Is there a proper definition of journalism in the Lao language? Since DW-AKADEMIE’s first workshop on journalism at the National University of Laos in Vientiane, there is. It was conceived by 15 staff teachers of the Department of Mass Communication at the Faculty of Letters – after long discussions revolving around somewhat abstract terms like “media”, “the public”, “society” and “information”. 

Lao is not a language that lends itself to describing abstract ideas. Yet the 15 teachers feel it was worth the effort to lay a foundation they now can build upon. They are learning the mindset, tools and skills that in combination make a journalist. The reasoning behind this is that they are the ones training a new generation of Lao students who are eager to take on the profession.

What does it take to produce a successful radio program? And how can you motivate the people in northern Vietnam's Quang Ninh Province to tune in? That's what the radio staff of Quang Ninh Radio & TV and DW-AKADEMIE are exploring at the moment in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Vietnam's Academy of Journalism and Communication.

This week, DW trainers and QTV radio journalists drew up plans for a new morning radio show. It will be called "QTV Rush Hour" and will run between 6:30 and 7:30 every morning. The show will include music, information and audience participation elements.

On Thursday, March 31^st, the Vietnamese journalists recorded a pilot for the new morning show. If all goes well, the show will start airing live next month.

Text and pictures: Thorsten Karg, DW-AKADEMIE trainer