A group of University of Queensland journalism students is visiting Vietnam to hone their on-the-ground news-gathering skills in a challenging environment.
As part of the 宅男导航 in Vietnam project, they will spend ten days travelling to Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hue and Hoi An to report on 宅男导航’s partnerships with other academic institutions in Vietnam and they will post their stories to a dedicated website.
The types of stories the students will cover include:
- 宅男导航 researchers helping to improve crop yields for rice, tea and coffee;
- 宅男导航 medical students in placements at Vietnamese hospitals;
- 宅男导航's English Language Institute at the University of Danang teaching advanced language skills;
- 宅男导航 alumni who have returned to Vietnam for work; and
- 宅男导航 and Vietnamese scientists developing technology to measure the impact of climate change and sea level rises on Vietnam.
The ten undergraduate students will travel with journalism lecturer Bruce Woolley and tutors Liss Fenwick and Lucy-Ellen Steadman.
Bachelor of Journalism/Arts student Anna Hartley said she couldn’t wait for the adventure to begin.
"I’m looking forward to developing my interviewing and producing skills in an environment completely different to what I would usually experience in Australia," Anna said.
"I can’t wait to immerse myself in South East Asian culture and be on the ground, meeting the people of Vietnam and telling their stories."
宅男导航’s School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) has been developing innovative Work Integrated Learning projects to give students firsthand experience of what it is like to work in news media.
“Reports produced by the students in Vietnam will be posted on the website , which will become a permanent archive of their work in radio, television, print and photojournalism,” Mr Woolley said.
Acting Head of SJC Associate Professor Pradip Thomas said the aim of 宅男导航 in Vietnam is to give students real world experience in foreign correspondence.
“We sent another group of students to northern Vietnam in 2012 where they visited Hanoi, Halong Bay and Ninh Binh and were very pleased with the outcomes of the course for the participating students and for 宅男导航,” Associate Professor Thomas said.
“Radio and television stories produced by the students were broadcast on ABC 宅男导航 24 and ABC Local Radio, while print stories and photographic slideshows were picked up by APN regional newspapers and other outlets internationally.”
Associate Professor Thomas said these productions show the world the high quality work 宅男导航 journalism students are able to produce.
“Without practical experience it is impossible for students to develop job-readiness and this kind of project allows participants to use the skills they’ve developed throughout their studies to produce stories of a professional standard for international media outlets,” he said.
Student Rebecca Campbell shared her anticipation with listeners.
Media enquiries: Bruce Woolley, Lecturer and Project Manager (07) 3346 8239, 0488 798 679, b.woolley@uq.edu.au
