The program is implemented seriously and systematically by local Journalists' Associations, with careful screening to ensure quality and fairness. The judging panel is even willing to return works that do not meet quality standards. Our conversation with representatives from several local Journalists' Associations further clarifies this.
Journalist Nguyen Quy Trong - Editor-in-Chief of Hai Duong Newspaper, Chairman of the Hai Duong Provincial Journalists Association:
Select members and reporters with strong writing skills.
From the beginning of the year, the Hai Duong Provincial Journalists Association requested its branches to register their topics. The Association's stance is to support high-quality works and to carefully evaluate those selected. Following this guidance, the branches proactively implemented the regulations in the Guidelines of the Vietnam Journalists Association , providing support according to the correct procedures and regulations regarding expenditure and submission deadlines.
Members and journalists submitted their works in accordance with the guidelines of the Provincial Journalists Association. The review board then proceeded to review, evaluate, and approve the works. High-quality works were selected, while those deemed unsatisfactory were returned. The branch and members then selected other high-quality works that met the criteria and requirements to submit to the review board for consideration as replacements.
Journalist Nguyen Quy Trong - Editor-in-Chief of Hai Duong Newspaper, Chairman of the Hai Duong Provincial Journalists Association. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.
There have been some years when central government funding for the Provincial Journalists Association has been delayed. However, to ensure timely support for high-quality journalistic works, we base our review and approval process on works that have already won journalism awards, especially the National Journalism Award.
In fact, for many years, members of various branches of the Provincial Journalists Association have been participating in a movement to create high-quality journalistic works. Each member is always conscious of creating journalistic works to participate in journalism awards from central and provincial ministries and agencies. Therefore, in the last two years, Hai Duong's press has also regularly won awards.
To effectively carry out this work, it is crucial that the Provincial Journalists Association regularly monitors and guides the local branches through briefing meetings and summary and review conferences. Based on this, the local branches will discuss topics, advise the Editorial Board on implementation, and conduct preliminary reviews before submitting them to the Association at the end of the year, where the council will make the final selection. Typically, the local branches will select members and reporters with strong writing skills, choosing topics and themes relevant to the lives of the people. This allows authors and groups of authors to focus their efforts on producing high-quality articles and reports.
The Council for Review and Acceptance of High-Quality Journalistic Works of the Hai Duong Provincial Journalists Association met to review the submitted works. Photo: Provided by the author.
The Hai Duong Newspaper Journalists' Association organizes at least two training courses annually to improve the quality of journalistic works. In recent years, the Association has selected instructors to train members in writing, guiding them in creating multi-platform journalistic works and applying new journalistic technologies. During Association meetings (at least once every quarter), professional discussions are held, and in-depth topics are selected to enhance members' capabilities in specific areas.
I think the most important thing when carrying out this task is that the Provincial Journalists Association must coordinate with media agencies. Each media agency also needs to have an early plan to produce quality journalistic works to participate in the National Journalism Awards and the journalism awards of ministries and sectors. Of course, the Provincial Journalists Association will direct its branches to advise media agencies, but the most important thing is still registering topics, predicting which issues this year are both topical and comprehensive, and are of interest to society and the people.
Journalist Nguyen Xuan Canh - Standing Vice Chairman of the Yen Bai Provincial Journalists Association:
Branches need to register from the beginning, ensuring they meet the criteria.
As soon as the Vietnam Journalists Association issued its directives, the Provincial Journalists Association began implementing the plan according to schedule, ensuring quality in accordance with regulations. In recent years, the level of support from the central government has increased significantly, with funding appropriate to the actual conditions and providing timely encouragement to journalists in the province.
The Provincial Journalists Association regularly collaborates with media agencies in the province, especially the editorial boards of newspapers and radio stations. When members register topics, most of these works are produced, published, or broadcast. Therefore, the number of members registering to participate is very large. As a result, the Provincial Journalists Association receives many high-quality journalistic works for consideration and support.
Journalist Nguyen Xuan Canh - Standing Vice Chairman of the Yen Bai Provincial Journalists Association. Photo: Son Hai
Overall, this work has been implemented relatively well, meeting the practical needs of members as well as the goals and aspirations set forth. Among the thousands of journalistic works from various media outlets, we are particularly interested in those addressing current local issues, the implementation of central government policies, and issues of public concern.
In addition, there are works on the implementation of Directive 05-CT/TW of the XII Political Bureau on "Promoting the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style." We always encourage journalists and reporters to pay attention to this topic. Every year, works on this theme account for a fairly high percentage, therefore, a significant portion of these works receive support.
The Yen Bai Journalists Association and Yen Bai Radio and Television Station are two key units with many high-quality articles. They have many in-depth articles that are both topical and timely, reflecting "hot" issues to meet the needs of the public.
Our support program does not discriminate between provincial or central press agencies and magazines. The important thing is that the member participates in the activities of the Provincial Journalists Association; all are considered for support fairly. The majority of supported works have won journalism awards. In fact, there is a coincidence where a member receives both awards from journalism competitions and support from the High-Quality Journalism Support Program. I believe this is entirely deserved and will encourage other reporters to continue to dedicate themselves, be more creative, and improve the quality of their journalistic works.
To do this work well, I think the most important thing is that the branches need to register from the beginning to ensure they meet the criteria of the Program. Secondly, it's crucial to educate members about the purpose, meaning, and process of the support program, which will then serve as a basis for them to implement and execute it correctly. Furthermore, the Provincial Journalists Association will regularly encourage members and branches to publish their registered works, thereby continuing to follow the steps to ensure they adhere to the plan and program.
In the future, I hope to increase the number of supported works, because in reality, a large number of works are produced in mountainous areas like Yen Bai. Currently, Yen Bai has about 20 supported works compared to thousands of other articles, which is rather low.
Journalist Ho Thi Ngan - Standing Vice President of the Nghe An Provincial Journalists Association:
A "boost" to encourage members to focus on creating high-quality journalistic works.
Over the years, the Provincial Journalists Association has effectively implemented the High-Quality Journalism Support Program. The steps have been carried out promptly and in accordance with regulations, creating motivation and encouragement for members. Each year, the association also focuses on organizing training courses and sending journalistic delegations on field trips to write articles. The association has used a small portion (10%) of the funds from the High-Quality Journalism Support Program to carry out this task.
However, this funding was very small, so the Association flexibly sought sponsorship from several organizations and local government levels for additional support. Besides training, each trip involves about 50 journalist members, mainly to mountainous and border regions. These trips help to further hone skills and enhance team spirit.
Many topics and themes in training courses and field trips are closely related to local realities and issues of public concern, providing valuable material for reporters to explore and write articles. These topics mainly focus on promoting exemplary learning and following of President Ho Chi Minh's teachings; Party building work; and the construction of new rural areas…
Journalist Ho Thi Ngan - Standing Vice President of the Nghe An Provincial Journalists Association - delivered a speech at the conference. Photo: Hong Son.
Currently, the province has approximately 80 media outlets, including 77 representative offices and resident reporters. We recognize that the more established and resident media outlets are, the more attention and support they need. The Provincial Journalists Association regularly coordinates with and guides the Representative Office and Resident Reporter Branches to provide timely support and guidance in creating high-quality journalistic works, thereby laying the groundwork for participation in journalism awards.
The Nghe An Journalists Association organized a field trip to Con Cuong mountainous district, Nghe An province. Photo: Provided by the Association.
In my opinion, the program to support funding for the creation of high-quality journalistic works is a "boost" to encourage each member to focus on creating high-quality journalistic works. The branches will use this to encourage and motivate their members to compete in creating high-quality journalistic works.
Through this, members see that their rights are being taken care of, and they will be more responsible in finding and implementing topics, utilizing resources from the Program to create effectively. In addition, the meticulously produced journalistic works and those that win journalism awards will help their work reach a wider audience.
We always prioritize quality over quantity, selecting only high-quality works submitted by the branches. The quality of each work is guaranteed, and after review by the Council, we will decide which works meet the requirements to be submitted to the Vietnam Journalists Association for consideration and support.
In the coming period, to improve this work, the Provincial Journalists Association will implement it at each branch and among its members. The Association also requests that the branches organize and provide the necessary funding, resources, and equipment for reporters to produce high-quality journalistic works. In reality, for many branches, this is both a task and a goal to improve the quality of their journalistic works, serving as a basis for submitting more high-quality works to journalism awards.
Journalist Nguyen Binh Duong - Standing Vice President of the Bac Giang Journalists Association:
The work is of the right quality and serves the right purpose.
The program to support high-quality journalistic works, implemented from 2006 to the present, has become a driving force encouraging the creative work of members and journalists nationwide, inspiring them to enthusiastically create works and love their profession even more.
Journalist Nguyen Binh Duong - Standing Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang Journalists Association. Photo: Son Hai.
Over the years, local newspapers have mobilized many high-quality works to participate in propaganda focused on the key political tasks of Bac Giang province. The program supporting high-quality journalism has also created a rich supply of works for local and national journalism awards such as: the National Journalism Award, the Golden Hammer and Sickle Journalism Award, and journalism awards of ministries, departments, and agencies…
During the period 2016-2020, with a supported budget of 500 million VND, the Association supported over 150 works and opened many professional training courses for members and journalists. The Association also proactively coordinated with the Center for Journalism Professional Training of the Vietnam Journalists Association and central press agencies to organize professional training courses on various topics and based on proposals submitted by the Journalists' Branches.
In particular, the courses cover: multimedia journalism skills, editing skills from print to online; social media communication skills; short television documentaries; online journalism skills; and propaganda on Party building work... Thanks to the support of high-quality journalistic works, new forms of journalism are increasingly emerging, such as: longform, e-magazine, infographic, podcast, and long-form television documentaries.
Following the plan and guidelines of the Vietnam Journalists Association, the Provincial Journalists Association has developed regulations to support journalistic works, guided members in preparing submission outlines, established a Council for reviewing and approving high-quality journalistic works, and ensured that the Council meets the criteria for quality, providing support for the right purpose and target audience in a transparent and open manner.
Thanks to the support program, the Bac Giang Provincial Journalists Association has brought together, united, and strengthened the bonds between its members and journalists. This also serves as an encouragement for journalist members to create high-quality journalistic works that meet the ever-increasing information needs of the public.
Over the years, thanks to the journalist membership program, journalists at media agencies in Bac Giang have won numerous National Journalism Awards, several awards at the National Journalism Awards on Party Building (Golden Hammer and Sickle Award), the Journalism Award on the fight against corruption, the Journalism Award on the Environment, the Journalism Award on National Unity, the Journalism Award on National Traffic Safety, and awards at the Radio and Television Festival… Notably, two works won journalism awards on the topic of agriculture and rural areas in the ASEAN region.
As a result, the Than Nhan Trung Journalism Award of Bac Giang province has increasingly improved in quality, with articles praising achievements and exemplary individuals and groups in Party building, labor, production, and following the example of President Ho Chi Minh... At the same time, more articles have emerged that boldly criticize negative aspects, shortcomings, and unfulfilled tasks in a constructive manner, attracting public attention and contributing significantly to the overall achievements in economic, cultural, social, and national defense development of the province.
Le Tam (Editor)
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