Normal day at the editorial office

Reporters and technicians prepare content and techniques before the live TV show goes on air.

It has become a habit that before each TV program is broadcast, editors, announcers and technicians are all ready. Each person has a different job, in a different department, but they always coordinate with each other very well and rhythmically so that the broadcast program is "in sync with each other".

Currently, the production stages of Lao Cai Newspaper’s television and radio programs are carried out in a closed process on Media Asset Management software (abbreviated as MAM). Therefore, all departments are related to each other, if there is a “blockage” at any stage or step, it will be difficult to carry out.

The crew made the TV show broadcast live.

In order for the first news program of the day to air at 7am, the work of those behind the scenes, the “kitchen” usually starts at 5am, not to mention the news, reports, and scripts that must be pre-programmed the day before according to plan. Therefore, when the city has not yet woken up, the people working on the morning news program have to go to the newsroom, preparing the work before the live broadcast. Therefore, in addition to the reporters who go to the base, the work of those who seem to “not be exposed to rain or sun” is no less stressful, but also has its own interesting things…

Tran Hai Yen is currently the youngest announcer at Lao Cai Newspaper. Yen's working day usually starts at 5:30 am and ends at 8:30 pm, depending on the shift. On days when she is scheduled to be on air in the morning, Yen has to wake up earlier than usual to prepare.

Announcer Hai Yen shared: The pressure of live broadcasting is to not let any mistakes happen. Announcers in the studio, communicating with the director and crew via headsets, must flexibly handle arising situations. The most important thing is to stay calm and proactively handle mistakes right on the air.

Yen still remembers the first time she hosted the program "Lao Cai Ngay Moi" on New Year's Day 2025. At that time, Yen had only been working for about 3-4 months and had just gotten used to live television for a short time. Although she was hosting the program with announcer Huy Truong, who had many years of experience in the profession, because she was not used to interacting, Yen was confused in the interaction part. "My eyes were on the host but my head was still looking at the camera, making the presentation lack connection. That was the experience that helped me understand that working on television is not just about reading correctly, but also requires good coordination with colleagues to create a natural and attractive atmosphere" - Hai Yen confided.

In addition to the text, the job of a radio and television program editor is to evaluate the quality of images, camera angles, sounds, and music. Journalist Trinh Ngoc Ha, a television program editor, said: The strength of television is to convey through visual language, so editing television programs must pay special attention to the frames, camera angles, scenes, commentary, and footage must match...

In addition, the special effects and graphics of the post-production department are also one of the factors that bring the images of each film, each report, each television news to life. All are based on the principles of television profession, experience in the profession and the sublimation of the editor.

Journalist Thanh Cuong and journalist Vu Thang discuss work content during the editorial shift.

Journalist Vu Thang, radio program editor, shared: Each type of journalism has its own characteristics and strengths, so it requires people in the profession to exploit their strengths to convey information in the most attractive way possible...

Each person has a job, for technician Hoang Anh, every day, he arrives early to open the machine room, prepare tasks such as creating text, recording, processing backgrounds... Each shift has 4 technicians in charge of different tasks. The work intensity is high, the pressure is high, especially when directly producing live broadcast programs. Because, live broadcasts do not allow for errors, if there is a problem, it can only be handled within 3 - 5 seconds.

With more than 24 years of experience, technician Hoang Anh is used to and finds ways to stay calm to handle situations. The transition from pre-recorded to live - is a turning point that significantly increases work pressure. A memorable memory for technician Hoang Anh is when storm No. 3 occurred (September 2024). At that time, reporters were broadcasting live at the scene when the transmission suddenly became unstable. The entire crew immediately had to handle the situation by inserting pre-prepared clips to fill in the gaps in the signal. Those were tense moments, but thanks to smooth coordination, the program was still broadcast in full, and the audience did not realize there was a technical problem behind it.

Technician Hoang Anh performs the program.

Editing and organizing the production of television and radio programs is like that, but what about the work of editing and publishing printed newspapers, and publishing directly on electronic newspapers? There is no pressure on the time of broadcasting on schedule, but the work of electronic newspaper editors is spread throughout the day, from early morning to late at night. Not only are they responsible for editing news, articles, photos, and multimedia works sent by reporters to the centralized editorial office (CMS), all domestic and international news and events that take place every day are exploited, processed, and continuously updated by editors. Each editor directly on electronic publishing must be "multi-talented" - proficient in editing manuscripts, editing photos, and layout of electronic newspapers, and proofreading. There are days when editors have to stay up late at night to edit and publish when it is already the next day; such as when there is a flood, forest fire, or the police are fighting a case...

Currently, Lao Cai Newspaper has 3 printed publications: regular newspaper, weekend newspaper and newspaper for ethnic minorities. In order for a hot newspaper to reach readers on time and on schedule, editing and publishing work is also carried out according to the process: editing, copyediting, proofreading... Most printed newspapers have to wait for the news of the day, so on days when there are important meetings and events that end in the late afternoon, when they are finished and sent to print, it is already late at night, the entire publishing team leaves the editorial office to return home at 9-10pm, sometimes even when they get home, the day is almost over.

Ms. Bui Xuan, who has been a mo-rat editor at Lao Cai Newspaper for nearly 32 years, is the one who reads every period, every comma, every sentence, every word on the printed copy. Recalling old memories, the period before implementing the converged editorial software, when errors occurred after printing, the brothers and sisters in the print newspaper production team had to fix them in many ways, sometimes using a pen to cover, using a pen to write over the words or cutting and pasting, not to mention the errors that had to be reprinted... However, the diligence and carefulness of those who do the editing and print newspaper production work are always maintained with all their passion and love for the job.

“Reporters have worked hard and invested their efforts to create a journalistic work, I only do one step in the process of completing that work to reach readers, so I see the meaning of the work I am doing. Therefore, despite the difficulties and hardships, I still love journalism and feel proud of it,” Ms. Xuan confided.

The busy cycle of a day closes, waiting for the cycle of a new day to open. And so, 365 days, that cycle never stops, the vehicle of Lao Cai journalists keeps running smoothly to broadcast regularly every hour, to post news for readers near and far.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/ngay-thuong-o-toa-soan-post403597.html