Journalism and media training in the context of digital transformation: systematic, in-depth, modern, updated and practical

The seminar was attended by the Board of Directors, lecturers, postgraduates, students of the Institute of Journalism and Communication, representatives of journalism and communication training units in Hanoi; along with experts, researchers, and managers working in state management agencies and press and communication agencies nationwide.  
In his opening speech at the workshop, Dr. Phan Van Kien, Director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication (IJC), University of Social Sciences and Humanities, sent his best wishes for health, success and happiness to the delegates and teachers on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20. The support of the teachers, especially the guest lecturers who are journalists and experts in the field of journalism and communication, is an important factor in the success and brand of the Institute during the past school year.
Dr. Phan Van Kien emphasized: In the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, one of the main tasks assigned by the Government to the Ministry of Information and Communications is to take the lead in developing the Strategy for digital transformation of journalism until 2025 and orientation to 2030. The strategy for digital transformation of Vietnam's journalism has a strong impact on the entire national journalism system, both in terms of professionalism, state management as well as journalism training and research. In addition, the rapid development of technology, the emergence and participation of AI in all aspects of social life have posed great challenges for the training of human resources in journalism and communications. The Institute of Journalism and Communications has a tradition and affirms its position as one of the leading units providing in-depth and systematic training in journalism and communications, currently training in two majors: Journalism and Public Relations. In addition to constantly innovating the training program, integrating modern and highly applicable courses, the Institute is developing a project to open a new training program: Multimedia Communications. “Therefore, at today's workshop, we really hope to hear many opinions, exchanges, consultations and suggestions so that the Institute can continue to innovate and perfect the training program to meet the practical needs in the context of digital transformation” - Dr. Phan Van Kien expressed. The seminar listened to many opinions exchanged and discussed, focusing on analyzing the key contents: Policies and strategies for journalism and media training in the context of digital transformation of journalism; Current status of journalism and media training in the context of digital transformation of journalism in the world and Vietnam today; Issues of professional training, equipping basic knowledge, especially ethics and law for journalists and media workers; Requirements for innovation in teaching and training methods in the context of digital transformation.
Dr. Tran Thi Tri (working at Voice of Vietnam) shared: In recent years, digital transformation in all fields, including press and media, has been mentioned a lot, everyone understands the requirements of digital transformation, the importance of digital, digital technology, digital capacity in the development of a certain field. However, the actual and effective digital transformation is still quite limited.According to Dr. Tran Thi Tri: The University of Social Sciences and Humanities has played a good role in training high-quality human resources and providing policy advice to ministries and management agencies in the field of journalism and communication. However, facing major changes in the domestic and international context, training institutions also need to innovate to keep up with trends. Training programs need to be regularly reviewed to update new courses, increase practicality, and focus on training specific skills: writing, editing, interviewing, etc. for students so that they can confidently participate in the global labor market with increasingly high requirements.

Sharing the same view with Dr. Tran Thi Tri, Dr. Dong Manh Hung, Head of the Editorial Secretariat, Voice of Vietnam (VOV) also emphasized: a common situation today is that new graduates have good knowledge but still lack many skills to meet practical work requirements. Therefore, I hope that training units focus on expanding links with units, organizations, and management and production enterprises in the field of journalism and communication so that students have the opportunity to practice and intern while still in the classroom.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Dung (Academy of Journalism and Communication) with many years of experience in training in the field of journalism and communication has made specific proposals on enhancing professional training and practical knowledge for the team working in journalism and communication: The school can create conditions for staff to directly participate in "real combat" at a large media agency applying digital transformation, so that they can have the most practical, vivid, and updated knowledge to convey to colleagues and students.
Journalists currently working at press and media agencies, units that receive students for practice, internships and recruitment, have given very specific analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of today's students in the face of the demands of the ever-changing labor market, and at the same time proposed many solutions for training units.
Journalist Tran Anh Tu (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Information and Communication Magazine, Ministry of Information and Communication) emphasized: Technology changes every hour and we must constantly learn to update. However, journalism training is not about following that change, because the core of a journalist must still be the foundation of knowledge and journalistic thinking. Therefore, the training program still needs to equip students with very systematic and in-depth knowledge. This is what the VNU-USSH Institute of Journalism and Communication has done very well. However, it is also necessary to invest more in equipment so that students can practice the knowledge they have learned. It is necessary to create separate postcad and youtube channels so that students can upload their products immediately after completion. There are short-term training courses to equip students with additional skills (graphic design, reading comments, ...) to meet the practical needs of society, trends and tastes in listening and viewing, and enjoyment of the new generation of readers.
Journalist Le Bao Trung ((Head of Science, Technology and Education Department, Dan Tri Electronic Newspaper) shared: In the current context with the pressure to be autonomous and fierce competition, Dan Tri Newspaper or other press and media agencies when recruiting staff, even young staff, new graduates also need to have full multimedia skills such as: editing, filming, directing the scene, editing and especially must be able to withstand pressure. Current students, good at knowledge, adapt quickly to the new environment, but lack the ability to "practice" and are weak in multimedia skills. Therefore, I hope that in the near future, the School can increase practical courses, so that students will not be surprised when entering the labor market and have the opportunity to be recruited at major news agencies.
Journalist Do The Dung (Deputy Head of Electronic Department, Hanoi Moi Newspaper) emphasized: the most important thing for journalists is to build messages, while technology is just a form, a tool to convey messages to the public. Therefore, to bring the public standard, in-depth messages, there must be journalists with good expertise, ethics, and systematic training.
Master Nguyen Le Dinh Quy (VTC Academy) highly appreciated the idea of ​​building a Multimedia Communication training program with many new, attractive and updated contents according to practical requirements. The editorial board can consider increasing the number of credits for some practical and skills training courses.
Journalist Dao Hung Cuong (Electronics and Applications Magazine) emphasized the innovation of teaching methods, lecturers boldly assigned students group assignments, encouraged them to immediately practice the knowledge they had learned in real-life situations: making a short report on a social issue, writing content to post on a media channel that attracts the most readers, etc.   In conclusion of the Seminar, Dr. Phan Van Kien once again sent his sincere thanks to the experts, journalists, and scientists who attended the Seminar and contributed extremely valuable ideas. The analysis of the views and perspectives from theory and practice on the issue of journalism and media training in the context of digital transformation by the experts at today's Seminar not only helped the Institute's Board of Directors to develop specific goals, tasks and solutions to continue improving the quality of training human resources in journalism and media in the new context. The experts also unanimously affirmed that in the context of digital transformation, journalism and media training needs to be constantly innovated and updated, but also cannot stray from the core values ​​and identity. With that spirit, the Institute's Board of Directors will seriously absorb all comments to continue adjusting and innovating the existing training program and perfecting the new training program to soon include it in the enrollment plan of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.