A typical day at the newsroom.

Reporters and technicians prepare the content and technical aspects before the live television broadcast.

It has become a routine: before each television broadcast, editors, broadcasters, and technicians are all mentally prepared. Each person has their own role, working in different departments, but they always coordinate seamlessly to ensure the broadcast runs smoothly.

Currently, the production of television and radio programs at Lao Cai Newspaper is carried out in a closed process using Media Asset Management software (MAM). Therefore, all departments are interconnected; any bottleneck in any stage or process would make completion impossible.

The team produced the live television program.

To get the first news program of the day airing at 7 a.m., the work of those behind the scenes, in the "kitchen," often begins at 5 a.m., not to mention the news, reports, and scripts that must be prepared the day before according to the schedule. Therefore, before the city even wakes up, those working on the morning news program have to head to the newsroom to prepare before going live. Thus, besides the reporters who go out to the field, the work of those who seem "protected from rain and sun" is no less stressful, but also has its own unique appeal…

Tran Hai Yen is currently the youngest announcer at Lao Cai Newspaper. Yen's workday typically starts at 5:30 AM and ends at 8:30 PM, depending on her shift. On days when she has morning broadcasts, Yen has to wake up earlier than usual to prepare.

Announcer Hai Yen shared: "The pressure of live television is to avoid any mistakes. Announcers in the studio, communicating with the director and crew through headphones, must be flexible in handling unexpected situations. Most importantly, they must remain calm and proactively address mistakes live on air."

Yen vividly remembers her first time hosting the "Lao Cai New Day" program on New Year's Day 2025. At that time, she had only been working for about 3-4 months and had only recently become familiar with live television broadcasting. Although she co-hosted with announcer Huy Truong, who had many years of experience in the profession, Yen was still awkward in her interactions due to her lack of experience. "My eyes were looking at my co-host, but my head was still looking at the camera, making the presentation lack connection. That experience helped me understand that working in television is not just about reading correctly, but also requires seamless coordination with colleagues to create a natural and engaging atmosphere," Hai Yen confided.

The work of a radio and television program editor goes beyond just writing; assessing image quality, camera angles, sound effects, and audio is crucial. Journalist Trinh Ngoc Ha, a television program editor, stated: "Television's strength lies in conveying information through visual language, so editing television programs requires special attention to framing, camera angles, and ensuring that shots, commentary, and visuals are all seamlessly integrated…"

Furthermore, the special effects and graphics of the post-production team are also key elements that enliven the visuals of each film, each documentary, and each television news broadcast. All of this is based on professional television broadcasting principles, experience, and the creative flair of the editor.

Journalists Thanh Cuong and Vu Thang discuss work matters during their editorial shift.

Journalist Vu Thang, a radio program editor, shared: "Each form of journalism has its own characteristics and strengths, so professionals need to capitalize on those strengths to convey information in the most engaging way possible…"

Each person has their own task. For technician Hoang Anh, every day, he arrives early to open the control room and prepare for tasks such as creating text, recording video, and processing backgrounds. Each shift consists of four technicians responsible for different tasks. The workload is high, and the pressure is immense, especially when working on live broadcast programs. This is because live broadcasting doesn't allow for mistakes; if an incident occurs, it must be resolved within 3-5 seconds.

With over 24 years of experience, technician Hoang Anh has become accustomed to and naturally finds ways to remain calm and handle situations. The transition from pre-recorded footage to live broadcasts was a turning point that significantly increased work pressure. A memorable experience for technician Hoang Anh was during Typhoon No. 3 (September 2024). While reporters were live-streaming from the scene, the connection suddenly became intermittent. The entire team immediately had to handle the situation by inserting pre-recorded footage to fill the signal gaps. Those were tense moments, but thanks to seamless coordination, the program was broadcast without the audience noticing the technical issues.

Technician Hoang Anh is implementing the program.

That's the job of editing and producing television and radio programs, but what about editing and typesetting for print newspapers and publishing online newspapers? While there's no pressure to meet broadcast deadlines, the work of online newspaper editors spans the entire day, from early morning until late at night. They not only edit news articles, photos, and multimedia submissions from reporters to the central newsroom (CMS), but also continuously gather, process, and update all daily domestic and international news and events. Each online newspaper editor must be "multitalented"—proficient in editing manuscripts, photo editing, online newspaper layout, and proofreading. There are days when editors have to stay up late into the night before editing and finish publishing by the next day; such as during floods, forest fires, or police investigations…

Currently, Lao Cai Newspaper has three print publications: a regular newspaper, a weekend newspaper, and a newspaper for ethnic minorities. To ensure that a newspaper with the latest events reaches readers on schedule, the editing and typesetting process follows a strict procedure: editing, page marking, proofreading, etc. Most print issues depend on the day's news updates, so on days with important meetings or events that end late in the afternoon, the entire publishing team leaves the office late at night to go home, often at 9 or 10 PM, or even almost at the end of the day.

Ms. Bui Xuan, who has worked as a proofreader at Lao Cai Newspaper for nearly 32 years, checks every punctuation mark, every sentence, every word on the proofs. Recalling the old days, before the implementation of the integrated newsroom software, when errors occurred after printing, the print production team had to correct them in many ways – sometimes using pens to cover up mistakes, writing over the text, or cutting and pasting – not to mention the need to reprint the newspaper… Nevertheless, the diligence and carefulness of those working in editing and organizing print newspaper production have always been maintained with all their passion and love for the profession.

"Reporters work hard and invest a lot of effort to create a journalistic work; I'm just one step in the process of completing that work so it reaches the readers. That's why I find meaning in the work I'm doing. Therefore, despite the difficulties and hardships, I still love journalism and feel proud of it," Ms. Xuan confided.

The busy cycle of the day comes to a close, awaiting the start of a new day. And so, 365 days a year, this cycle continues without interruption, the machinery of the Lao Cai journalists running smoothly and rhythmically to ensure regular hourly broadcasts and timely news updates for readers near and far.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/ngay-thuong-o-toa-soan-post403597.html