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| Representatives of the team of authors from Thai Nguyen Newspaper and Radio and Television received the Gold Award in the thematic category at the 2026 National Radio Festival. |
Taking the bell to ring in a foreign land.
One day at the end of 2025, I received a suggestion from journalist Vi Dien, a colleague in the same office. Dien said: "Let's create a feature for the 2026 National Radio Festival on the topic of organic agriculture . You've been following and reporting on agriculture for many years, you're knowledgeable about this field, let's brainstorm a topic together!"
I immediately accepted the offer because I also wanted to try my hand at a new field. After 25 years working in print and online journalism, producing a 30-minute radio program for the first time was an exciting challenge. So we decided to submit the topic "Choosing Clean Organic Agriculture Amidst Short-sighted Thinking" to the agency's leadership.
After a period of waiting, on the afternoon of December 24, 2025, Comrade Kim Hue, Deputy Editor-in-Chief (now Deputy Director), called me. She informed me that the Editorial Board had approved our group's topic for the competition entry. Since this was our first time doing radio broadcasting, everyone should try to research and learn so that the final product wouldn't just be a "plain" broadcast.
Although I'm new to producing radio and television programs, I understand the leader's advice. This also serves as a suggestion for our team to explore the vibrant layers of sound for our competition entry.
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| The team of authors always worked together seamlessly throughout the process of creating their entry for the 2026 National Radio Festival. |
This was the first time both Vi Dien and I had submitted a work to the National Radio Festival. When we learned that our topic had been selected by the agency's leadership to participate in the national competition, we were both happy and worried. Happy because our topic had been chosen, and worried because we had to do our best to make the work as flawless as possible.
Community of Responsibility
For journalists, brainstorming topics is difficult enough, but developing a program script is even more challenging. In radio broadcasting, creating a lively script that contains a high level of information without boring the audience is a very difficult requirement. That's why Vi Dien and I discussed this many times.
After that, Vi Dien was the one who drafted the initial script outlines, while I added the "meat" and controlled the overall program framework, from the thematic news reports to the guest interviews.
We worked passionately because we both had a knack for exploring modern journalistic techniques and new levels of knowledge. We always collaborated seamlessly, going on field trips together for the pre-production phase; each of us assigned specific tasks to ensure the competition entry was completed to the best of our ability.
As someone with experience in television production, Vi Dien proactively contacted voice actors from media outlets both within and outside the province, selecting voices suitable for each report in the series. This careful selection process gave the work a completely new "flavor."
Vi Dien also proactively contacted MC Thanh Mai - the "Golden Voice" of the 2026 National Radio Festival - to host the program… The participation of young technician Do Huong, who is familiar with modern techniques, also helped to make the work more vibrant.
After post-production, the final version was ready, about 6 minutes longer than expected. For a journalist, their work is like their own child, and cutting even a small part of it is heartbreaking. Yet, I had to sit and listen to every sentence and word repeatedly, noting down the smallest flaws, and decisively cutting out any repetitive parts…
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kim Hue was also very attentive, participating in every detail of the script for our competition entry. When the work was finalized, with her many years of experience as a judge in radio journalism competitions, she continued to offer suggestions to ensure the work was as polished as possible…
I remember sitting in front of my computer, brainstorming and typing dozens of titles for the thesis for her approval. Each title I submitted seemed unsuitable to her. She said: "The title is very important; a good title accounts for 50% of the success of the work." It was this strictness from the leader that spurred me to think more deeply, and finally, the chosen title for the thesis was: Organic Agriculture and the Journey Against the Wind.
An unexpected joy
As a "newcomer," I was quite surprised to be attending the 2026 National Radio Festival (to be held in Quang Ninh in mid-April 2026) for the first time! Many activities at the Festival were very interesting, especially the seminars and professional exchanges on journalism aimed at promoting innovation, creativity, and digital transformation in the field of radio broadcasting.
Everything went by so quickly, and before we knew it, the results were announced. With a learning mindset, neither Vi Dien nor I thought our work could win an award. In our minds, receiving an honorable mention was already a great privilege.
Therefore, we were surprised to receive the news that our work had been awarded the Gold prize. The joy was doubled because for many years, since before the merger, neither Thai Nguyen nor Bac Kan province had won any Gold prizes at the National Radio Festivals.
Reaching our dream on our first attempt, besides the luck of a unique topic and a rather novel approach, was also thanks to the collective effort of the entire team. The teamwork, the sharing of tasks, and the support and encouragement from the agency's leadership ignited our confidence. The achievement is not only the result of individual effort but also the collective contribution of the Thai Nguyen Newspaper and Radio & Television team.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202606/vuot-len-chinh-minh-de-cham-toi-uoc-mo-d6306b8/
