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Des Moines Register

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Originally founded in 1849 as The Iowa Star, the Des Moines Register serves as Iowa’s flagship newspaper, founded under its current title through mergers in the early 1900s under the leadership of Gardner Cowles Sr., a banker in Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital and largest city. Gannett acquired the publication in 1985 amid declining revenues. The daily maintains outsized political influence through its Iowa Poll and first-in-the-nation caucus coverage of the US presidential elections — earning it national attention in the political cycle. The newspaper has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting, though circulation has declined significantly from its mid-20th century peak of nearly 250,000 daily readers.

Los Angeles Times

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The Los Angeles Times, founded in 1881, serves as the sixth-largest newspaper in the United States and the largest in the Western United States with print circulation of more than 100,000. Based in El Segundo, California since 2018, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes throughout its history. Owned by biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong since 2018, the Times has undergone significant transformations including major staff reductions, with a 20 percent layoff in January 2024. The newspaper evolved from its early civic boosterism under the Chandler family dynasty to become a respected national publication, though it has struggled with declining circulation and financial pressures in the digital era.

The Star

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The Star is a Kenyan daily tabloid newspaper published in Nairobi by Radio Africa Group since July 2007, originally launched as the Nairobi Star before rebranding in 2009. The publication grew from circulation of 5,000-8,000 copies in 2007 to 15,000-20,000 by 2010, when it first turned profitable in September 2009. Now claiming “100,000-copy circulation,” The Star covers breaking news, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and sports from Kenya and internationally. The newspaper positions itself as Kenya’s “third largest newspaper” and “most independent,” targeting younger readers with the slogan “Smart People Read the Star” while maintaining stronger focus on regional news, sports, and opinion columns than competitors. The newspaper operates from Lion Place headquarters in Westlands, Nairobi, and maintains the website thestar.co.ke.

Propaganda Office of the Changsha Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

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The Propaganda Office of the Chinese Communist Party’s Changsha Municipal Committee (中共長沙市委宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the local party leadership and overseeing state-run media in Changsha, including Changsha Media Group and its various broadcasting operations. The office functions as the central enforcer of the party’s media discipline, or “guidance of public opinion” (輿論導向), ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation in line with central and municipal level directives.

Changsha Media Group

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Changsha Media Group (長沙市廣播電視台集團) is a state-run broadcaster directly under the leadership of the Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Changsha, the capital of China’s southern Hunan province. The group operates four radio frequencies and five television channels, including news, politics and law, mobile subway TV, shopping, and cultural tourism channels. Its business spans film and television investment, cable network operations, and theater management. The conglomerate oversees 13 subsidiary units, including the publicly-listed Zhongguang Tianze (中廣天擇), which became China’s first state-controlled program production company to list on the main board in 2017. With nearly 1,500 employees and total assets of 2.5 billion yuan, the group promotes itself as a “market-oriented and corporate transformation” of “mainstream media” — in this context referring specifically to CCP-run media — to enhance competitiveness while maintaining state control. Its core operations include broadcasting, television, new media, and video content production, positioning it as a key instrument for local CCP messaging and cultural influence.

The Oriental Post

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The Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), literally “Africa Overseas Chinese Weekly,” and sometimes called on its website “Chinese in Africa,” was launched in July 2013 as the African weekly edition of the overseas edition of the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper. The link between the publications is noted clearly on the masthead of The Oriental Post, where the People’s Daily masthead is also prominent. The publication is operated by the Africa Chinese Media Group (非洲華文傳媒集團), part of the Global Max Media Group (Pty) Ltd (環球廣域傳媒集團), a Chinese comprehensive media conglomerate headquartered in Botswana, southern Africa. Like the People’s Daily and many other official CCP media, The Oriental Post offers a full digital version of the paper on its website. The newspaper lists directly under its masthead the phone numbers of eight Chinese embassies in Africa, including Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Tanzania. The paper clearly mirrors official state media inside China, reporting most prominently on CCP meetings and official business. Its “friendship links” include the United Front Work Department of the CCP, the Chinese Embassy in Botswana and other official state entities.

Grupo El Comercio

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Grupo El Comercio (GEC) is Peru’s largest media conglomerate in South America, owning the country’s oldest newspaper, El Comercio, founded in 1839 by Manuel Amunátegui and Alejandro Villota. The company operates through two main business units: Press (El Comercio, Gestión, Trome, Correo, Ojo, and Depor) and Television (América TV and Canal N). The Miró Quesada family has controlled the newspaper since 1876, surviving major disruptions including a closure from 1879-1883 during the War of the Pacific and expropriation from 1968-1980 under military rule. The conglomerate controls approximately eighty percent of Peru’s newspaper circulation and operates over 1,000 employees. The group underwent significant restructuring in 2020 when Gabriel Miró Quesada Bojanovich was appointed as chairman, though the corporate website currently lists Luis Alonso Miró Quesada Villarán as board president.

America Multimedia

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América Multimedia, formerly known as Grupo Plural TV, is a Peruvian media conglomerate based in Lima, founded on March 5, 2003. The company operates as a joint venture between Grupo El Comercio (70%) and Grupo La República (30%), with Maki Miró Quesada serving as president. The group’s primary assets include América Televisión (100% ownership), Peru’s leading free-to-air television network, and Canal N (100%), a dedicated news channel. The company also operates América tvGO, a streaming platform offering live and on-demand content.

Foreign Economic Cooperation Center

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China’s Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC) is a specialized agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs that claims to serve as a window for foreign agricultural cooperation and manages China’s international agricultural development programs. Facilitating and managing agricultural international exchanges, south-south cooperation, and agricultural aid projects, FECC coordinates with international organizations including the FAO, World Bank, and International Fund for Agricultural Development. Since 2002, FECC has managed the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme, deploying over 252 Chinese agricultural experts and technicians to 11 countries, primarily in Africa and Asia. The center promotes the international transfer of China’s agricultural development experience and “Chinese solutions” (中国方案) to developing countries along the Belt and Road, positioning itself as a key instrument of China’s agricultural diplomacy and soft power projection.