Israeli College Launches Chinese Media Center — First in Middle East

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By JTA April 3, 2014

A college in Israel launched a Chinese media center — the first of its kind in the Middle East.

The Chinese Media Center at the College of Management-Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion is part of the School of Media Studies.

According to the college, the center will maintain a “proactive dialogue” with the Chinese media and conduct research of the media systems in greater China. The center will be in regular contact with Chinese media to facilitate a greater understanding of Israel by the Chinese media. The center also expects to have scholarly and professional exchanges of students and journalists.

“Chinese media is highly interested in Israel, particularly in non-political content,” according to Alex Pevzner, the center’s founding director. “Stories about Israel, which focus on Israel’s strengths in fields of high importance to the Chinese, such as food security and agri-tech, high-tech, med-tech and clean energy, can help cement both economic and political ties between the two nations.”

One quarter of the world’s newspapers are in Chinese, according to the center.

The Israeli center joins three other Chinese media centers: at the University of Hong Kong, the University of Westminster in London and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Initial funding for the project is being provided by the Glazer Family Foundation and the Mizrahi Family Charitable Trust.

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