BRICS Summit attracts widespread non-BRICS media attention

The 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg has attracted widespread media attention with 1 356 media people being accredited. What is somewhat surprising is the interest shown by media from outside the BRICS grouping.

Samira Othman from the Swedish Broadcast Radio said she was interested to see whether the expansion in the BRICS would be approved this Summit. If not, she was hoping to see some clarity on the way forward.

Kserija Jelesijevic from Serbia reporting for Russia Today Balkan said her focus was on how BRICS would promote multilateralism through a reform of the United Nations Security Council and whether other countries would join BRICS. She was however disappointed with the lack of help that the media liaison provided as she wanted to interview South African politicians to get their response to Russia.

Kankan Song from the Shanghai Media Group said she had been anxious about coming to South Africa due to the perceived high crime rate, but was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming South Africans were and she would definitely come back to South Africa for a holiday. Her focus was not so much on the BRICS Summit, but rather on the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Africa and China.

Benedick Jenssen from Germany who was part of the hosted media contingent said this was his first BRICS Summit and he found it interesting and dynamic with a diverse range of interesting people. He writes on business and politics, so he had a chance to interact with South African business executives.

His interest was in how an expanded BRICS would be structured and he was fascinated in the interplay between India and China on the one hand, and China and Russia on the other hand.

* Helmo Preuss: Economist at Forecaster Ecosa

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