Journalism: Creating the flow of information in society

Integrated training of multi-type journalism

The Institute of Journalism and Communication Training, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, is one of the two leading prestigious journalism and communication training institutions in the country. The Institute is also the only institution that simultaneously offers both Journalism and Public Relations programs at the undergraduate level, and provides advanced and innovative programs such as Master's degrees in Applied Journalism, Journalism Economics, and Journalism Management.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong - Director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication: Journalism training in the country's leading cradle of social sciences and humanities has brought special advantages to students of Journalism. Basic knowledge of social sciences and humanities, including knowledge of history, culture, society, language, psychology, international... is taught systematically. This creates a solid foundation of social knowledge, along with the ability to analyze and identify social issues from many perspectives - this is the root of the courage and vision of journalists.

To adapt to the digital media era, the Institute equips students with comprehensive, professional knowledge to work across all types of journalism, while also providing specialized orientations such as print and online journalism, radio and television, PR and advertising, and soon, multimedia communication and media management. “The modern journalistic environment requires journalism students to be both professional and multi-talented. Journalists need to be able to work and adapt to many different types of media. Most media organizations now have digital versions, so a multi-disciplinary training approach will help students more easily discover their abilities and be more flexible in choosing a career after graduation,” shared Institute Director Dang Thi Thu Huong.

Since 2010, the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training has received investment for projects to upgrade its entire studio system, including standard and virtual studios, multimedia training rooms, photo studios, and radio studios, with funding of tens of billions of VND. Students practice producing journalistic products, especially short reports, talk shows, and television programs, right in the modern studios, which are of comparable quality to the studios of central and local television stations.

In addition to the regular graduation evaluation, the Institute has approved proposals from students and lecturers to produce press products such as television reports, information websites, radio programs, etc. for graduation. The judging panel includes lecturers of the Institute and journalists from VTV, VOV, Vietnamnet, etc. Student Bui Thi Ha - K53 Journalism - won the Silver Kite Award for outstanding short film with her university graduation work titled "Debt" about Meritorious Artist, singer Bach Van.

In addition to the smooth combination of theory and practice, the training program also pays more attention to new aspects of communication technology and the characteristics of modern media audiences to build new subjects, update journalism practices such as Data Journalism, Mobile Journalism, Multimedia, Creative Journalism... Many other knowledge modules such as economic journalism, journalism management skills, media management, journalism and law, journalism ethics, journalism culture, characteristics of modern media audiences... are included in the program to create a rich and comprehensive overall knowledge base for journalism.

 “Journalists have a special mission to create information flows in society, speak the voice of truth, have a high spirit of social criticism and orient public opinion. With that mission, journalism training at the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training aims to provide society with a source of journalism and communication human resources with both professional ethics and professional capacity, good foreign language skills, multimedia journalism skills, press management and media administration skills, to be able to meet the increasingly high demands of press and communication agencies and employers” – Director Dang Thi Thu Huong emphasized.

The "Incubator" model connects schools and employers.

In recent years, the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training has implemented many activities to strengthen cooperation with key recruitment agencies in the field of journalism and communication, aiming to create a chain of interactions that benefit both sides. Among these, the Incubator program is a new model of the Institute aimed at bridging training and practice, between the school and employers, to provide practical support for students in career orientation and finding quality jobs after graduation.

The VTV3 Open Fanpage "Incubator" is a collaborative model between the Institute and VTV3 (Vietnam Television) aimed at finding students passionate about television, providing them with in-depth training and guidance in practical work, and ultimately selecting and recruiting them to work at Vietnam Television, as well as other television stations nationwide.

At the end of 2018, MC Vu Thi Thanh Huong and many reporters from VTV3 directly interviewed more than 50 students of the Institute to select members for the Incubator Program. Participating in the Incubator Program, students receive direct guidance from experienced reporters and editors of VTV (such as journalists Ta Bich Loan, Vu Thi Thanh Huong, Do Duc Hoang,...) and qualified lecturers from the Institute on MC skills, interviewing skills, and television program production...

Students also have the opportunity to directly participate in the television program production team at VTV3. The products of the Incubator members are uploaded and broadcast on VTV3, Fanpage, YouTube, etc., and they receive royalties paid by Vietnam Television.

Alongside the Television Incubator, the Zing News Incubator program officially launched after the signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement between the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training and Zing.vn, one of the most visited online newspapers in Vietnam today, and a leading publication in the longform trend that is very popular with the online public. By participating in the Zing News Incubator, students will benefit from training courses for reporters at Zing.vn, receive guidance from reporters at the newsroom on modern journalistic technology, and earn royalties from their published articles.

In the near future, with the support of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen The Ky - Director General of the Voice of Vietnam Radio, and Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Management (Institute of Journalism and Communication Training), the VOV Incubator model will also become operational to support students who love radio broadcasting in pursuing their career aspirations.

Opening a high-quality journalism program to meet societal needs.

2019 marked the first year that the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training enrolled students in its high-quality Journalism program, meeting societal needs in accordance with Circular 23/2014-TT-BGDĐT. This training program aims to produce graduates who meet international standards and are commissioned by organizations seeking high-quality human resources. Of the program's 155 credits, 20% are taught in English. The program prioritizes providing students with opportunities for professional exchange, information updates, and practical journalistic skills training with domestic and international journalists, reporters, and journalism lecturers.

The Institute of Journalism and Communication Training is a partner and liaison with many domestic and international media organizations such as the Central Propaganda Department, the Vietnam Journalists Association, the Press Department, the Department of External Information (Ministry of Information and Communications), Vietnam Law Newspaper, Zing.vn, SIDA (Sweden), Sasakawa (Japan), the US Embassy, ​​the British Council (Media Pro project), Reuters (UK), and many foreign universities. Thanks to this, students will be supported to expand their career opportunities, not only focusing on domestic media organizations but also extending to the region.

The Institute is also implementing the Master of Journalism programs with research orientation, Master of Journalism with application orientation, Master of Journalism and Media Management, Master of Journalism and Media Economics (in association with the University of Economics, VNU Hanoi), International Master of Media Management (with Stirling University, UK) and 01 PhD training program in Journalism. These are good opportunities for Journalism graduates to continue to improve their professional knowledge at higher levels of education.