ABSTRACT
China–Africa relations are intensely mediated. This chapter examines China–Africa media relations as a field of study, and how this has been delineated up to the present, including different methodologies and disciplines of study. It also considers the dual role of media as not just a subject in China–Africa studies, but also an instrument for the very analysis and deliberation of the relationship. New directions in media analysis are explored, including the emergent interest in the Internet as a vector of China–Africa relations and the role of social media. In considering ways China–Africa media scholarship could advance, it notes that less is known about how African respondents and local media players are impacting China’s media practices and engagement. Irrespective of the shape the field of China–Africa media studies takes in the future, it will be even more mediated than it is now. As such, it is incumbent on researchers to trace the role of politics and power in this mediation.
