Seeing double? Chinese newspapers use identical frontpages for African summit coverage
Identical front pages, headlines and choice of pictures greet readers as media outlets make sure to toe the party line
When reporting on the latest China-Africa summit, the editors of various Chinese newspapers appear to have reached the same conclusion on how to cover the story.
Four major newspapers all followed exactly the same format when presenting President Xi Jinping’s meetings with various African leaders – in what may have been an attempt to ensure that all the visiting dignitaries were given an equal billing in state media.
The Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, military newspaper PLA Daily, Economic Daily and Guangming Daily all used the same headlines, layout and pictures, showing Xi with his counterparts from Ghana and Egypt on their front pages on Sunday.
The trend continued on Monday with all the papers offering nearly identical front pages – the sole variation being Economic Daily, which ran a picture of Xi and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in addition to the main image of Xi with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The sense of déjà vu continued on the inside pages with a series of images of Xi shaking hands with several different African leaders.
Not only did all the papers run the same images in the same order, but the layout, article text and headlines were all identical.
Economic Daily is a newspaper run by the State Council which, as the name implies, has a heavy focus on economics, while Guangming Daily is a party organ aimed at the intelligentsia.
