The media has a critical role to play in public affairs, especially in a pandemic. In an online forum – Insights & Impact – held by CGTN, six international journalists shared their views on the media’s responsibilities in the global response to COVID-19.

Since the very beginning of the pandemic, the Western media has criticized China’s anti-virus policy. In the Western media coverage, China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy is a failure, Chinese economy has a dim outlook, et al. Did these reports reflect the real situation in China?

“I spent most of my time in China from 2020 to around mid-last year… I can tell you without fear of contradiction that it (‘dynamic zero-COVID’ policy) is the most effective policy in protecting lives,” Mubarak Mugabo at Uganda’s The New Vision said at the forum.

In the early stages of the outbreak, China adopted strong public health intervention measures including lockdowns and 14-day quarantines. This has bought time for the deadly original strain and subvariants to become less deadly. Despite being the world’s most populous country, China has secured one of the lowest COVID-19 tolls across the globe.

Son Minea from Cambodia’s Khmer Times believed it is China’s strict anti-COVID measures in the early days that have allowed the country to open up today. The “dynamic zero-COVID” policy, in Minea’s eye, did little interruptions on his adventures in China. “I had the most beautiful time in China, enjoying a lot of places in Beijing like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City,” Minea said.

China’s contribution to global anti-virus fight cannot be denied either. According to Mi Feng, spokesperson for China’s National Health Commission, China has sent more than 30 medical expert teams to 34 countries and regions, and provided huge amounts of anti-pandemic supplies to over 150 countries and regions and 15 international organizations, Mi said.

In addition, China was the first country to promise exemption for IP rights of COVID-19 vaccines, and also the first to cooperate with other developing countries on vaccine production. So far, China has provided over 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.

Fact speaks for itself.

Mugabo believed Western criticisms are not about policies, but about China. “China has to look bad at all cost,” Mugabo said that the Western media has the narrative to depict China in a negative way.

Tristan Duterte Nodalo at CNN Philippines also acknowledged the disconnect between the real situation in China and Western media reports on the country. He believed first-hand information is crucial in reporting. “It’s different when just writing about China from the Philippines… and writing about China when I’m in China,” Nodalo said.

Since China refined its COVID policies in December, the Western media has blamed China for “lack of preparation” and the “extreme pressure” on the Chinese medical system.

In fact, as a country with 1.4 billion people, China coordinated resources to bolster the national healthcare system to meet the public health challenge. It also redoubled efforts to manufacture necessary medicines for fever, cough, headache, flu and so on.

“People from other countries can feel free to criticize what China authority has been doing, but it’s absolutely unreasonable to do it without talking it into different contexts, especially considering China is the most populous country,” Minea shared his views at the forum.

It’s common sense that media outlets have a responsibility to disseminate evidence-based information at all times, especially in a public health crisis. However, we are not just facing a pandemic, but also an “infodemic” as fake news keeps spreading on the Internet throughout the pandemic, Nodalo said.

Journalists at the forum agreed on the significance of “fact-checks” in media coverage. Media could save people’s lives in a public health crisis. This is a consensus. Some Western media should learn this before badmouthing other countries for political reasons.