Growing connections among the BRICS group -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- have made closer ties between the media organizations not only possible but also necessary.
The first BRICS Media Summit concluded on Tuesday after representatives of 25 organizations drafted a joint declaration on deepened cooperation.
Themed "Innovation, Development, Cooperation and Trust," the summit has forged confidence in practical cooperation and common development among media organizations from BRICS countries.
Into the new century, these countries have gained an increasing presence as representatives of the world's emerging economies.
BRICS accounted for 21.9 percent of the global economy in 2014, up from 16.2 percent in 2009, and the ratio is expected to reach 25.77 percent in 2020. BRICS countries have become a powerful driver for global economic recovery.
The five have become much more tightly connected since the first formal meeting of their leaders in 2009.
These partnerships naturally create conditions for more media exchanges, collaboration that may also do good to state-to-state ties.
Development is the greatest common aspiration of the BRICS countries, and their news agencies have the same focal point.
To that end, the declaration from Tuesday's summit concerns enhanced friendship and mutual understanding among BRICS' peoples and promotes mutually beneficial cooperation in economic, social and other fields through "objective, impartial, comprehensive and timely reporting."
"We will also explore ways to strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation in reporting, so that we may come together and tell stories that truthfully reflect BRICS cooperation," said the declaration.
The spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win results in the BRICS cooperation mechanism has brought the countries together, and it is also a tenet in media cooperation.
It is expected that positive exchanges among BRICS media will not only add new vitality to BRICS, but help strengthen understanding and confidence among average people in these countries.
Moreover, joint efforts by BRICS media will make more voices from the bloc's population of three billion heard by the world and in this way the BRICS and their media can take a share in promoting peace and stability for their regions and the world.
