“Digital citizens” enter journalism
In the age of social media where anyone can become a news reporter, young journalists face a difficult problem: How to keep the speed of reporting fast without losing depth and creativity, while still maintaining standards? How to compete in the world of digital media while still demonstrating the mark and mettle of a professional journalist?
Nguyen Thi Uyen Nhi (Former student of Journalism - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM) shared her career path: “When working in a digital journalism environment, I learned how to tell more diverse stories, catch up with trends to create attractive topics for young readers. Social networks are also a rich source of inspiration to find new content.” On the other hand, Uyen Nhi shared the pressure on journalists in the digital media competition: “In addition to the pressure to respond quickly to news on social networks, the amount of false information spreading at an overwhelming speed on news sites, pages... can also easily cause readers to misunderstand and blame journalists.”
Reuters Institute Digital News Report shows that: More than 68% of Gen Z journalists in the world are not limited to the traditional model of collaborators, editors or reporters, but can be flexible in many new roles: content producer, social journalist, visual storyteller... Young writers not only write articles, but also edit videos , produce podcasts, tell stories with images, data charts, livestream news on the scene to maximize audience attention...
A survey by The Self-Investigation, a non-profit organization that promotes healthy work cultures in the global media industry, found that 60% of journalists feel stressed as agencies restructure their staffs while the demands for efficiency and speed remain high. Young journalists now take on multiple roles at the same time, which can easily lead to burnout if there is a lack of psychological support and appropriate work management.
Generation of multitasking journalists
There are many challenges but also countless opportunities. The journey of young people working in journalism today has witnessed clear changes in working conditions compared to previous generations. Not only present at existing information "hotspots", press collaborators are present on all social media platforms, silently listening to the news beat through posts on Threads, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X... "Where readers are, journalists are there" - can be considered a new manifesto for newcomers to the journalism industry. Approaching, establishing and maintaining interactive relationships between writers and readers is a much simpler story in the 4.0 era.
The young generation of journalists who have grown up in the digital information environment are daily cultivating a set of “multi-tasking” skills, from flexible digital thinking, abundant creativity to the ability to adapt to multi-channel platforms. Multi-tasking on many digital platforms is opening up more creative frontiers for young journalists to ignite their passion for the profession and build their personal brands. In addition to the “guiding principle” of the functions and tasks of each press agency, starting from personal stories in separate columns is also gradually becoming a trend to approach readers, making the mark of new writers.
In some ways, Gen Z journalists are keeping the journalism field alive, proving its worth in the digital information race. Journalism has never been an easy job with many worries before each writing, but for young people, it is a way to serve society and talk to the world.
When she started working in online journalism, Nguyen Thi Hong Van (Contributor at Vietnam Television and Vietcetera, former student of the Academy of Journalism and Communication, Hanoi ) chose to try her hand at a completely unfamiliar field but answered her own concerns. Thousands of pages of documents on psychology were researched, pondered, and integrated with stories from life and her own personality to turn into press products that readers only need to spend 5 minutes to grasp, such as "Why does knowledge run away when entering the exam room?" or "Separation anxiety - When the fear of distance creates distance"... Hong Van shared: "Just having an article that solves a psychological phenomenon for a reader is enough to make the past three years of research worthwhile."
Creating a development environment for the young generation of journalists
Along with opportunities for career development and self-expression, young journalists expect a friendly working environment, less pressure with flexible working hours or expect to be regularly trained and updated with multimedia journalism knowledge and skills. That partly outlines the portrait of the young generation of journalists, promoting professional competence but also focusing on mental health and life balance.
At Tien Phong, the journey of nurturing a generation of young journalists is promoted through a large-scale, annual training program in the summer - the Diamond Challenge contest organized by Hoa Hoc Tro under Tien Phong Newspaper. Through selection rounds, workshops, training sessions with experts and leading guests in the field of Media - Journalism, high school students with passion and content creativity are taught how to verify information, develop issues in life into journalistic products, protect themselves from pressure and even the temptation of fame and listen to the community with all their hearts. This is followed by training sessions in the form of weekly meetings to help them gradually mature in their first steps in the profession, fulfilling the mission of "spokesperson ambassadors" for their own generation. Not only is it a playground for experience, these activities are a launching pad to help young people confidently choose journalism from the first steps of career orientation.
Nham Ngoc Minh Anh (Hoa Hoc Tro collaborator, 12th grade English 2 student at HCMC National University High School for the Gifted) shared: “Participating in the Diamond Challenge helped me choose the field I wanted to write about since I was an 11th grader. The workshops sharing writing skills helped me realize that “everyone starts somewhere” - the current success of my seniors also had challenging beginnings. More valuable than receiving royalties is that I get to expand my knowledge, relationships and constantly communicate with readers through my writing.”
Each character in the article is a piece of life. Each article reflecting and analyzing social issues is a practice of critical thinking, connection and empathy. The gatekeepers of new-age information write about their own generation - a generation that dares to ask questions, debate and propose positive solutions.
Source: https://baolaocai.vn/the-he-nha-bao-da-nhiem-post403498.html
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