ShanghaiEye upgrades, launches ShanghaiEye+ at Shanghai TV Festival

The Shanghai Media International Communication Center has upgraded its international communication flagship product ShanghaiEye and launched the new ShanghaiEye+ project with the cooperation of media international communication centers from 14 cities and provinces. The launch took place during a forum of the 29th Shanghai TV Festival on Tuesday afternoon (June 25).

Established by the Shanghai Media Group in October last year, ShanghaiEye aimed to lead in shaping and internationally communicating Chinese-style urban civilization with a focus on Shanghai.

The ShanghaiEye+ project will form an international communications media collaboration platform, which can create a media cluster with international influence and jointly promote quality development in the country's international communication efforts.

"Cities serve as nodes in the global communications network," said Zhang Taofu, dean of the School of Journalism at Fudan University, during his opening remarks. "Cities like Shanghai, which is an international metropolis, have become key hub nodes in the global network."

"As China plays an increasingly important role in global affairs, its influence continues to grow. Shanghai, as an international cultural metropolis, is a crucial window for the world to understand Shanghai and observe China."

Zhang said that Shanghai had always been at the forefront of international communication practices, boasting robust international communication resources, and dynamic scenes of international communication.

Ian Phillips, the director of the News and Media Division of the US Department of Global Communications, said that, in this era of disinformation, misinformation, and fake news, it is crucial to combat unconscious bias regarding global events.

The International Committee of the Red Cross often organizes journalist training on humanitarian and crisis reporting, said Najum Iqbal, head of Communications at the ICRC Regional Delegation for East Asia.

He said partnerships between media organizations and humanitarian organizations can achieve positive results by shining more light on those being affected by armed conflict or climate crisis.

"For those communities, it is imperative to amplify less current voices and demand attention for those whose suffering continues unnoticed, average to the noise of leading headlines," Iqbal said.