The two-day conference was the closing event of an 18-month-long training partnership between WAN-IFRA and the Vietnamese Journalists Association to expose media leaders to the latest trends from the international media industry to support the development of media in the country.
Conference speakers included Geoff Tan, Senior Vice President & Head of Strategic Marketing for Singapore Press Holdings; Thomas Jacob, Deputy CEO and Managing Director of WAN-IFRA's Asian subsidiary, based in Singapore; Soren Ostergaard Sorensen, CEO & Managing Director of sorsoso Media Consultation; Jackie Ventom, Training Director of the Byrne Partnership; and Theo Blanco, Vice President for Sales and Marketing for Uppsala Nya Tidning in Sweden.
"The idea behind the conference, and the training programme that preceded it, is to help the Vietnamese press succeed as businesses, by bringing in ideas, innovations and strategies that have been successful in other markets and countries," said Larry Kilman, Deputy CEO and Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs for WAN-IFRA.
"For the press to do its job, newspapers have to first succeed as businesses. If they fail to do so, they will not be able to fulfil their societal role of serving the people, being a watchdog against corruption and wrongdoing, of protecting the weak," he said in remarks opening the conference.
Ms Dinh Thi Thuy Hang, Director of the Vietnamese Journalists Association Training Centre, said: "The knowledge and skills provided by WAN-IFRA experts are useful and can be applied in media houses undergoing significant change."
WAN-IFRA, the global association of the world's press, organises a number of events in Asia, including Publish Asia, the premier publishing event for the region's news companies. The Vietnamese conference was an outgrowth of Publish Asia; Vietnamese newspaper executives who attended the event requested that a mini "Publish Asia" be organised for their colleagues back home.
WAN-IFRA's next major Asian event is Digital Media Asia, to be held from 23 to 25 November next in Hong Kong. Full details for Digital Media Asia can be found here.
The Vietnam Media Partnership is part of a strategic partnership between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and WAN-IFRA to advance media development worldwide.
The partnership allows WAN-IFRA to broaden its media development activities in Vietnam by helping media leaders build audience trust and loyalty through establishing editorial values and integrity to inform public debate, offer a wider diversity of perspectives and options and create financially independent and sustainable media operations.
