Innovation in journalism and media training in the context of digital transformation

Specialized, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training

Four hundred years ago, the British philosopher F. Bacon once said: “Knowledge is power”, “Whoever controls information controls the world”. In his work “The Coming of Post Industrial Society”, Daniel Bell said: “Industrial society is based on mechanical technology, post-industrial society is based on intellectual technology. If capital and labor are the two characteristics of industrial society, then information and knowledge are the two characteristics that replace them in post-industrial society. Post-industrial society is also known as the information society”.

Information has become one of the five important factors of the economy, along with: human resources, raw materials, technology and capital. The amount of information and the speed of information transmission represent the strength of a country, and the development of an information society is an inevitable trend of modern society. Therefore, for a long time, journalism has become a thriving industry in many countries and journalism training has always been a field that attracts a large number of students. For example, in the UK, for undergraduate journalism training alone, there are 83 training institutions offering 1,230 courses. As for media training, there are 207 training institutions offering 3,923 diverse undergraduate courses. These numbers are impressive compared to the UK's population of nearly 67 million people in 2019.

Students of the Institute of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi) during a practical lesson in television

For Vietnam, unlike other social science undergraduate training, professional skills training is always the number one priority in journalism and communication training schools. At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, thanks to a two-phase investment project with a total budget of nearly 60 billion VND, journalism students have the opportunity to study, work, and practice their skills in a "miniature newsroom" environment.

Studying in the leading training and research environment of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam, students are exposed to and imparted the most basic, fundamental and profound knowledge of philosophy, history, literature, linguistics, psychology, sociology... important and valuable knowledge backgrounds that help future journalists write many articles that touch people's hearts with cultural depth and comprehensive social understanding.

With the flexible mechanism of the credit-based training method, students can study for a double degree to receive two regular bachelor's degrees after 4.5 - 5 years of study at school. Studying journalism combined with another social science major not only supplements interdisciplinary knowledge, increases job opportunities for students, but also creates journalists - experts in a specific field (such as journalists specializing in economics, environment, education, international, ...). Reporters and editors who are good at their job and have a deep understanding of a field will create high-quality articles about industries and fields, and thus enhance the political - scientific - educational content of Vietnamese journalism.

The Institute received the decision to launch the Master of Journalism and Media Management training program in early 2020.

Journalism ethics training

Journalism is a special profession, because the information that journalists provide has a great influence on the public and contributes significantly to creating public opinion. The press is the messenger, the bridge between the public and policy makers. And democracy can only be achieved when people have sufficient, accurate, objective information, helping them to speak up and make the right decisions..

The press plays a particularly important role, so right from its inception in the 17th century, there have been codes of ethics for the press. All press around the world have written codes of ethics approved by professional congresses, and are recognized when journalists practice their profession. Many press agencies have even developed their own codes of ethics, such as the RadioBBC(UK), or sheetThe New York Times(USA). Journalism ethics conventions are very diverse and rich, but they all have one thing in common, which is to acknowledge objectivity, truthfulness, fairness and balance in information as the highest ethical standards of journalists.

The Declaration of Principles of Journalism Ethics adopted by the International Federation of Journalists in 1954 (supplemented in 1986) immediately affirmed the first thing: Respect for the truth and the public’s right to know the truth is the first duty of journalists. The ASEAN Principles of Journalism Ethics also determined the first thing as “Must uphold the principles of openness, democracy, accuracy and honesty in the process of exploiting news, documents, taking photos…”. The Code of Professional Ethics of Vietnamese Journalists also clearly defines the requirements of “honesty, objectivity, respect for the truth” of journalists.

Signing ceremony of cooperation between the Institute and Zing electronic newspaper

In the digital media environment, journalism ethics is a "hot" issue. Large amounts of information are transmitted instantly every second via the internet, making people unable to control information. Dishonesty, distortion of the truth, and manipulation of information with bad intentions appear everywhere, especially on social networks, where information is spread quickly and uncontrollably. Many new evils arise and the dissemination of pornographic images, games that incite violence, information that provokes hatred, and defamation of the reputation of others... are concerns of many responsible people in society.

Journalism has a special power. Journalism is not just a profession, but also a mission, because journalism does not exist in and of itself, but exists for and of society. Journalism and journalists must work for life, for the benefit of the majority of workers in society, so they must always aim for true, good, and beautiful values. In the digital age, journalistic ethics need to be promoted and implemented more effectively than ever. And so, the top priority of training in journalism and media is not only skills and expertise, but must provide comprehensive training, especially in political ideology and professional ethics, and general knowledge about culture and society for journalists.

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(*) Article published in the special issue of Nhan Dan newspaper on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2020).