Fifth BRICS Media Forum issues action plan

BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Fifth BRICS Media Forum on Friday issued the Action Plan of the BRICS Media Forum for 2022-2023.

The world is enduring a new period of turbulence and transformation, and the international community's pursuit of peace and development, fairness and justice, democracy and freedom, and win-win cooperation has become all the more vital, says the action plan.

Noting that BRICS countries need dialogue and cooperation more than ever, the action plan urges the media organizations of the BRICS countries to play their role as bridges to generate strong synergy for ensuring a high-quality BRICS partnership and strengthening the BRICS mechanism to the fullest extent.

In order to usher in a new era of BRICS media cooperation, the BRICS Media Forum upholds 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 action plan says.

On sharing the BRICS stories and promoting peace and development, the action plan highlights issues such as peace, economic growth, solidarity against COVID-19, food security, climate change and digital governance. We will plan joint interviews, carry out cooperation on special editions, websites, and news feeds, and undertake joint production for special feature films and live broadcasts on trending topics at different locations. We will launch BRICS news cooperation projects, such as BRICS Influencers and BRICS Link, to promote the core theme of peace and development and generate positive synergy that will benefit the five countries, it says.

On promoting common values and upholding fairness and justice, the action plan says we will work unitedly to share the outcomes of BRICS civilization and wisdom, disseminate the stories of our common values, promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning among our five countries, and foster the common values of humankind. The BRICS media will enhance solidarity and speak with a united voice on major regional and international issues, and champion the legitimate demands of emerging markets and developing countries. We will strengthen cooperation to tackle fake news, clarify fallacies, reject doom and gloom, and oppose any deliberate smear campaigns. We will increase the influence of BRICS perspectives in the international arena, and work together to maintain order in international communication.

On exploring IT empowerment and innovative cooperation models, the action plan says BRICS media outlets are encouraged to optimize their own strengths. We will strengthen mutual learning and exchanges on the application of new technologies and media, such as AI anchors, satellite news, smart content production, smart media broadcasting, and integrated media products, and forge collaboration in areas such as international social media platforms to jointly create a new model of media cooperation.

On promoting the high-quality development of the forum, the action plan says the BRICS Media Forum will implement the XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration, and continue to hold the BRICS international journalism training program. The forum will progressively expand to include more media organizations from emerging markets and developing nations to create larger BRICS media cooperation. Through initiatives like the BRICS Media Joint Photo Exhibitions and other projects, we will actively expand practical cooperation in areas such as news reporting, think tank exchanges, information services, personnel training, and digital media.

The BRICS Media Forum was proposed by Xinhua News Agency in 2015 and jointly initiated with mainstream media outlets from Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa.

This year's event was a high-level media dialogue and exchange event following the 14th BRICS Summit. It was attended by nearly 300 representatives of over 170 media outlets and institutions from 73 countries and regions. ■