(CLO) The structure of the 2024 National Journalism Awards will include two new awards: the Multimedia Journalism Award and the Creative Journalism Award. Many experts believe this change will increase opportunities for participation for all authors and media organizations without being limited by type or genre; promote innovation and creativity, creating momentum for the development of multi-platform, multimedia, and data-driven journalism, the application of technology in media and journalism, and digital transformation in journalism.
It's not just addition.
It can be said that the term multimedia journalism has never been mentioned as much as it is today, a type of journalism that opens up unlimited creative space for journalists and media organizations to express a journalistic topic in many different languages and formats.
According to Mr. Le Xuan Trung, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper, multimedia journalism is the combination of journalistic languages such as text, graphics, images, sound, video , and even livestreaming. However, this combination must be done in a high-quality and creative way to upgrade multimedia journalism, and not just a mere addition of languages.
"If we can enhance the quality of language in a journalistic work, it will convey information in a diverse and vivid way, delivering a clear and easily understandable message, and especially inspiring and impacting viewers through immediate interaction and feedback," Mr. Trung commented.
Journalist Le Xuan Trung - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper. (Photo: Social Insurance Magazine)
To create high-quality multimedia journalistic works, journalist Le Xuan Trung said that authors can draw lessons from award-winning multimedia works in recent National Journalism Awards such as: the 5-part series: "The devastating disaster from natural calamities and landslides: As long as there is destruction, there is pain!" by VietnamPlus; and "The names inscribed on mountain rocks have become the names of streets and neighborhoods" by a group of authors from Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Several local newspapers also won top prizes in the 2023 National Journalism Awards, blurring the lines between established media outlets and local newspapers. Notable examples include the 5-part series: "Large-scale Farming" by Thai Binh Newspaper and the 3-part series: "Sowing 'Red Seeds' in FDI Enterprises" by Binh Duong Newspaper.
According to Mr. Le Xuan Trung, the common characteristics of high-quality multimedia works are that they have themes that are relevant to important current events at the local, regional, and national levels; events and figures that attract widespread public attention; and new, unique, and fascinating discoveries presented impressively in multiple languages: text, images, videos, audio, graphics, etc. The works are logically structured, easy to follow, impact the viewer's emotions, and are meticulously and carefully produced.
In particular, the works must have a positive social impact, receiving significant interaction and feedback from viewers and relevant agencies and organizations, leading to positive changes after the work is published.
In this context, journalist Le Xuan Trung emphasized the importance of "topics that aim for solutions." "Currently, the public is more interested in content that offers solutions, ways out, and hopeful approaches to problems, whether they are old or new, easy or difficult. Avoid focusing too much on boring, dead-end situations because these issues often repeat themselves, a phenomenon commonly referred to as 'rehashed journalism'," said journalist Le Xuan Trung.
An Interactive product of Vnexpress newspaper.
Regarding presentation style, Mr. Trung believes that works should begin with familiar things, approaching the subject through everyday stories or characters, which will be more engaging for viewers than presenting dry, macro-level issues or data. Simultaneously, the "music and lyrics" should complement each other, with content and presentation being compatible, supporting each other, having a focal point, and following a logical flow, avoiding mechanical juxtaposition.
In this approach, leveraging the strengths of images and graphics instead of mere lists and illustrations contributes to making the content more vivid and concise. For example, photo essays today are no longer just about presenting photos and captions, but also include short interviews to offer solutions and address problems.
According to the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper, journalists need to constantly and continuously seek new ideas, new perspectives, and new forms of expression because of the increasingly demanding expectations of the public in the digital age, who have seen so much on the internet.
Pushing boundaries through innovation.
According to a Reuters Institute for Journalism Research survey, only 47% of editors, managers, and founders are confident about the prospects of the journalism industry in 2024 due to various global impacts, while readers are increasingly consuming news on social media, and social media content creators are becoming more powerful than news organizations in bringing information to new platforms.
Social media platforms like TikTok are developing video content extremely rapidly and reaching an ever-increasing number of young audiences. Dylan Page, a video content creator from the UK, provides relatively official information about the weather or current events, attracting many more followers and viewers on TikTok than the BBC or the New York Times.
Journalist Ngo Viet Anh, Deputy Head of the People's Newspaper's online section, commented that on social media platforms, individual content creators are stronger than news agencies in some aspects, indicating that the approach and thinking of journalism haven't truly attracted young people on social media. One trend showing promising results is podcasts – a form of spoken journalism that has developed significantly, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. News agencies could consider this direction in their newsroom development.
Journalist Ngo Viet Anh - Deputy Head of the People's Electronic Newspaper Department, People's Newspaper.
Regarding the addition of the Creative Journalism award category to this year's National Journalism Awards, Mr. Ngo Viet Anh believes it's a trend-setting direction because journalism is inherently creative, and international awards all focus on innovation. The prestigious annual WAN-IFRA Global Digital Media Award recognizes excellence and groundbreaking digital innovation. Award-winning products and programs tend to inspire the media industry to push the boundaries of innovation. It particularly recognizes how people are receiving and interacting with news, blurring the lines between journalistic genres.
Citing examples of creative journalistic works in Vietnam, journalist Ngo Viet Anh mentioned VOV's work "The Small Alley," which won the Excellence Award in the Digital Content category of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Association (ABU) in 2022.
The work tells the story of an alleyway in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, home to many freelance workers. During the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, residents in the area witnessed seven funerals in less than two months. "This is a huge innovation in the field of broadcasting, applying many modern methods. The work includes three interviews about a husband who lost his wife, a sister who lost her brother, and a child who lost their father, with impressive visuals. The audience can click on each character to listen to the story and can pause and listen again. This work is also available on digital platforms," Mr. Viet Anh said.
Or consider the work of the online newspaper Vnexpress - an interactive product about the bribery money in the rescue flight case, with moving images that allow readers to see and feel the whole picture of this shocking incident, where the money went, and to whom?
Regarding innovative journalistic products, journalist Ngo Viet Anh cited the People's Newspaper's supplement, the panoramic painting "Dien Bien Phu Campaign," which combines two technologies on the front: QR code scanning and augmented reality (AR). The back depicts the 56 days and nights of the Dien Bien Phu campaign, in both Vietnamese and English.
This supplement is part of the Nhan Dan Newspaper's campaign to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, and most recently, on November 6th, it was awarded the Gold Prize in the Best Marketing Strategy category by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
To implement creative journalistic works and products, Mr. Ngo Viet Anh believes that personnel should be organized into project teams combining multiple units, possibly with foreign partners. Projects should be broken down into smaller components, prioritizing personnel with multimedia and multi-platform thinking.
In terms of technology, priority should be given to applying new technologies and collaborating with technology companies, given the difficulty in recruiting skilled technology personnel.
"In particular, media finance is an extremely important issue. The key is to use the budget effectively while simultaneously promoting social engagement and focusing on social media promotion. If this isn't done well, it will be very difficult to achieve widespread reach; a good work or creative product that isn't known to the public loses its meaning," journalist Ngo Viet Anh stated.
Recently, at the conference "High-Quality Journalism in the Context of Digital Transformation to Meet the New Requirements of the National Journalism Award Regulations and Promote Sustainable Development in the Central and Central Highlands Regions," journalist Tran Trong Dung, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, stated that to meet the requirements for creating a pool of entries for the National Journalism Award with a new structure, media agencies can effectively coordinate with local Journalists Associations in supplementing and developing the program, from selecting topics, evaluating outlines, supporting implementation, and assessing the quality of works. This will guide and lead the creation of journalistic works using modern journalistic methods such as infographics, long-form articles, e-magazines, podcasts, etc.; applying the latest achievements of digital technology such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence to create data-driven journalistic products, news packages, and multi-platform journalism and media projects.
Hoa Giang
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bao-chi-da-phuong-tien-and-bao-chi-sang-tao-mo-ra-khong-gian-sang-tao-khong-gioi-han-cho-nguoi-lam-bao-post320642.html
Comment (0)