Media development, DAC, and China: different approaches, same public diplomacy

More than US $441 million was spent on media development worldwide in 2012, with African countries receiving 28%of that amount. This funding came from a variety of sources, including both established Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries and emerging donors such as China. These countries and their funds represent a plethora of diverse governmental systems as well as media systems, such as public service broadcasting, privatised media, community media and, in the case of China, state-run media. This paper looks at the divergent approaches to media and development promoted by both DAC countries and China, and how ideologies have led these actors to pursue similar styles of public diplomacy and political intervention through the front of media development aid.