhancing mutual understanding, he said.

Russian and Chinese media organizations have been cooperating actively, he said, citing the jointly-held media forum.

Noting that there are indeed some obstacles for media exchanges and cooperation, such as different languages and traditions, the expert suggested that a sound coordination mechanism be created to facilitate their collaboration.

"What we need badly is a good organization and management of cooperation at the intergovernmental level, so they actually could speak in a single voice, and coordinate their efforts in bilateral and global media market," he said.

In the new-media age, Bystritsky said, the traditional news reporting is no longer popular with the modern sophisticated audience who have access to a wide variety of opinions.

"Our news and information products must be more subtle. It is not enough nowadays just to tell 'what' but also 'why'," he said.

Speaking of the dominance of Western media in the international communication order, the expert said language is a main challenge for both Russian and Chinese media to strive for a bigger voice on the world stage.

He stressed that Russian and Chinese journalists must learn to compete in the cyber space as this is the future arena to fight for people's minds, he said. Endi