Journalism: Creating the flow of information in society

Integrated training of multi-type journalism

The Institute of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU is one of the two most prestigious journalism and communication training institutions in the country. The Institute is also the only institution that simultaneously trains in both Journalism and Public Relations at the university level, and has advanced and innovative programs such as Master of Applied Journalism, Master of Journalism and Communication Economics, Master of Journalism and Communication Management, etc.

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 systematically imparted. 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 that creates the courage and vision of journalists.

To adapt to the digital media era, the Institute equips students with comprehensive and professional knowledge to be able to work in all types of journalism, while providing specialized orientations such as print - electronic journalism, radio - television, PR - advertising, and soon multimedia communications, journalism and media management. “The modern journalism environment requires journalism students to be both professional and multi-tasking. Journalists need to be able to work and adapt to many different types of journalism. Press agencies now all have electronic versions, so a multi-form training method will help students more easily discover their own abilities and be flexible in choosing a job after graduation” - Director Dang Thi Thu Huong shared.

Since 2010, the Institute of Journalism and Communication has invested in projects to upgrade the entire studio system, including standard studios and virtual studios, multimedia training rooms, photo studios, and radio studios, with a budget of tens of billions of VND. Students can practice producing journalistic products, especially short reports, talk shows, and television programs right at modern studios that are equivalent to the quality of 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 from 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 "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 the new aspects of media 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, carry 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 communication management skills, in order to meet the increasingly high demands of press and communication agencies and employers,” emphasized Director Dang Thi Thu Huong.

The "Incubator" model connects schools and employers

In recent years, the Institute of Journalism and Communication has implemented many activities to promote cooperation with key recruitment units in the field of journalism and communication to create a chain of interactions that benefit both sides. In particular, the Incubator activity is a new model of the Institute to create a bridge between training and work, between schools and employers to provide practical support for students in career orientation and finding quality jobs after graduation.

VTV3 Open Fanpage “Incubator” is a cooperation model between the Institute and VTV3 (Vietnam Television) to find students with a passion for television, to nurture, train in depth, guide them in practice, and then select them to recruit 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. Participating in the Incubator, students are directly instructed by experienced reporters and editors of VTV (such as journalists Ta Bich Loan, Vu Thi Thanh Huong, Do Duc Hoang,...) and qualified lecturers of the Institute on MC skills, interview skills and production of television programs...

Students also directly participate in the production team of television programs at VTV3. Products of Incubator members are posted and broadcast on VTV3 channel, Fanpage, Youtube,... and receive royalties paid by Vietnam Television.

Accompanying the Television Incubator, the Zing News Incubator program was also officially launched after the signing ceremony of cooperation between the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training and Zing.vn e-newspaper, one of the e-newspapers with the highest daily traffic in Vietnam today, and one of the leading newspapers in the longform trend that is very attractive to the online public. Participating in the Zing News Incubator, students will benefit from training courses for reporters of Zing.vn, be guided by reporters at the editorial office on modern journalism technology and receive royalties from articles published in the newspaper.

In the near future, with the support of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen The Ky - General Director of Voice of Vietnam, and Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Management (Institute of Journalism and Media Training), the VOV Incubator model will also be put into operation to support students who love broadcasting to pursue their career passion.

Open high-quality training program in Journalism to meet social needs

2019 is the first year that the Institute of Journalism and Communication Training enrolls students in the high-quality Journalism training program to meet social needs according to Circular 23/2014-TT-BGDĐT. This is a training program aimed at output products that approach international standards and are ordered by high-quality human resource recruitment units. Of the total 155 credits of this program, 20% of the content is taught in English. The training program focuses on giving learners the opportunity to exchange careers, update information and practice journalism skills with domestic and international journalists, reporters and journalism lecturers.

The Institute of Journalism and Communication is a partner and focal point for cooperation with many domestic and foreign press organizations such as the Central Propaganda Department, Vietnam Journalists Association, the Press Department, the Department of Foreign 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 that, students will be supported to expand their career opportunities, not only focusing on domestic press units but also expanding 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 collaboration 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.