Journalism training in the digital age - Lesson 1: Linking training with practical journalism activities

Reforming both training content and methods, linking theory with practice, integrating technology, and strengthening links between schools and press and media units not only helps improve training quality, but also contributes to creating high-quality human resources that are competitive and adaptable in the digital age.

VNA reporters wrote two articles with the theme "Journalism training in the digital age" to provide an objective view of journalism human resource training at training institutions and press agencies today; and propose solutions to continue innovating journalism training programs.

Lesson 1: Linking training with practical journalism activities

The strategy for digital transformation of journalism to 2025, with a vision to 2030, approved by the Prime Minister on April 6, 2023, sets the general goal of building professional, humane, and modern press agencies that successfully fulfill their revolutionary mission, while developing the digital content industry. The most important factor in the digital transformation process is people, because this is the key to the success of digital transformation. Many journalism training institutions today have made many changes in training methods, applying digital transformation to implement the model of "bringing the newsroom to the classroom, linking training with practical journalism activities".

Adapting to labor needs in the modern context

Giving an overview of the current general picture of journalism training, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Giang, Deputy Director, Vice Chairman of the School Council, Academy of Journalism and Communication, said: Before 1990, journalism training was only conducted at the Central Propaganda School. In 1990, the University of Propaganda (formerly the Central Propaganda School) and the University of General Sciences (Hanoi) were established. Up to now, the whole country has 9 universities and academies training journalism, all of which are public schools: Academy of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Hanoi National University); University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University), Hanoi University of Culture, University of Science (Hue University), University of Science (Thai Nguyen University), Military University of Literature and Arts, University of Education (Da Nang University), Vinh University. In addition, there are many private schools and international affiliated schools that offer training in communications and public relations.

There are 4 levels of formal training in journalism and communication, including: College, university, master's, doctorate; in addition, there are short-term training and refresher courses, and professional training courses. The level of enrollment in journalism and communication majors in public training institutions has increased steadily over the years. At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities ( Hanoi ), in the 2021-2022 school year, the competition ratio for journalism is 1/52, which shows the attraction and potential of this major in the market. Journalism and communication is also a major with a high entrance score in public training institutions. In the 2023-2024 school year, on a scale of 30, 28.68 is the benchmark for the Multimedia Communication major of the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda; and 28 is the benchmark for the journalism major of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City).

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Giang commented: In general, training institutions focus on innovating training content and programs to meet the needs of social reality and job requirements. The training and development program framework is built in a scientific and reasonable direction, focusing on helping learners meet the practical requirements of future journalism and media work. With the framework program, the training program details key subjects, and is oriented towards modernization and systematization.

In particular, the program is designed to ensure that learners are strengthened in both theoretical foundation, skills, and practical skills, while also ensuring the training of political, ideological, and ethical qualities. The forms of training and development are adjusted to ensure a systematic knowledge base, meeting the needs of updating new knowledge and skills as required. The organization and management of training and development processes are increasingly strict, with the participation of independent assessment agencies, a clear system of regulations and rules for training and development management; professionalized, computerized, convenient, and unified in management. Along with that, the training and development of students also aims to develop qualities and practical skills. Students are encouraged to combine study and research to accumulate basic knowledge, while participating in extracurricular activities to accumulate necessary supplementary skills for future work...

The quality of human resources after graduation is confirmed by the employment rate of students of journalism and media training institutions. The employment rate of students in the journalism and media industry is quite high. At the Academy of Journalism and Communication, 70% of journalism and media students have jobs in their fields of training, 80% of students have jobs in related fields. From 2019 to 2021, the employment rate of students at the University of Sciences (Hue) reached over 80%. Generations of graduates meet the requirements of political courage, revolutionary ideals, basic knowledge requirements, and at the same time adapt to labor needs in the modern context... - Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Giang affirmed.

The challenge of keeping up with development trends

However, the reality shows that the current journalism training program is still facing many difficulties in keeping up with the rapid development of multimedia communication. This poses an urgent need for comprehensive and profound reform of journalism training activities.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Giang believes that one of the biggest limitations of the current journalism training program is the lack of full and effective integration of knowledge and skills related to new technologies in communication. Journalism graduates often lack the ability to process data, produce multimedia content, and interact with the public on digital platforms. Meanwhile, this knowledge and skills are becoming increasingly necessary in the face of the rapid development of online journalism, social networks, and new forms of journalism.

Journalism training programs also face the risk of "running out of steam" due to the shift in public needs and behavior in the information market. In the context of an increasingly demanding public, requiring concise, intuitive, personalized information, providing general, sketchy, and in-depth knowledge causes students to lack the ability to adapt, meet diverse and flexible tastes, as well as the ability to interact with the public.

Sharing the same view, Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong, Vice Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University also pointed out: The entrance scores of the schools are quite different. While some schools have Journalism majors that are always among the "top" highest, even for the C00 group, they must be above 9 points per subject, but in some schools, the entrance scores are among the lowest scores, even in some schools, only 13.5 points for 3 subjects (the lowest in 15 years since the major was opened) is enough to enter Journalism. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why the rate of graduates working in the right major at some schools is still not high.

The quality of training is not uniform among training institutions. Many non-public training institutions also provide training in fields related to journalism, but the quality has not been verified. Although journalism training is only conducted at public schools, press and media agencies recruit diversely, without limiting resources. Although facilities have been invested, they have not met the training needs of the journalism field, especially in the context of strong journalism transformation in the digital media context. The system of lectures and textbooks is still lacking and rarely updated. There is still a large gap between the theory taught in the classroom and the vibrant practice of journalism.

To ensure the quality of training activities in the journalism industry, it is probably necessary to regulate the threshold for ensuring input, to ensure the minimum requirements for learning capacity shown in learning outcomes, exam results, and assessments so that candidates are able to study and complete the training program - Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong commented.

Final lesson: Solving the problem of comprehensive digital transformation human resources

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/cong-nghe/dao-tao-bao-chi-trong-ky-nguyen-so-bai-1-gan-dao-tao-voi-thuc-tien-hoat-dong-bao-chi/20240621011651572