Jeronimo Kateya
State visits are more than ceremonial exchanges. They are mediated historical events where diplomacy, digital and journalistic media, and public meaning intersect. In July 2026, I was accorded the rare opportunity by the Namibian Embassy in Beijing to serve in an official capacity during the State Visit of Her Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to the People’s Republic of China. My specific role was to assist Namibian media professionals in Beijing and to draft the media invitation to all Chinese media houses for the press conference and other engagements to be addressed by the President. This encounter, along with a prior assignment covering the visit of former US First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to Namibia in 2024, has significantly shaped my professional worldview, confidence, and understanding of high-level public diplomacy.
This article presents a personal reflection situated within a scholarly discourse context. Using Agenda-Setting Theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972), I meticulously evaluate how such mediated state events influence what publics and media deem important, and how the role of media liaison officer contributes to that process.
· The Encounter: From Invitation to Press Conference
My assignment began a week before the President arrived in Beijing. The Embassy tasked me with drafting a media invitation for all media houses globally, adapting protocol language. The formulative invitation had to balance diplomatic tone with news value that needed to tell editors why a Namibian presidential press conference and other agendas mattered to a Beijing audience.
Welcoming H.E President Dr. Nandi-Ndaitwah marked the first time I represented Namibia abroad. The precision of the welcome, flags, anthem, and guard of honor signifies the symbolic weight of the visit, particularly when using the convex lens of international relations (Sharp, 2009).
Entrusted with digital communication with other media personnel who were in other cities was not only a daunting task but a rewarding experience necessary for professional growth and development. This experience demanded competencies, viz., professionalism, accuracy, speed, preparedness, cultural sensitivity, and René Descartes’ philosophic underpinnings of cogito ergo sum, that I think therefore I am.
· Professional Growth Development
This was not my first high-profile assignment. In 2024, I covered former US First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s visit to Namibia as a media officer. That experience introduced me to White House press protocols, pool reporting, and the politics of photo opportunities and vox pops. However, serving Namibia in China is a different empirical phenomenon I encountered. I was no longer merely observing; I was building the very digital channel through which information flowed.
The two experiences, though in different geopolitical contexts, reinforced one lesson: the knowledge of yourself gives you confidence in high-level work, built through responsibility. This ability manifests a procedural paradigm shift from “writing about” to “writing for” power (Melissen, 2005).
· Theoretical Framing: Agenda-Setting and Diplomatic Communication
To understand the significance of the press conference, I draw on Agenda-Setting Theory. McCombs and Shaw (1972) argued that the media do not tell people what to think, but what to think about. A state visit is a classic agenda-setting device: by convening media houses, the Namibian Presidency sought to place Namibia’s trade, agriculture, fisheries, energy, oil, gas, green hydrogen and industrialization agenda onto the Chinese public and policy agenda.
Executing this responsibility was an act of agenda-building. As Gilboa (2008) notes, public diplomacy relies on media intermediaries to translate state goals into public discourse. By foregrounding figures such as the N$40.64 billion bilateral trade volume and the alignment with green development goals (Namibia NPC, 2025), the invitation aimed to cue journalists toward specific issue frames viz., economic partnership, not aid; mutual benefit, not dependence. This increased the likelihood of media coverage and positive resonance.
· Comparative Insight: Beijing 2026 and Windhoek 2024
Comparing the two assignments reveals a paradigm shift in my role and in media power dynamics. The Biden visit to Windhoek was covered primarily by international wire services and local broadcasters. The narrative was largely set by the visiting delegation. Conversely, in Beijing, however, I was part of the host team at the Embassy of Namibia, shaping the digital narrative and learning different gatekeeping and diplomatic norms (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). This strategic communication reflects what Zhang (2011) calls “tailored diplomacy,” adapting communication to the media ecology in the host country.
· Conclusion: From Service to Scholarship
Serving as a liaison officer during President Nandi-Ndaitwah’s State Visit to China was both an informative and formative professional and historic experience. Beyond logistics, it was an education in how diplomacy is performed, mediated, and received. The experience affirmed that professionals in embassies are not at the peripheral end; they are nodal points in the communication chain of statecraft.
Together with my earlier experience during the US First Lady’s visit, these encounters have increased both my media exposure and my confidence to take on high-level responsibilities. They also illustrate a broader point: for small states, effective media engagement abroad is a form of soft power (Nye, 2004). Therefore, as Namibia continues to implement NDP6 and align with global partners, the capacity to communicate strategically will remain not only deeply critical for communication specialists but a sine qua non.
*Jeronimo Kateya is pursuing his Master’s degree in Digital Communications at the Communication University of China. The views expressed in this piece are entirely his.
