Building a sustainable journalism culture environment

Delegates discussed the issue of building a cultural environment for journalism.

Attending the discussion session were journalist Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of Vietnam Journalists Association and speakers who are prestigious journalists.

Building positive journalism

Journalist Nguyen Duc Loi believes that the more the press life changes, the more the press cultural environment must be established, the more it must be a solid foundation for the Vietnamese press to develop healthily, in the right direction, professionally, modernly but must be truly humane.

“The most worrying phenomenon is that a part of the press has strayed from its principles and goals, is indifferent to its target audience, seeks out trivial tastes, produces content mainly to increase traffic, compromises honesty and objectivity to achieve economic goals…”, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association Nguyen Duc Loi worried.

Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Journalists Association Nguyen Duc Loi speaks at the discussion session

To rectify journalistic ethics and contribute to realizing the goal of building a professional, humane, and modern press, the preservation and promotion of press culture must continue to be spread and expanded strongly. The Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Journalists Association, and Nhan Dan Newspaper jointly launched the emulation movement "Building a cultural environment in press agencies". At the same time, the set of criteria for implementing "Cultural press agencies and culture of Vietnamese journalists" was announced, including 6 points for press agencies and 6 points for journalists.

After more than a year of launching, the movement has truly entered the lives and working activities of journalists. The phenomenon of journalists having uncivilized behavior in their working activities has been overcome and limited. In particular, the cultural content in journalistic works has been significantly raised.

Journalist Nguyen Duc Loi informed that in 2023, one of the things that made journalists feel the most worried was that there were many cases of journalists and collaborators at newspapers and magazines being prosecuted for the crime of "Extortion of property". In addition, there are still many journalists who disregard the regulations on professional ethics, disregard all consequences to report and take pictures of many characters and events just to attract views; there is still a phenomenon of many journalists writing wrongly without apologizing or correcting; writing news in a "hearsay" style; not "seeing with my own eyes, hearing with my own ears"...

The root cause of this sad situation, according to journalist Nguyen Duc Loi, is due to the lax management of press agencies, the influence and impact of the market economy in the conditions of low income of journalists, not enough to live on, pressure to run advertisements, sponsorships... But besides that, it cannot be denied that it is due to the lack of political and cultural capacity, moral degradation, and lifestyle of a part of journalists.

Delegates attending the discussion session "Building a cultural environment for journalism" within the framework of the 2024 National Press Forum

To prevent and overcome this, according to journalist Nguyen Duc Loi, in addition to continuing to strengthen political, ideological and ethical education for journalists, requiring journalists to comply with the law, the Press Law, and strictly implement the 10 professional ethics regulations of journalists, another "immediate task" is to continue to bring the emulation movement "Building a cultural environment in press agencies" into depth, spreading more widely, thereby creating more substantial results and effectiveness.

Journalist Nguyen Duc Loi believes that all press agencies must clearly realize that the emulation movement "Building a cultural environment in press agencies" is a large movement, not temporary, but must become a necessary, regular, long-term lifestyle.

Every journalist is a messenger of culture.

Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial Journalists Association Doan Minh Long shared that incorrect and untrue news not only arouses curiosity and inquisitiveness of readers but also weakens the media. Incorrect and untrue news not only misleads readers and viewers but also sometimes deceives some reporters, making the press also become victims.

According to journalist Doan Minh Long, from unverified news on Viber, Instagram, Facebook, Zalo... some subjective journalists and reporters have turned it into journalistic products. Therefore, raising awareness of culture, building and creating cultural spaces in journalistic activities, building press agencies and the mettle of cultural journalists is a practical and urgent requirement.

At the same time, if each individual and collective, if unanimously implement good office culture at press agencies, it will contribute to the sustainable development of agencies and units, create a healthy working environment, improve efficiency and seriousness in press information and communication work.

Asking the question of why it is necessary to build culture in the press environment? Editor-in-Chief of Life and Law Magazine Nguyen Tien Thanh said that there are many reasons, but the root of the problem is that the press today has changed according to the trends of society and the times. The press products themselves have changed a lot compared to before. Therefore, building a press culture environment needs to correspond to the market and the times in order to be suitable for the times and meet the information needs of readers.

Delegates discussed the issue of building a cultural environment for journalism.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of the Natural Resources and Environment Magazine, Dao Xuan Hung, the current situation shows that there is still a tendency among journalists to commercialize journalism, group interests, etc., which affects the reputation of the press agency and the overall development of the editorial office. Therefore, the responsibility and obligation of journalists in the movement to build a cultural environment in the press agency is demonstrated through valuable journalistic works. In the flow of information in society, journalists need to determine their professional self-esteem, and have regular enrichment in culture, ethics, and expertise to contribute to building a modern and humane press.

Journalist Dao Xuan Hung believes that the responsibility of journalists is to first and foremost put the interests of the nation and people above all else to examine issues, phenomena, and events honestly and humanely. Each press agency needs to create conditions for journalists to live with their profession, work responsibly and wholeheartedly, to build prestige and brand through journalistic works that the public receives.

At the forum, managers, leaders of press agencies, and journalists also shared their perspectives on the current state of the cultural environment in press agencies and the culture of journalists today. Delegates dissected and analyzed the causes leading to the "fading" and even cultural degradation of some press agencies and a segment of journalists today.

Delegates also discussed and proposed ways and solutions to improve culture in press agencies, in the working activities of journalists, and increase the cultural content in press works. Bringing the movement "Building a cultural environment in press agencies" into real depth and effectiveness, becoming an important task that press agencies must carry out. All aim at the goal of building a cultural foundation in press agencies and journalists, so that each editorial office is truly a cultural address, each journalist is a cultural messenger.

THAI PHUONG - THU HUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/xay-dung-moi-truong-van-hoa-bao-chi-ben-vung-post730939.html