Labour Newspaper, Voice of Viet Nam win top prize of 3rd Labour and Employment Media Award
Other media organizations honoured at the award include the Tuoi tre newspaper, Viet Nam News Agency, Dan Tri online newspaper, Ha Tinh newspaper, Lam Dong television and radio station and Cong an Nhan dan television channel.
HANOI (ILO News) – Viet Nam’s third Media Award on Labour and Employment was announced this morning (22 April) in Hanoi with the top prizes given to the Lao dong (Labour) newspaper and the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV).
The winner of the print-online group was Le Thi Tuyet of the Lao dong newspaper with the story on “The ones who bring legal knowledge to workers”. In broadcast category, Tran Ba Duy, VOV2, was awarded First Prize of the broadcast for a series entitled “Migrant workers: deserted villages – weary cities”. The First Prize was VND20 million (more than US$900) in cash.
The Second Prize, worth VND10 million (more than $450) in cash, was also given to the Lao dong newspaper for the series “Fragile fates in the South-end lands” of co-authors Hoang Van Minh, Tran Chau Huu Danh, Luc Thanh Tung in the print-online category and to Nguyen Van Quang of the Lam Dong TV and Radio Station for the “Untold stories behind University Village” in the broadcast group.
The remainders of the total 14 prizes belonged to the Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper, Viet Nam News Agency, the Dan tri online newspaper, the Ha Tinh newspaper and the Cong an Nhan dan (People’s Police) television channel.
First prize winner Le Thi Tuyet said she was happy that labour and employment journalists are now recognized for their efforts.
“In reality, labour and employment are yet given a priority by journalism schools as healthcare, education and culture, resulting in few journalism students interested in this area. They are not inspired at universities,” she said. “That’s why when they enter the industry, those who cover this beat are all assigned to do so instead of volunteering and they have to start from scratch in the learning process.”
Viet Nam is entering a new development era with deeper integration through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other free trade deals, which accelerate the structural transformation of labour markets and give more weight to labour and employment issues.
“In that context, journalists have important roles and contributions to make,” said ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Tomoko Nishimoto. “They are the ones who help the public understand new social and labour challenges Viet Nam faces, raise awareness of people about their rights, and shape public opinions. In that way, the media also can help the Government and policy-makers in making better informed decisions.”
This is the third year the Central Party Committee for Propaganda and Education and the Academy for Journalism and Communication joined hands with the ILO to organize the annual press award in labour and employment to honour journalists’ efforts in timely and profoundly delivering current information to the public and encourage them to spend efforts on more valuable and influential stories.
The third award received more than 250 entries from various media organizations, one third up against the 2015 award.
“The majority of the submitted entries this year were of quite good quality. The topics focused on hot current issues. Many investigative pieces showed emerging issues related to labour and employment,” said Vice President of the Award Committee, Rector of the Academy for Journalism and Communication, Truong Ngoc Nam.
According to the President of the Award Committee who is Vice Head of the Party Central Committee for Propaganda and Education, Pham Van Linh, the award not only honoured quality journalistic works on the world of work but also offered a forum for the journalists to discuss Viet Nam’s labour issues and journalistic skills covering this beat which urged the authorities to come up with new policies and solutions to develop an effective and competitive labour market in the context of integration.
List of winners:
I/ PRINT AND ONLINE
TITLE
AUTHOR
ORGANIZATION
PRIZE
The ones who bring legal knowledge to workers
Lê Thị Tuyết
Labour (Lao động) newspaper, HCMC
First
Fragile fates in the South-end lands (3 parts)
Hoàng Văn Minh - Trần Châu Hữu Danh-Lục Thành Tùng
Labour (Lao động) newspaper, Da Nang and Long An
Second
30 years of seeking jobs for strangers
Tấn Đức
Youth newspaper (Tuổi trẻ), HCMC
Third
Developing labour force during integration process: Opportunities wait for solutions (3 parts)
Đỗ Thị Thảo Nguyên - Phạm Trần Trung
Vietnam News Agency, Hanoi
Third
A company that “teaches how to be human”
Trần Công Sơn Lâm
Youth newspaper (Tuổi trẻ), HCMC
Fourth
Vietnamese workers beaten in Algeria (3 parts)
Hoàng Văn Mạnh
Dân trí online newspaper, Hà Nội
Fourth
Labour export: When the dream to make a fortune is broken
