The Davos Agenda 2022: Global Media Engagement

The Global Cybersecurity Outlook Report launch got a high number of mentions in countries such as China and India in which the digital footprint is massively increasing. The Nature and China report got good traction; especially in Chinese media. The BiodiverCities by 2030 report which highlights integration of nature positive solutions in order to protect cities from growing risks associated with extreme weather, while driving sustainable economic growth, was also well received by media.

Journalists from influential media outlets in all G20 countries covered the meeting. We saw key announcements and op-eds covered in the Financial Times, BBC, New York Times, CNBC, CNN, Japan Times, Straits Times, China Media Group and Reuters, among many more, resulting in 48,000 articles in total.

The sentiment of the coverage was mostly neutral or positive (86%) and focused on the key initiatives and themes of the meeting.

The Live from Space Session with NYT’s Rebecca Blumenstein interviewing Matthias Maurer, Astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA) from the ISS, was the first time the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda transmitted live from beyond our atmosphere.

All the press releases issued throughout DA22 can be read here.

In China, the media coverage was largely about President Xi Jinping’s participation and speech at the “Davos Agenda 2022”. CCTV produced a special program beforehand, followed by a live broadcasting on President Xi’s speech, a 45 minutes special program. President Xi’s participation at the Davos Agenda 2022 was also highlighted in China’s daily news programme Xinwenlianbo. All major media in China reported on Davos Agenda 2022 related topics – including Xinhua News Agency on the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022, new nature economy in Caixin, global economic outlook and financial system in The Beijing News.

Feature articles included Klaus Schwab on CCTV; Borge Brende’s interview in Xinhua News Agency and with CCTV; Rebecca Ivey’s interview on World Insight with Tian Wei CGTN and on The Hub CGTN, her op-ed in China Daily; Saadia Zahidi on CGTN; and Antonia Gawel’s interview with China News Service.

In Japan, the special address by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was covered by key publications which included Nikkei, NHK, TV Tokyo, TBS News. Further media coverage in Japan included news reports on Xi - Nikkei Asia, Nikkei; Guterres - Asahi Shimbun; Moderna - TBS News; Modi - Reuters Japan; Fauci - Bloomberg Japan; DA Overview - NHK; Tedros - Nikkei ; Vaccine Equity - Reuters Japan, Nikkei and Scholz - Nikkei. Also an op-ed by Makiko Eda was featured in The Japan Times.

The special address of the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the first opportunity for a global audience and in particular for the private sector to hear about his vision for the year(s) ahead. The Chancellor emphasized that Germany is building on the power of international collaboration. The special address by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, provided an outlook for the region and generated a lot of reactions across Europe, including in Spiegel, FAZ, La Repubblica, and Corriere del Ticino. In addition, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank gave a financial overview for the eurozone in a panel discussion with other top panellists such as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in the Global Economic Outlook session (CNBC Europe, Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor).

A large number of European outlets covered the special address of the Chinese President Xi Jinping, including the Financial Times, Le Figaro, Radio France Internationale, Handelszeitung, Corriere della Sera and Domani as well as the German Chancellor's speech, which included comments on the tensions between Russia and Ukraine (FAZ, Handelsblatt, DW, La Stampa and RaiNews24).

Media coverage also peaked in the UK, Italy, France and Spain, covering key topics like climate change, geopolitics and the 4th industrial revolution predominantly. Top mentions include El País, NZZ, ANSA, Il Sole 24 Ore, Other topics covered across Europe include the COVID-19 pandemic along with vaccine distribution and inequity (The Guardian, Euronews, France 24, La Libre, Politico, EFE, Blick, AGI) the energy transition (Le Temps) and stakeholder capitalism (Moral Money, L’Agefi).

The 'Meeting the Challenge of Vaccine Equity'-panel drew worldwide attention, and Africa was no exception - with mentions in Business Ghana, Business Day (South Africa), and Bizcommunity among others. Inequality more broadly, and in particular Oxfam’s participation in this panel, gained particular traction Guardian Nigeria, Business Day (SA) Africa edition of Le Point. The Special Address by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has already been covered in Nigerian newspapers (The Punch, Legit News for instance) but was also reported on in South Africa – where Xi Jinping’s address and Fatih Birol’s announcement about supporting the development of South African domestic energy policy were also of particular interest.

There was also a noticeable increase in the number of interviews carried out with African channels. Chido Munyati spoke with Channels TV Nigeria, SABC (South Africa), Arise News (UK/Nigeria), CGTN Africa (Kenya), and the Nigerian television authority about the Davos Agenda. Other interviews were carried out on further Forum initiatives and thematic areas, including AI and emerging markets (Arise), the Middle East Regional Action Group (Channels TV Nigeria), and the energy outlook (Arise).

Coverage across the Middle East and North Africa began with Borge Brende’s DA22 overview interview with The National and TV interviews on regional trends from Maroun Kairouz.

The Energy Minister from Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz bin Salman’s session with the Head of the International Energy Agency was covered by global media including S&P for speaking on carbon emissions. Alain Bejjani, the Chief Executive Officer for Majid Al Futtain was quoted in Market Screener for his role on the ESG panel; the recently launched crypto accelerator news was covered in regional press as well as the participation of the UAE’s Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the Space Agency in the ground-breaking panel with the International Space Agency.

The Davos Agenda week received notable media coverage in Turkey (Anadolu Agency) and across the region, including Arab News, The National, Al Jazeera, Saudi Gazette, AP, Al Bawaba, among others.

In ASEAN, media followed the Davos Agenda programme closely with enthusiasm. President Widodo’s special address which emphasizes the importance of G20 focus on resilient health systems, energy transition and digital transformation was in top headlines from Bloomberg, CNN Indonesia, CNBC Indonesia, The Jakarta Post, The Straits Times (Singapore).

Prime Minister Scott Morrison highlighted the ‘Australian Way’ to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The session on climate change and growth on the last day of the Davos Agenda got instantly covered by Sydney Morning Herald, Australia Financial Review, news.com.au and The Age (Australia).

Furthermore, public health and vaccine equity remains a popular topic in the region, covered by Channel NewsAsia (Singapore), The Strait Times, Manila Times (The Philippines), Voice of Vietnam; Millionaires group calls for wealth tax generated strong echo from BusinessWorld (The Philippines), The Edge (Malaysia) and The Bangkok Post (Thailand).

An opinion piece on ASEAN written by the World Economic Forum's Joo-Ok Lee and Shaun Adam was published across ASEAN: The Straits Times, The Jakarta Post, Viet Nam News, The Daily Star (Bangladesh) and Phnom Penh Post and Borge Brende’s interview was published in MK (Korea).

Prime Minister Modi’s message on a P-3 approach, Indian as an attractive destination to invest, synchronised global regulation of crypto, climate change, was widely covered in Indian media: Mint, India Today, Print, The Times of India, Business Standard, Hindustan Times, Fortune India, BGR, Reuters amongst others. Media also covered key statements from panellists like Sunil Mittal, Michael Ryan, Adar Poonawalla in Business Today, Mint, Indian Express. In addition, the Climate Report got published in Economic Times, Business Standard, Global Cybersecurity Outlook in Print.

An opinion piece by the World Economic Forum's employees titled 'India to Maldives – South Asia can build greener future post COVID-19, curb old patterns' was published in The Print.

Media coverage in Latin America primarily focused on the Latin America Outlook panel with the Presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru, as well as the president of the Inter-American Development Bank – including by CNN Brazil, El Cronista (Argentina), Gestión (Peru), La República (In its Guatemalan and Peruvian editions), El Heraldo (Colombia). COVID-19, Latin-American cooperation and solidarity, and economic growth and investment in the region were the main topics raised. Spain’s two leading newspapers, which are also widely read in the Spanish-speaking world – El Mundo and El Pais – reported on the Davos Agenda. Agencia EFE, the largest Spanish-language multimedia news agency, published a range of updates on speeches and panels – Von der Leyen, Benet, Modi, The COVID-19 panel, Moderna’s update about the flu/Covid jab, Fauci, XI Jinping. COVID-19 related news and speeches by world leaders were the main topics of interest – La Nacion.

Marisol Argueta's opinion piece on What Latin America must address in 2022 was published in Infobae (Argentina), Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), El Tiempo (Colombia) and El Universal (México).

The world’s top broadcasters and news agencies including AP, AFP, Bloomberg, BBC, CNBC and CNN broadcasted sessions and special addresses from the Davos Agenda. Six official sessions were organized in collaboration with our media partners including CNBC, CNN, FT, New York Times, Reuters and Bloomberg, bringing top editors-in-chief and news anchors to lead and promote sessions throughout the week.

Experts and leaders discussed the possible scenarios for COVID in COVID-19: What’s Next? organized with Bloomberg; CNN amplified crucial messages on what can be done to ensure vaccines are available to all with the “Meeting the Challenge of Vaccine Equity” session; the FT looked at how to achieve a sustainable future using ESG metrics; Reuters at renewing a global social contract and the New York Times explored how space research can improve life on our planet, connecting live with the International Space Station. The Global Economic Outlook with CNBC was also one of the most watched session.