The great China handover

A look at how Chinese media constructs continuity in times of change and helps Beijing's soft power push in Africa.

 It is not often that two superpowers choose their leaders within days of each other. Last week we looked at the coverage of the US elections - and the cacophony of media voices that covered them. This week, it was China’s turn when it announced its new leader President Xi Jinping at the once-in-a-decade political event  - the 18th Congress of the ruling Communist Party.And this time round, unlike the US, the media in China spoke with one clear voice: the official line was scripted, press conferences were tightly controlled, the internet slowed to a crawl, and Google was among the sites sporadically blocked by what has come to be known as the 'Great Firewall of China'.
In this week’s News Divide we look at how Chinese media constructs continuity in times of change.