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In Competition, Vietnamese Journalists Explore New Angles on HIV/AIDS

(July 7, 2006) Over 50 journalists from Vietnam’s television, radio and print media recently gathered in Halong Bay in one of the country’s hotspot provinces for HIV/AIDS, Quang Ninh. They came to compete – to see whose features, news reports and stories on HIV/AIDS would be judged the best.

Internews held the competition for all journalists who had participated in its four journalism training workshops held in Vietnam since 2004.

Internews Network Vietnamese journalists participated in a competition, held by Internews, for the best news stories about HIV/AIDS.

One of the judges, Professor Chung A of Family Health International, said,  “Participants have started to explore new angles on HIV/AIDS like stigma and discrimination reduction, harm reduction, new interventions in HIV/AIDS prevention; care and treatment... The journalists seem to empathize with people living with HIV/AIDS more than before, and use proper words to talk about things related to HIV/AIDS.”

Internews organized the competition in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Information (MoCI) and the Ministry of Health, and was assisted by Family Health International. The event focused on challenging stereotyping and stigma and conveying the "human face" of the epidemic in features and news reports. The panel of judges included experts from Internews, Family Health International (FHI), the Ministry of Information and Culture, the Press Department, The Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Administration of AIDS Control (VAAC).

Another of the judges, Mr. Luong, Chairman of the Press Department of MoCI commented on the effectiveness of the journalism trainings. “Wording and description in the print stories, as well as use of sound and pictures with radio and TV pictures, has improved and the stories are more interesting and attractive. New skills have been taken on like mixing real-life sound and creative choices of music. The topics are also interesting and informative, carrying valuable information to people in terms of HIV/AIDS prevention and stigma reduction. Other areas that have improved include proper use of HIV/AIDS terminology and applying new skills in approaching and interviewing PLWHAs.”

Both judges also pointed to areas that needed improvement such as the pessimistic attitudes still expressed about HIV/AIDS being a "death sentence" and how many journalists still dwell on the theme of death in their stories. Furthermore some stories simply provided information, but did not deeply analyze and evaluate the issues, or offer solutions. 

The competing journalists submitted 33 print stories; 6 radio stories; and 14 TV feature news stories. The judges unanimously agreed on the first prize for television entries – a story about a center in Tam Binh that offers care and support for orphans and vulnerable children affected by or living with HIV. It was produced by Binh Duong TV, a provincial station.

The judges chose 10 of the 33 print stories, but agreed that no story stood out for first prize. Instead they selected 4 stories for 2nd   prize, and 6 stories were awarded 3rd prize. The print journalists wrote on topics such as: men who have sex with HIV-positive men; the lives of people living with HIV; injecting drug users and harm reduction; the lives of families of drug users living with HIV; anti-retroviral treatment; and, reducing stigma and discrimination toward people living with HIV.

Nguyen Hong Quyen of Voice of Vietnam national radio won first prize for his story on HIV/AIDS prevention. Nguyen Tu Minh of Voice of Vietnam national radio won second prize for his story profiling the life of a person living with HIV/AIDS.

"We gained comprehensive knowledge on HIV/AIDS and knowledge of how to work better as journalists and to produce better stories on HIV/AIDS. We are proud of what we have achieved and it’s all here published in a book and on DVDs.” said a television journalist who participated in the workshop and competition.  

Internews is assisting Mekong region-based journalists in strengthening their reporting on the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS through targeted seminars and follow-up support and mentoring. The training is conducted from journalist to journalist, and uses a practical approach, encouraging the production of print, TV and radio stories from the workshops for publication and broadcast.

This program was supported by the UK Department for International Development.

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