Miss Ban Mai - "The youngest female editor and MC of VTV": "For me, the time pressure is terrible"

Tran Thi Ban Mai was crowned Miss Peace Vietnam 2022. In June 2023, the beauty born in 2000 participated in the selection contest for BTV and MC of VTV9 - the national television channel in the Southeast region of Vietnam Television. As a result, Miss Ban Mai excellently achieved a total score of 89/100 (including writing: 90, interview: 92, recording: 85), ranking first among 60 contestants participating in this selection contest. That is why many people call Miss Ban Mai the "valedictorian" of BTV - host of VTV9.

Currently, Miss Ban Mai has graduated with honors in communications from Fisher College, Massachusetts (USA) and is studying for a Master's degree at Southern New Hampshire University.

On the occasion of the 99th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2024), Miss Ban Mai - Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 shared with PV Dan Viet about her decision and commitment to journalism, her views on love and little-known behind-the-scenes stories when working as an editor and MC of VTV9.

Tran Thi Ban Mai crowned Miss Peace Vietnam 2022. (Photo: FBNV)

Miss Ban Mai revealed her "shocking" and shaky experience working as a BTV and MC for VTV9

After being crowned Miss Peace Vietnam 2022, Miss Ban Mai chose to become a VTV9 editor and MC instead of entering showbiz. Was it because "journalism chose me" or was a journalism career the goal of Miss Ban Mai from the beginning?

- I think everyone will have their own direction. In the past, I have experienced a number of jobs, but most of them were in the fields of marketing and communications. It can be said that my job is just "behind the spotlight" to help others shine. As a rather introverted person, when participating in the Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 contest, I hope to experience and know how to operate and communicate at a beauty contest.

As a result, I won the highest title of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022. I determined the work I needed to do to be worthy of this title. However, I also devoted myself to doing the things I prioritize, including my favorite profession: communications.

So, after 1 year of completing my term at Miss Peace Vietnam, I started to register for a Master's degree in communications and looked for a job to hone my professional skills.

When I heard that VTV was recruiting MCs and BTVs after 12 years, it was also very close to the deadline for candidates to submit their applications. I immediately completed all the requirements to submit my application. Honestly, I hoped but did not expect too much that I would be selected. Because I knew that this was a "difficult" recruitment round for MCs and BTVs, but luckily I had the opportunity to work at VTV.

I think it is true to say that "the profession chooses the person", but the important thing is your determination and passion for journalism. I believe that when entering a new working environment, especially one like VTV, you need to relearn everything because each position will have its own requirements. When working at VTV, I was an MC, editor and reporter, so I had to improve my knowledge and skills in a short period of time to progress.

What was special about Miss Ban Mai's feelings when she first appeared on VTV9 as a BTV and MC?

- I was lucky to have the highest score in the VTV9 Editor and MC selection round. However, I was the last one to go on air among the four people selected. I think this is normal, because compared to everyone else, I am the youngest and least experienced, so the on-air process was more difficult. Before that, I had more experience with news editing and production, weather MC work, and recently I was on air for the "Sang Phuong Nam" news bulletin at 6am.

"In terms of age, I am currently the youngest MC of Vietnam Television with a labor contract," Miss Ban Mai shared with PV Dan Viet. (Photo: FBNV)

I still remember the anxiety and worries when I was on air for the first time in a recorded weather report instead of a live broadcast. I remember that I had to practice day and night, arriving at the studio 30 minutes early to practice reading fluently and practicing pointing with my colleagues. After going through many stages, the weather report that I hosted was finally approved and aired, which made me extremely happy.

I think nervousness is something that every MC should have before going on air or before hosting a program. Because I think that when you still feel nervous, excited, and anxious, you are still passionate about the job. Until one day when you go on air and feel "whatever", no longer nervous, anxious, then I think the "fire" of the MC profession has somewhat decreased. Nervousness is different from being calm and professional when you go on air. I think no matter what, you should still keep a strong spirit to be able to complete the news report well.

What is it about journalism that is inherently hard and tiring that makes Miss Ban Mai want to stick with this job for a long time? To become a journalist, have you had to make any trade-offs, gains or losses?

- When I was working in the media, I didn't know how hard journalism would be. It wasn't until I started working that I realized how hard journalism was that I never imagined. For example, journalists don't seem to have a fixed day off, and there were times when I didn't have a day off either. Especially during the time when everyone was off for Tet, National Day, September 2nd... I, like my colleagues, had to go to work because there was more information on those occasions, while news was updated daily. And because I worked in the News Department and held three positions: MC, Editor, and Reporter, the rotation between roles and tasks required me to try harder to keep up with and complete the assigned tasks well. For example, today I was the host, the next day I had to edit, and on other days I would go get news, directly lead the scene...

I think it is not a trade-off, but I will definitely have to accept some things such as having less rest time than others, high work intensity... In return, I will learn many new things, meet special people, and have relationships that I might not have had the opportunity to meet if I had not worked in journalism. For example, when learning about the fields of health, education, politics ... I will meet people with high expertise, interview industry leaders, people with many years of experience...

I think it's not easy to have those opportunities and I've matured in the process of working as a journalist, learned how to behave, learned how to create a well-crafted, valuable product and am so happy when my "brainchild" is accepted by everyone.

Surely Miss Ban Mai had to face a lot of pressure and had memorable experiences that not everyone knows about during her time as MC and BTV at VTV9, can you share?

- Of course, any profession will have its own pressures. With journalism, I think the pressure will come more frequently, more continuously, and I always have to face it, push myself to keep up. Because news is instantaneous and I think the pressure on time is very high. For example, when I go to the scene to collect news at 9am and return to the office at 11am to 11:30am, while the news is on air at 12pm. Therefore, I have to immediately make a script to produce news articles on time.

For me, the time pressure is terrible. When I think about the feeling of working too close to the deadline and not having a finished product or exporting the file, I am afraid that I will ruin the news.

Miss Ban Mai achieved the highest score in the VTV9 MC and BTV selection contest. (Photo: FBNV)

Has Miss Ban Mai ever encountered any unexpected incidents while working as a BTV or MC at VTV9?

-During 1 year as a BTV and MC of VTV9, I had many memorable experiences. However, there are two most outstanding experiences that I cannot forget. Specifically, when I had done a report, there were only two steps missing, which were assembling graphics and text for the audience to follow. However, when the time came for the news to air, the text was missing, which made me "panic" and my hands trembled when I knew that this news could not be replaced by another news. At that time, I could only "save the situation" by searching for images to illustrate my news to replace the text.

This incident made me feel guilty towards myself and the whole crew. Because in the television industry, we always remember the saying: "Television is a collective product". When one person in the group is irresponsible or makes a mistake, maybe they do not complete their work, they will affect the whole group, the crew. Really, in that situation and moment, I felt like I was on the verge of ruining a news report, letting down the whole crew. This is also a lesson for me when creating a journalistic product, I have to take responsibility for my "brainchild", I am not allowed to be careless, I cannot blame anyone because it is my fault.

Another fun memory and memorable experience was when I once contributed to "save the airwaves" of the news, ready to help colleagues in any emergency situation. Specifically, when working on the 6am news, I would have to go to the station to do makeup at 4:30, work on the script... That day, a colleague of mine faced a rather ironic situation when she had to take care of her child at the hospital and forgot to charge her phone. When she learned that her colleague could not make it to Vietnam Television to present the 6am news, the production team contacted me at 5:35.

At that moment, I jumped up in a hurry, just enough time to change clothes to go to the station. I went straight to the studio, didn't have time to put on makeup, just had time to comb my hair, put on lipstick, change clothes and then went on to present instead of my colleague. Luckily, the news was quite fluent even though at that time I was completely unprepared, I even went on air with a bare face like that. Later, I often joked with people: "I don't have a lover yet, and even if I did have a lover, I wouldn't dare to go on air with a bare face or let my lover see it. But one day I went on national television with a bare face for the whole country to see" (laughs).

Editor Ban Mai on Alo Doctor - a specialized program on medicine and health on VTV9 channel. (Source: FB VTV9 - Nhip Song Phuong Nam)

Miss Ban Mai - Editor, MC of VTV9: "Never sad, never offended if criticized by anyone"

To limit incidents during the journalism career, what lesson has BTV Ban Mai learned?

- For me, the way to overcome difficulties in the process of working as a journalist is to improve my knowledge and skills every day. Every stumble, mistake, and shortcoming will certainly be the premise for me to do better in the future. My motto in life is: "Never be sad or offended if someone criticizes or gives me advice", especially when I am young and need to learn more experience. In terms of age, I am currently the youngest MC of Vietnam Television who has a labor contract.

The beautiful appearance of the female editor and MC of VTV9 - Miss Ban Mai. (Photo: FBNV)

In addition, does the female editor and MC of VTV9 have any personal views or principles when working as a journalist?

- I think I am still a "newbie" and too young and inexperienced in journalism, so I may not be completely worthy of giving advice to others. I even want to receive experience sharing from people around me.

If it were my own motto, I would say it would be sincerity in what needs to be done as well as in the journalism products. For me, in any profession, honesty and sincerity are the first and most important things. When you bring something to others, it must come from your heart so that you can receive the same value in return and the results you create are worthy of respect. In particular, I think sincerity must be put first when journalism reflects the truth and conveys meaningful messages to everyone.

On Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, June 21 this year, what message would Miss Ban Mai - Editor and MC of VTV9 want to share with her colleagues?

- On the occasion of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, June 21, this year also marks one year since I started working as a journalist. I would like to thank all reporters at press agencies for their efforts, dedication, and devotion to their profession.

When I became a journalist, I realized that more clearly and specifically and admired you guys even more. I hope that in the future, when I join the journalism team, I will be able to follow in your footsteps and learn from you guys so that I can become more and more perfect, improve my expertise to create quality products, a healthy media environment, and sustainable development.

I also hope that we will always be healthy, happy, love our jobs and be devoted to our jobs to be happier and more successful in our jobs!

Thanks BTV, MC Ban Mai for sharing information!

(To be continued)

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Source: https://danviet.vn/hoa-hau-ban-mai-nu-btv-mc-tre-nhat-vtv-voi-toi-ap-luc-thoi-gian-rat-kinh-khung-20240621061343648.htm