“Now, young people are no longer limited by access to information sources that previously required a whole network of connections. This makes it easier for them to develop compelling topics and conduct in-depth analysis based on available data and information, allowing them to truly excel in expressing their viewpoints, arguments, and emotions as journalists. This is an unprecedented opportunity for young journalists to quickly demonstrate and affirm their abilities,” shared Ms. Nguyen Phi Van.
The new generation of journalists is also becoming trainers, providing chatbots with supplementary learning resources. This presents both an adaptive challenge and an opportunity to expand career opportunities beyond traditional journalistic roles.
This trend demonstrates that AI-generated tools are not simply replacing humans, but are shifting the focus of journalists' work towards higher-value competencies: systems administration, product development, user experience design, and ethical oversight of technology.
Although AI is a tool that helps speed up journalistic work, it poses many challenges for young journalists. The most dangerous is the inclusion of fabricated events, data, or quotes in journalistic works, created by AI's "illusory phenomenon." Without the filtering capabilities of professional journalists, AI's lack of journalistic insight can lead to bias, with answers favoring a specific group or context while overlooking other objective perspectives.
“Gen Z journalists need to equip themselves with a set of standards for exploiting background data, identifying misinformation, combating fake news, protecting the truth, and a rigorous verification system for data, documents, decisions, and titles. While technology assists in information aggregation, verification and accountability to the public still rest with the journalist.” – Young journalist Hoang Hong Nhung
These risks highlight the urgent need to reshape journalistic capabilities, demanding a new skill set for writers. While journalists previously competed on speed of news delivery and the ability to obtain exclusive sources, today, competence is measured by this new skill set.
Huynh Hien Trang (a student from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) considers prompt writing skills to be the most important: “Prompt writing skills have many similarities to interviewing skills in journalism. A good or interesting question will determine the quality of the answer received. When working with AI, you not only learn how to ask clearer questions but also learn how to think systematically: what do I want to find, what information is missing, and from what angle should I explore the issue?” Practicing prompt writing helped Hien Trang improve her ability to ask questions to real-life people when she served as an MC in the television programs "Folk Beauty" (VTV1) and "Vietnamese Culinary Beauty" (VTV3).
Mastering AI
For a journalistic work to be truly impactful, the key factors remain the ability to verify information, critical thinking, and the presence of young writers on the ground. The process of creating the article "Young People's Shield Against Harmful Information" led Hoang Hong Nhung (born in 2003, winner of the C prize in the Fifth Political Commentary Competition on Protecting the Party's Ideological Foundation, 2025) to remote villages in the highlands of Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province. Hong Nhung brought her recording equipment to each school to understand how information on social media impacts young people in the highlands. The author not only collected data for her work but also directly verified the information circulating online through her observations and real-life experiences in the area.
5 new skills journalists need to acquire in the AI era:
1. Understanding how AI works (AI literacy)
2. Prompt engineering
3. Analytical thinking
4. Verifying AI information
(AI validation)
5. Big Data Analysis
(Big data analytics)
Preserving the "soul" of journalistic works.
No matter how intelligent AI becomes, the boundary between humans and machines will always exist. According to Ms. Nguyen Phi Van: "AI is good at synthesizing surface information and data, but it can never uncover what has been said, the vacant stares, the silent wounds, the hidden corners of the soul, and even the nameless emotions."
The story of Dau Thi Thuan (a former student of Television Journalism, Class 41, Academy of Journalism and Communication) and her journey in creating the documentary "Red Torch on the Lo Lo Village," which won the "Outstanding Work by a Young Author" award at the 9th National Journalism Award on Party Building - Golden Hammer and Sickle Award, is one example.
According to the Associated Press, the wave of AI applications is driving the emergence of many new job positions in modern news organizations. Many newsrooms have created specialized roles such as: prompt specialist, fact checker, AI automation engineer, and algorithm quality assurance specialist.
The group of students spent many days approaching Mr. Hoang Van Phung, the Party Secretary and head of Ca Dong hamlet, Coc Pang commune, in the border region of Cao Bang . If only looking at reports or statistics, the story would stop at the results of reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in the Lo Lo community. But by following Mr. Phung, the authors witnessed the lengthy outreach sessions after working in the fields, the door-to-door visits to households in the journey to change people's perceptions, the innocent smiles of children at risk of missing out on their childhood due to outdated customs, and the sweat and tears of parents standing at the boundary between tradition and the desire for change.
It was those days spent in the remote areas that allowed the team to see that behind the numbers were specific individuals with their own choices and emotions.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/gen-z-tac-nghiep-cung-ai-post1852803.tpo
