Necessary and sufficient conditions for multimedia journalism

In the context of rapidly developing modern media, traditional journalism is forced to innovate to meet the increasingly diverse needs of the public for information access. Therefore, multimedia journalism is becoming an inevitable trend of combining print, audio, visual and electronic journalism. To create an effective multimedia journalism product, journalists need to fully converge on skills, technology and modern journalism thinking.

Producing video clips for online news platforms and social media - Photo: LT

Multimedia in journalism refers to communicating information and conducting news reporting using multiple media to enable writing, listening, watching, and transmitting news online, resulting in the fastest, most dynamic, and timely information delivery. Multimedia journalists also need a wide range of skills to work independently as part of a team, including writing, filming, recording, editing, and more.

According to young reporter Nguyen Truc Phuong, working at the Quang Tri Provincial Newspaper and Television Station, in today's digital age, journalism requires us to master technology and tools to handle work anytime, anywhere. To produce news and articles that are engaging to readers, I and many colleagues are striving to improve our knowledge and skills in journalism in general and multimedia in particular. Personally, I am self-learning to become proficient in filming, photography, video editing, graphic design, and audio processing... From there, I can produce multimedia news and articles that are currently popular, such as e-magazines, video clips, and infographics.

Journalist Le Thi Thanh Thuy, from the Vietnam News Agency's Quang Tri bureau, shared that current journalistic trends are placing increasingly high demands on each journalist. Besides mastering basic journalistic skills such as writing news articles, conducting interviews, investigations, and processing information, journalists must be proficient in many technical tools such as cameras, video editing software, graphic design, digital content management, audio and video processing... Mastering technology allows journalists to tell stories through various means, making them more vivid and visual.

At the same time, journalism in the 4.0 era requires an integrated mindset from the planning stage to content production. This includes knowing how to choose the most appropriate format to effectively convey information to readers, knowing when to use video, when to use infographics, and when a short news report is sufficient.

“As required by VNA, when working, I always have all the necessary equipment such as smartphones, cameras, camcorders, microphones, and laptops so that I can produce news articles in various genres to meet the agency's diverse journalistic needs, from photojournalism and media to print journalism… This nature of work forces me to be multi-media and multi-skill to be proficient in my work, ensuring that the content of my articles is fast, accurate, and engaging,” Ms. Thuy added.

Reporter reporting from the scene - Photo: LT

In the digital age, the terms multimedia and multi-platform are fully utilized by the press to deliver information to readers quickly, diversely, and effectively. Following this general trend, local Party newspapers are also not lagging behind the changes in modern journalism, and are rapidly adapting to multimedia journalism.

Since February 2020, the Quang Tri Newspaper's online edition has officially been operational, replacing the previous website. Over time, through continuous effort, the newspaper has gradually developed into a multimedia publication, keeping pace with modern journalistic trends across multiple platforms and using new presentation methods such as e-magazines, longforms, infographics, video clips, radio broadcasts, and a six-section English-language page. Information is widely shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, attracting a large number of readers both domestically and internationally with its fast access speed.

To achieve this result, the former Quang Tri Newspaper invested in modern equipment such as cameras, flycams, video editing software, a CMS content management system, and a stable network infrastructure. In addition, it actively collaborated with the Provincial Journalists Association and the Vietnam Journalists Association's Center for Journalism Training to organize training courses on multimedia journalism skills and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalistic work. This ensured the effective production and distribution of multimedia journalistic products on Quang Tri's media platforms.

A team producing the daily 9:00 AM live news update for the Quang Tri Provincial Newspaper and Radio Station - Photo: TA HUNG

One of the biggest challenges facing media outlets in general, and local party newspapers in particular, today is the lack of technological proficiency among some journalists. Many journalists still work using traditional methods, failing to take advantage of the technological advancements offered by modern equipment, such as the use of tablet applications, laptops, smartphones, or artificial intelligence.

Therefore, the issue is that media organizations need to plan and train a professional workforce with expertise and strengths in information technology to best serve multimedia journalism.

According to Hoang Ngoc Sy, Standing Vice Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial Journalists Association, in the digital age, journalism must use technology more, and what journalists need to learn is technology. New technologies also create new values ​​for journalism and readers. This is a necessary condition for journalists to master skills and technology.

Simultaneously, journalists in general, and those working for local Party newspapers in particular, need to improve their professional skills, change their mindset with a spirit of innovation, work in teams, constantly learn, be ready to innovate their working methods, and experiment with new forms of expression. These are sufficient conditions to maintain and create new vitality for multimedia journalism.

When all these elements are present, the press, especially local party newspapers, can keep pace with trends and effectively meet the ever-increasing information needs of readers, and journalists can truly become multimedia journalists in today's 4.0 era.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/dieu-kien-can-va-du-de-lam-bao-da-phuong-tien-194418.htm