When journalists “Exchange together – Listen together – Give advice together”…

Colonel Le Ngoc Long, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper, Chairman of the People's Army Newspaper Journalists' Association; Colonel Nguyen Van Hai, Vice Chairman of the People's Army Newspaper Journalists' Association; Colonel Cat Huy Quang, Member of the Executive Committee of the People's Army Newspaper Journalists' Association, co-chaired the discussion. Attending the discussion were journalist Vu Thi Ha, Member of the Executive Committee, Head of the Association's Working Committee, Vietnam Journalists Association.

Increase Appeal to “Keep Readers”

There were many issues raised in the open discussion as the moderators directed: “The focus is on listening, sharing and finding solutions”. The delegates attending the discussion expressed their opinions frankly, focusing on giving advice related to many topics related to journalism practice.

The comrades chairing the discussion. Photo: Pham Hung

Discussing the issue of increasing the attractiveness of printed publications of the People's Army Newspaper, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Quang Cuong - Head of the Art Design - Page Layout Department - Editorial Secretariat said that creating attractiveness to retain printed newspaper readers in the context of many current challenges requires innovation in the presentation of publications. From a professional perspective on design, journalist Quang Cuong shared that, in the face of increasingly high public demands, the issue of the form of the newspaper is increasingly important. How to attract readers through presenting headlines, arranging beautiful newspaper pages, it is necessary to aim to increase short articles, more photos, better quality... at the same time combining with graphics, pictures to make it more vivid, how to approach the trend of modern newspaper presentation, avoiding too many words, too much content... Of course, aiming to write concisely, but still needing depth, thorough analysis and orientation of public opinion because that is the true value of journalism. Therefore, content and form are always a matter of balance and harmony in each publication.

The issue of applying, mastering technology, and utilizing technology to do a good job of propaganda and journalism economics on electronic newspapers is also a hot topic today... And at this discussion, journalist, Lieutenant Colonel Bui Huu Duong, Head of the English Department, Electronic People's Army Newspaper, showed delegates a very interesting product made by AI. Of course, the AI ​​story will still have many controversies, but it cannot be denied that intelligently utilizing artificial intelligence is also a problem that journalists need to grasp....

Find the "sparkle" of the event...

This is the issue raised by journalist, Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hoa - Deputy Head of the Editorial Department of the People's Army Newspaper at the discussion with the implication of how to use the tool in "finding the narrow gap, finding the sparkling point of the event" so that the journalistic work can attract the public. Comrade Xuan Hoa shared that, to organize the information content on the electronic newspaper effectively, one must first clearly understand one's audience, who are the loyal readers of the newspaper, then choose the appropriate way to write the work, attracting them.

Journalist Xuan Hoa is concerned that many current news articles still “communicate” with readers through writing that is not extensive and not in-depth. He is especially concerned about the “uniform” story in a conference reporting pattern. “One day we receive about 50 news articles about emulation to win sent by the unit but the writing style is identical, reading it will be tiring and boring” – Colonel Xuan Hoa frankly said.

Journalist, Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hoa - Deputy Head of the Editorial Department of the People's Army Newspaper shared at the discussion. Photo: Pham Hung

So how to exploit a work to be attractive? The answer is that the work must first of all say what the reader wants to hear, meet the reader's needs. That is, when developing news articles, it should follow the diamond model, information directly to the reader, presenting photos, maps, artificial intelligence, sound, graphics... in a vivid way to make the article more diverse... Of course, to do well, in addition to promoting strengths, journalists must always be the ones to sit until the end, listen until the end and filter out the "sparkle" of the event, trying to find the shortest path to the reader, connecting with the reader most effectively.

Write fast - write well is not easy...

The story of changing the mindset from print journalism to online journalism is a story that is mentioned throughout and is a concern of journalists in the current context. But no matter how the change is, the problem of writing quickly and accurately is always an important factor that any journalist needs, although it is not easy to do. In particular, journalists point out that changing in each individual, encouraging reporters to innovate and become more and more versatile is the "key" to that change and keeping up with the pace.

Talking about this issue, journalists also frankly said that when asking for change from reporters, it is also necessary to create motivation for that change. Journalist, Colonel Cat Huy Quang, member of the Executive Committee of the People's Army Newspaper Journalists Association, confided about the story of readers coming to the newspaper today not as expected. But with the Party newspaper in the armed forces, it is very clear that it cannot chase after views and likes by any means, and cannot "let loose" to attract readers... Journalist Huy Quang also added that the editorial board's mechanism in the matter of rewards, including royalties, is very important. How to have a fair mechanism for calculating royalties, not equalizing.

Journalist, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Quang Phuong - Deputy Head of the Economic-Social-Internal Affairs Editorial Department exchanged many passionate opinions at the discussion. Photo: Pham Hung

Sharing this view, journalist Quang Phuong shared, "being fast, profound, and accurate" and there are situations where reporters must be multi-talented, multi-media... that is not an easy job for journalists. Understanding that difficulty, he said that there are many ways to promote and reduce pressure on reporters, but the story of praise and encouragement from leaders along with a reasonable and flexible reward mechanism is the driving force for the constant efforts of reporters. Journalist Quang Phuong shared more, with the attention of the Newspaper's Editorial Board, the current income of reporters of the People's Army Newspaper is quite stable compared to many other press agencies. But what motivates and encourages reporters to continue to innovate and be more creative in their work is "rewards". " Salary may be moderate, but bonuses are a very important source of energy, something people always hope for and pursue..." - journalist Ho Quang Phuong shared. In addition, journalist Quang Phuong also talked about his experience in creating multimedia works in major events, especially the issue of preserving “Identity” – the purpose and position of the press agency. He said that what the People’s Army newspaper is proud of is the identity of a key multimedia press agency, the identity of journalists and soldiers. Losing identity is denying one’s existence. Therefore, preserving and deepening identity… is the highest goal.

Also at the discussion, female journalist Hoai Anh - Editorial Secretary shared a lot about editing work, explained about the relationship between reporters and editors... how to "have a good relationship"? Hoai Anh believes that the problem between the editorial office and reporters lies in sharing, understanding, avoiding misunderstandings... "We are always patient, careful, and meticulous when reading reporters' works because we sympathize with the hardships of reporters on their journey of work..." - journalist Hoai Anh said.

Journalist, Lieutenant Colonel Bui Huu Duong, Head of English Department, People's Army Newspaper, raised the issue of applying technology in making electronic newspapers. Photo: Pham Hung

The secretariat of the People's Army newspaper is more special than other units, because it has a proofreading job, which means that after the editor-in-chief has edited the article, it will go back to the secretariat to review it one last time before it is published in the newspaper... Therefore, the secretariat has great pressure and responsibility. And the most important thing is that the stages need to further improve professionalism, which means that when reporters submit articles early, carefully, and accurately from the source, from the moment they put pen to paper, the editing work of the secretariat will be less stressful and will certainly be more effective.

“Correct - timely - accurate... is always the goal!”

After listening to the enthusiastic opinions, journalist, Colonel Nguyen Van Hai, Vice President of the Association, shared: The discussion was in the form of exchanging, listening, and giving advice to work towards a common goal. Organizing this discussion, LCH listened to thoughts, in the same direction, in opposite directions, in many directions to contribute to the development of the main multimedia newspaper. Being a journalist - a soldier are two very meaningful criteria that make up the identity of a reporter of the People's Army Newspaper. When mentioning "journalist", it is often associated with creativity, when mentioning "soldier", we think of discipline, order... And harmoniously resolving this relationship is also the way each journalist behaves with their work, profession and works. "Correct - timely - accurate... is always the destination!" - journalist Nguyen Van Hai emphasized.

Closing this meaningful discussion, journalist Le Ngoc Long concluded: In about 3 hours with many enthusiastic opinions, we have partly solved the urgent problems today such as how to innovate the way of writing in print and electronic newspapers to perform tasks and produce better journalistic works; the issue of strict rewards and punishments, avoiding leveling; preserving the identity of the soldier newspaper; coordinating with departments and the Editorial Secretary Office to coordinate effectively... All opinions, exchanges and debates are highly constructive with the common goal of improving the quality and effectiveness of journalism work, maintaining and promoting the role of the People's Army Newspaper in the current press life. The recommendations and proposals will be compiled and reported by the Executive Committee of the Inter-Association to the Editorial Board and the Party Committee of the People's Army Newspaper for consideration and decision.

Ha Van

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/khi-nha-baocung-trao-doi-cung-lang-nghe-cung-hien-ke-post299344.html