From journalism training courses

Throughout my years as a journalist, I have frequently participated in professional training courses for departments, agencies, and local authorities in the province...

The author, along with journalist Nguyen Nghia (second and third from the left in the top row), and trainees at a journalism training course in Cat Tien.

POST-PANDEMIC TRAINING COURSE

In November 2021, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, I, along with a colleague from my agency – journalist Nguyen Nghia – and journalist Van Toa, Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial Journalists Association, went on a trip to Cat Tien district (now Da Huoai district) to conduct a training course on writing news articles for publication on the district's online information portal for propaganda officials in the district. The course lasted two days.

During my years as a journalist, I conducted many training courses like this for departments, agencies, and units of the province, as well as those of the districts and cities within the province. But the training course in Cat Tien at that time was truly special. It was special because it was my first trip to the district after the long period of social distancing. At that time, there were no passenger buses, so my colleagues and I traveled in journalist Van Toa's private car. Upon arriving in Madagui, we were stopped for Covid-19 testing. Right at the entrance to Cat Tien district, there was a checkpoint, and you needed an "order" from the district to enter.

Even now, as I write about that trip, I still remember feeling like a bird released from its cage, breathing the fresh air after months of being confined indoors. The road and the scenery on either side were the same as when I used to travel to the district for work in previous years, but I was still captivated, gazing at the landscape as if it were my first time, trying to see if the people, houses, and scenery had changed after those long months of the pandemic.

The training session was very crowded and enjoyable. After a long period of social isolation, everyone was happy to see each other. Some worked in the district, others in the commune. We shared stories about the pandemic and eagerly participated in class discussions. Being able to communicate, talk, and greet each other—at that time, we only touched elbows instead of shaking hands—all of this gave me a feeling of being reborn after those gloomy days of the pandemic. The class had a list of participants, but everyone wore masks, so now, meeting again, I probably wouldn't know who was who.

ADD MORE COLLABORATORS

Every year, Lam Dong Newspaper receives official letters from agencies, departments, and districts of the province requesting that they send representatives to give talks on modern journalism or provide training on journalistic skills for their officials and employees, focusing on writing news articles, taking photos, and using these skills in propaganda work and writing news articles for their online information pages.

The Provincial Journalists Association also collaborates annually with the Lam Dong Provincial Journalists Association to organize short-term training courses on journalism skills for agencies, departments, and branches of the province and districts. As the Deputy Secretary of the Association in charge of professional work, and also a journalism lecturer at Da Lat University, I am often assigned by my agency to conduct these training courses.

Typically, journalism training courses last about 1-2 days, but some courses extend to a week, such as the one organized by the Lam Dong Department of Information and Communications (now the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) during the summer. Many of the trainees in these courses are managers or editors responsible for news articles on their agency's or unit's website, and therefore need editing knowledge. However, the majority of trainees are those who directly write news articles for their own agency's or district's/city's website, sent by their respective agencies or units, and who desperately need both journalistic knowledge and practical experience in handling news articles.

The task of the instructor in this training course is to select a sufficient amount of journalistic knowledge within a limited timeframe, ensuring the knowledge presented is appropriate to the trainees' level, and to distribute the information appropriately throughout the training session so that trainees can absorb it most effectively.

During the training, I focused primarily on fundamental journalistic knowledge such as current journalistic formats, what news is, what an article is, current article genres in journalism, journalistic photography, editing, and a brief overview of journalistic ethics. Along with journalistic knowledge, I also focused heavily on skills, especially writing instruction.

One important aspect is sharing journalistic experiences, such as breaking news, covering conferences, identifying topics, and interviewing ordinary people as well as leaders and celebrities.

Over the years of participating in training courses like these, I've noticed that many trainees have significantly improved the quality of their writing. Their articles are concise, informative, and written in a modern style, making them easier to edit; the images are much better and free from basic errors. Many trainees have even been able to identify and write about exemplary individuals and good deeds at the grassroots level. This means that the training courses have been effective, providing agencies, departments, and organizations with additional human resources for information and communication work, serving administrative reform, and offering a better source of news and articles for their websites.

And even Lam Dong Newspaper later gained more contributors from the grassroots level to enrich its news and articles. In practice, over the years, Lam Dong Newspaper has acquired many more contributors from the grassroots, many of whom participated in these training courses and then submitted articles to Lam Dong Newspaper.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/xa-hoi/202506/tu-nhung-lop-tap-huan-bao-chi-eef2f0f/