The 'practical' trend in journalism and media training

Adding new subjects, changing the way of practice, sending students to "real-life" careers at press and media agencies... are the ways that schools training in the fields of media and journalism are currently implementing.

T CHANGE IN TRAINING PROGRAMS AND PRACTICE CONCEPTS

With the rapid development of technology, Associate Professor Dr. Quang Hao, Head of the Faculty of Communication and Creativity at Nguyen Tat Thanh University, believes that training in journalism and communication must also undergo major changes.

Ceremony to announce training cooperation between Thanh Nien Newspaper and university in the field of communication

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

"Accordingly, the training program must have some subjects on fundamental technology, for example virtual reality technology, 3D web design, using artificial intelligence (AI)... Other subjects and modules must also have the shadow of technology or integrate technology. Above all and the most difficult thing in media training is how to help students soon have a media and journalism mindset," Mr. Hao acknowledged.

Especially in terms of practice, Associate Professor Dr. Hao believes that so-called practice now, in the new context, may have gone beyond the traditional framework a lot.

"First of all, practicing communication means creating communication products, depending on the requirements of the teacher, time and materials. Besides, the practice of communication students will be very good if they practice at the production site, which are the press and media agencies," Mr. Hao shared.

Furthermore, if students want to practice communication well, the minimum requirement is that the instructor must be proficient in the profession, and especially responsible and capable of commenting and evaluating the students' practice products. This seemingly simple thing, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Hao, in the new context, has become quite difficult for many training institutions.

Dr. Trieu Thanh Le, Head of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University), informed: "The faculty has quite modern practice facilities including a television studio, radio studio, multimedia lab with new and diverse equipment for students to practice during their time at the school. In addition, the faculty invites experienced journalists and experts to guide students in making press products and communication projects that meet practical requirements."

COOPERATION BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AND PRESS AND MEDIA AGENCIES

Dr. Vo Van Tuan, Vice Principal of Van Lang University, also said that in order for students to not "run out of breath" when graduating, studying in a "real-life" environment is necessary.

Students visit, experience and study at Thanh Nien Newspaper

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

"The university's cooperation with press and media agencies also helps lecturers access industry practices to update teaching content, contributing to improving output quality," Dr. Tuan commented.

"Obviously, when experienced journalists and media workers teach their profession, students are very excited. Especially when they get to do real work and experience real things in newsrooms, production rooms, or real media campaigns, it helps them mature very quickly and clearly shape their future career path. This shows that the cooperation model between universities that train in journalism and media with press and media agencies is creating real value," Dr. Tuan shared.

Dr. Trieu Thanh Le said that at the end of the third year, students majoring in journalism and communications at the school have a 2-3 month internship at press and media agencies. During the official internship, students will produce news, press articles, and media products according to the requirements and instructions of the agency receiving the internship. This activity has been carried out for over 30 years and is being promoted in the current context.

ADDING MANY SUBJECTS TO MEET PRACTICAL REQUIREMENTS

Van Lang University builds subjects such as digital applications, multimedia projects, production of electronic media products, AI in media... so that students can create media products used on multiple platforms and multimedia to serve the fields of media, PR, advertising, and entertainment.

The Multimedia Communications Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology focuses on majors including advertising media production, film production, and digital media product business.

The University of Economics and Finance has designed a multimedia training program with subjects such as interactive media graphics, applied arts, social networks, storyboards, filming and editing techniques, TVC and New Media production, special effects and effects...

HIGH REQUIREMENTS ON LECTURERS

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Quang Hao, recruiting communication lecturers is a very difficult story in the context of AI strongly influencing communication.

"It is very difficult to say because first, according to the requirements, media lecturers must be specialized in the right field, while the number of people with academic titles and degrees in media in our country is not much, while media training institutions are increasing day by day. Second, as with journalism, teaching media must be through communication, meaning that the teacher must be someone who has worked or is working in media (or journalism) and has his own media products to use to teach students. However, the number of such lecturers is quite rare," said Mr. Hao.

Mr. Hao added that the demand for media lecturers is high, the requirements are high, but those who are specialized and have the required qualifications do not have the interest to teach. Moreover, media training programs are often updated quickly and frequently, with courses that are not easy to teach, so recruiting lecturers with the ability to adapt well to media training like that is not an easy problem.

Students "practice" their careers with Thanh Nien Newspaper

Recently, Thanh Nien Newspaper has cooperated with many universities to organize "practical" courses to help students majoring in multimedia communications and public relations gain professional experience.

Specifically, in August 2024, Thanh Nien Newspaper taught practical courses in news production and reporting for students of the Marketing - Communication faculty of Hoa Sen University and will add more courses in the near future.

Public relations students from Van Lang University went to Thanh Nien Newspaper's editorial office to study three practical subjects including news appraisal, writing and editing news, interviewing and answering interviews, from December 2024 to March 2025 and were granted certificates.

Students majoring in multimedia communications at the University of Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City, were also awarded certificates after completing the course from March 12 to 26, with subjects on methods of editing printed news articles, video editing, and editing information on social networks.

On May 8, journalists and editors of Thanh Nien Newspaper also had their first practical teaching session with students majoring in multimedia communications at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (UMT) in the subject of news assessment at the Thanh Nien Newspaper office.

Since March 27, Thanh Nien Newspaper has signed cooperation agreements with many universities and educational organizations. In addition, many units have organized for students to visit the editorial office, learn about the process of producing electronic newspapers and publishing printed newspapers.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xu-huong-thuc-chien-trong-dao-tao-bao-chi-truyen-thong-185250616233033784.htm