Studying journalism at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities: Bringing the lecture hall to the newsroom

Within the framework of the course (subject)Types of media, the model "Bringing the lecture hall to the editorial office" was first applied to students of class K57 Journalism by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and achieved unexpected results. More than 80 articles by 35 students in just 4 weeks of studying at the editorial office of Vietnam Law Newspaper - one of the most modern multimedia press agencies today has shown the real effectiveness of this model in journalism training at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Practical training in a professional environment

This is a plus point of this model for students about to graduate. In addition to the knowledge and skills they have accumulated before, the daily practical work of the editorial office helps students have the opportunity to rub shoulders and learn more about all the content according to the output standards of the course.

Vietnam Law Newspaper is a multi-form press agency that is the most modern and dynamic today. Interning here, students have the opportunity to participate in content production from print newspapers, electronic newspapers to radio and television. With a team of staff with solid expertise and ideology, responsibility and enthusiasm, the newspaper has helped students have the opportunity to experience producing news articles according to professional processes. This has created conditions for students to freely create, search for, develop topics and gain practical experience to have authentic and quality news and reports.

In particular, many students have actively participated in specialized pages aboutAccompanying Clean Foodor market research. This is a big challenge for students who are still learning. However, with the dedicated guidance of lecturers and reporters, many works after being published have attracted great attention from readers.

“At first, when I received the clean food field, I was quite worried and I had never experienced this field before. But with the enthusiastic help of lecturers and reporters, I was able to write some really satisfying articles. I also gained a lot of experience in doing investigations and reporting to increase the appeal of the information in the articles.”. – Le Thi Thanh, intern at Phapluatplus.vn shared.

Students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication work directly during the internship.

More relationships, confidence and job opportunities

One of the important skills of a reporter is to create relationships. In this model, of course, creating real relationships with reporters and editors of a press agency for students is certain. Students always have seniors by their side, many of whom are alumni and graduate students of the Faculty, to learn from and answer any questions about the profession in the most open and sincere way. The affection between colleagues, classmates, seniors and juniors... quickly helped to erase the distance and confusion of students right from the first day of focusing on learning about the overall work of the editorial office. Certainly, these professional relationships will not only help them complete their course objectives, but also be useful in exchanging information sources and professional skills for them in the future, even when they work at another press agency.

More importantly, if you put in 100% effort in this learning model, the chance of becoming a contributor or official employee of the editorial office will be very high. Any editorial office, no matter how big, always needs talented and hard-working contributors to meet their huge, unlimited demand for news articles in the current era of constantly updated information every minute, 24/7.

With 13 articles in the Culture - Entertainment section in just 4 weeks of internship at Phapluatplus.vn, Le Thi My has now had the opportunity to become a contributor to the newspaper. Besides My, Le Dinh Dung and Le Van Thong (interns at the Vietnam Law Electronic Newspaper) are also collaborating in producing the Law Newsletter and Consumer Newsletter.

Sharing this joy on his personal page, Dung said: “I admit that your model of "Bringing the lecture hall to the editorial office" is really good. Not only does it give students another internship, but it also helps me have a job opportunity. So I don't have to worry too much when I graduate.”.

Student Le Dinh Dung works during an internship program at Vietnam Law Newspaper

Video link attached:http://baophapluat.vn/truyen-hinh-phap-luat/bon-nam-khong-xong-mot-doan-duong-giua-long-thu-do-272673.html(Internship product of students Le Van Thong and Le Dinh Dung)

Editorial office or lecture hall?

In the current training of Journalism, in addition to providing basic knowledge of theory, skills, and professional attitudes to students, focusing on practice and reality is always an important link to help students be more confident in front of employers. The model of "Bringing the lecture hall to the newsroom" isreversalof the model "Bringing the newsroom to the classroom" that the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities has been successfully applying for many years.

In the first years of studying at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, when students do not have much experience and real-life contact, they need to be equipped with the most basic knowledge and skills to confidently try their hand step by step. In subjects such as:Television news program production, Radio news program production, Writing skills for print newspapers, Writing skills for online newspapers, Specialized journalism, Newspaper design and presentation...,Students will study in the lecture hall and practice in the school's modern multimedia studio worth tens of billions of dong. At this time, in addition to the regular lecturers, a team of guest lecturers or journalists and experts from the editorial offices will come directly to explain, guide and help students practice. The class will be organized as a miniature editorial office, divided into separate specialized departments. Student products range from exercises simulating magazines, newspaper pages, newspaper issues, radio and television programs, etc., in which students produce content, film, take photos, edit, layout, print, broadcast, etc. for grading and internal circulation, gradually reaching the quality to be organized into newspaper pages for a real newspaper or radio station. Students in many subject classesWriting skills for print mediaI still remember every Thursday morning, both teacher - journalist Tran Ngoc Ha and his students eagerly waited for the issue of Phap luat Viet Nam to come out that day to see how their works were published and to learn from their experiences. They also happily watched over and over again the video clips they produced that were approved for publication on electronic newspapers and websites, which were products of the subjects in the faculty.

But when students are more mature and have mastered the process of producing media products in the classroom, they need to be brought to editorial offices to learn directly in a real-world environment. In addition to the coursePractical, Graduation InternshipIt is necessary to implement other forms of practical training. “Bringing the lecture hall to the editorial office” is a model born from the thoughts and concerns of those working in training.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - The person who proposed and successfully implemented the method "Bringing the newsroom to the lecture hall" and the reverse method "Bringing the lecture hall to the newsroom" in journalist training.

Sharing her joy after applying this model, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen said: “The first time we tested the model of “Bringing the lecture hall to the editorial office”, without the enthusiastic support of friends and colleagues in the partner agency, the Vietnam Law Newspaper, and the efforts of the students themselves, we could not have achieved such results. Looking at the students’ reports at the end of the course, although the content and form were still a bit immature, we felt that behind it was the passion and dedication of the students to their profession. The reports in text, photo, video, etc. covered a wide range of topics from political, social, cultural issues to the very familiar things we still encounter in the school yard every day. Training is linked to professional practice, helping students experience the profession from a very early age with real work and real people.is not impossible”.

The newsroom and lecture hall constantly and flexibly change places, which is a training model that has borne fruit from the effective, sincere and responsible strategic cooperation between the Faculty of Journalism and Communication and the Vietnam Law Newspaper over the years. The leaders of the newspaper have regularly cared for, supported, promoted and directly assigned work to their journalists to help the school. A club specializing in reporting called But Tre, whose core is the faculty's students, was established at the newspaper's newsroom and has continuously won many major journalism awards. Hopefully, in the future, this model will continue to develop, and at the same time, many other subjects will also apply these new training methods so that students can have earlier and more real experiences with the career they have chosen to study.

Video link about the first school meeting at Vietnam Law Newspaper:http://www.phapluatplus.vn/dua-giang-duong-den-toa-soan-bao-phap-luat-viet-nam-d10899.html