Media outlets of BRICS countries have been urged to focus on global development collaboration in their reporting and news coverage.
Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, called for the focus of coverage during a speech at the Fifth BRICS Media Forum, held in Beijing on Friday.
The forum, jointly initiated with mainstream media outlets from the five BRICS countries－Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa－was attended by nearly 300 representatives of more than 170 media outlets and institutions from 73 countries and regions.
Huang said that President Xi Jinping has recently made important speeches on strengthening BRICS collaboration and advancing global development. These speeches have drawn a new blueprint for BRICS collaboration and development, giving it fresh impetus, he said.
The demands of the times and the expectations of people worldwide mean that BRICS media have certain responsibilities, Huang said, calling on them to champion development, focus on global collaboration and work together to forge a united, equal, balanced and inclusive global development partnership.
Huang called for efforts to consolidate solidarity, promote the pursuit of the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and provide more stabilizing and positive momentum for jointly building a community of security for humanity.
He also called for efforts to build friendship, carry forward the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and boost BRICS cooperation.
The Fifth BRICS Media Forum, hosted by Xinhua News Agency with the theme "Building BRICS consensus, promoting global development", was held online and offline.
Action plan issued
An action plan issued during the forum said the world is going through turbulence and transformation, and the pursuit of peace and development, fairness and justice, democracy and freedom, and win-win cooperation has become all the more vital.
The action plan urges media organizations in the BRICS countries to play their role as bridges to generate strong synergy to ensure a high-quality BRICS partnership and strengthen the mechanism of the group.
The forum supports the principle of joint development and mutual benefit, and is committed to supporting and facilitating BRICS media to jointly carry out a series of actions, the plan says.
It highlights issues such as peace, economic growth, solidarity against COVID-19, food security, climate change and digital governance.
The media of the BRICS countries will plan joint interviews, work jointly on special editions, websites and news feeds, and undertake joint production for special feature films and live broadcasts on trending topics in different places, it says.
The media outlets will work together to disseminate stories reflecting the five nations' common values, promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning among the five countries, and foster the common values of humanity.
BRICS media will work together to counter fake news, clarify fallacies, reject "doom and gloom", and oppose smear campaigns, according to the action plan.
The forum will progressively expand to include more media organizations in emerging markets and developing countries to create larger BRICS media cooperation.
