By Raimundo Urrechaga
HAVANA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Latin American news outlets should increase ties with their Chinese counterparts to spread unbiased information about each side and reach consensus on media strategies to promote development, said Pelayo Terry, director of Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma.
"News published by Western mainstream media about China is biased because it's a socialist country. With greater media cooperation with the region we can publish true information about the Chinese reality as well as their economic and development achievements," Terry told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday before he went to Chile to participate in a China-Latin America media summit.
Terry said it is vital to increase cooperation in this field despite the political diversity in the region and the fact that hundreds of news outlets in the continent are owned by private companies.
"We must promote cooperation so that greater information about Latin America is published in Chinese media despite the geographical distance," he said, adding that new technologies and social media can also bring information from China to the region.
The Cuban journalist believed the media event in Chile will bolster media cooperation between China and Latin America, and serve as an important platform for exchanges.
The summit, organized by the State Council Information Office of China and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), is the first event of this type ever held between both regions.
Terry said there's an increasing interest in the region about China and particularly the Cuban people are "eager" to receive information about Beijing's "great economic and social development."
He said that due to similar political systems and a traditional friendship, the Cubans are very interested in learning how China carries out its reform and opening up.
Havana has undertaken a similar process and needs an "update" of China's social and economic model, Terry added.
"Cubans look up to China because of its success over the last 25 years while maintaining a socialist system," he said.
Therefore, added the director, information and news stories from China are "well received" by Cubans because of their keen interest in the happenings in China.
"For our newspaper's readership, there's always a great acceptance anytime we publish information about China, therefore increasing media collaboration can lead us to think about several cooperation schemes," he said.
He proposed creating a Chinese web edition of Granma which can help an increasing number of Chinese speaking business people and tourists that travel to the island. It can also help them understand the nation's reality as well as other news regarding the region, said the director.
He made a similar cooperation proposal for other news media outlets in the continent, saying costs would be low because new technologies can bring each side closer.
He also emphasized the importance of increasing information about Latin America and the Caribbean in China and the Asian continent.
