U.S. Expert Provides English Language Training for Local Journalists

Joyce Barret presents at the workshop

Twenty-seven local journalists honed their reporting and English-language communication skills this week through a journalism training workshop organized by the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon Times Group, and Saigon Giai Phong.

From July 9 to July 13, participants from HCMC and Binh Duong Province engaged in a number of activities designed to improve general reporting skills as well as exercises designed to improve English-language reporting. Workshop activities included discussing personal bias in reporting, developing interviewing techniques, and researching and writing articles, among others.

The workshop was led by Joyce Barrett, a journalism expert with more than 20 years of experience. In addition to teaching at several universities and serving as a newspaper reporter in Washington D.C. and South Carolina for more than 20 years, Ms. Barrett has conducted English-language media training across Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia.

Both print and broadcast journalists attended the workshop, held at Saigon Giai Phong's headquarters. Journalists from newspapers Tuoi Tre, Thanh Nien, Saigon Giai Phong, Saigon Times, Nguoi Lao Dong, VietnamNet and Vietnam Economic Times participated, as did broadcast journalists from HCMC Radio, HCMC Television, the HCMC website and Binh Duong Province Radio and Television.