First day of capacity building course for young journalists

The program “Capacity building for young Vietnamese journalists” organized by the Faculty of Journalism and Communication with the support of the US Embassy officially started on November 5, 2011.From the registration documents, the program's organizing committee has selected 80 students who are young journalists, journalism students from the Academy of Journalism and Communication, Diplomatic Academy, Faculty of Journalism and Communication - University of Social Sciences and Humanities and a number of other agencies and organizations that are qualified to participate in the course. The new point of this course is that in addition to improving writing skills, the course will focus on training and developing working skills and processing press photos for students. In particular, a photo exhibition with many attractive prizes for students participating in the course will be held at the end of the course.In the first lesson, the students had the opportunity to exchange with Mr. David Frogier de Ponlevoy - a proofreading expert and training expert for VOV5 and VOV1 channels of the Voice of Vietnam and Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Minh Son (Head of the Department of International Relations - Academy of Journalism and Communication).

Notes when writing a report

In his presentation, Mr. David Frogier de Ponlevoy emphasized: the most important part of a report is the introduction and the first sentence. Think of it as the first person to steer a boat or a train. If the locomotive does not accelerate or move, the whole train must stop. Therefore, writing a report from the first 1 to 2 sentences must make the reader feel interested. There are many ways to start a report. The speaker mentioned some approaches to opening a report such as: starting to describe the destination, according to him this is a good idea because it will create a context that attracts readers. Or you can start with something surprising or with a story in case you grasp the content of the whole story, hear that story...

Another important thing to note when writing a report is: people need to be included in the report, otherwise the report will be very boring. However, we do not need to describe too many details about the characters, just one or two good, typical details are enough. Some other points of note were raised and analyzed specifically by the speaker such as: Using adjectives: Adjectives are important in describing things and events, but adjectives are also a trap. In the report, you should not use the adjectives "beautiful", "good" because that will make the reader feel that the reporter is lazy to think, there is no way to describe more details and attractiveness. Using numbers: Numbers are often difficult to remember, so when using numbers, do not use too many and use the unit of measurement that readers can easily imagine, try to compare with familiar things. The speaker illustrated the effective use of numbers through the example of remembering the area of ​​some famous places for comparison, so that the numbers will become more impressive and easier to remember. Many practical examples were given by the speaker to illustrate how to start an article as well as things to note when writing an article. At the end of the presentation, Mr. David Frogier de Ponlevoy once again emphasized: to have an attractive article, attract readers, never try to write about everything, choose a topic, choose a perspective before starting, use all the senses to be creative, use simple sentences, be careful with adjectives and numbers.

Next opportunities

After the discussion by Mr. David Frogier de Ponlevo, the students participated in a discussion with Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Minh Son on the topic "Journalism in the context of globalization and international relations"; on "Professionalism and professional ethics in Vietnamese and international journalism" with journalist Tran Le Thuy - Journalism Research Scholar (Oxford University, UK). Discussed the distinction between "media sources and social networks" and performed practical exercises in modern journalism with journalist Vu Lan Huong - Editorial Secretary of the Vietnam Economic Forum (Vietnamnet).

Participating in the presentations and guiding students in the upcoming courses will continue to be famous journalists and experts with a lot of practical experience in the field of journalism such as: MSc. Do Minh Thuy (Media Project Manager in Le Media Group), Mr. Le Quoc Minh (Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus), photographer Doan Bao Chau - who has participated in taking photos for major news agencies and newspapers in the world, journalist Huy Duc - a veteran journalist who has worked for many years at Tuoi Tre and Saigon Marketing newspapers... MSc. Do Minh Thuy (Program Coordinator, currently Media Project Manager in Le Media Group) said: The course takes place every Saturday and Sunday, expected to last from November 5 to December 3. In addition to discussion and practice sessions in class, students will have practical lessons and do exercises. In addition to the useful knowledge gained during the course, at the end of the course, students will also receive a certificate. Excellent students will be introduced and supported to do internships at Vietnamese press agencies.