Media and the effects of technology

The observational skills of professional media workers and the impact of technology on professional media workers are the contents shared by Professor Claire Woods and Professor Collete Snoden with students majoring in journalism and communication at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, this morning, April 15.The presentation was made within the framework of the two professors' working trip to establish educational cooperation in the subject of Communication and Public Relations at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. The subject is conducted entirely in English, and students can receive a master's or bachelor's degree from the University of South Australia.

Think Differently

Opening her sharing with the question: "What would you do first when you first come to a new street, a new cafe, or more broadly, a completely foreign country?", Professor Claire Woods wanted to affirm that each person's observation and communication are very important. Especially for those who work professionally in communications, this is really meaningful. For each company and organization, economic benefits are the top concern. They propose solutions to cut costs: reorganize the work structure, specialize. Or they have to market to sell products in the best way. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to establish good relationships, and therefore communication skills become an essential requirement. To become a professional media and communicator, each student must regularly update information, continuously learn and apply it to life. The skill that the professor wants to talk about is the ability to generalize and re-evaluate the situation. “Sometimes, that generalization is not completely accurate as expected, but don't forget to do it as a professional communicator,” Professor Claire Woods affirmed. When working in an organization, always remember: You are the one who researches and evaluates your own organization; as a professional communicator, you must always find new things in your perception and evaluation; you are in the position of a leader and manager, always looking for ways to change your organization; and don't forget to learn about the research that others have done before to know what others have equipped you with. These things are extremely important because they help us solve problems such as: understanding important but unusual situations and events, thereby being able to assess the situation; discovering and understanding repetitive behavioral habits; discovering and observing all the behaviors that happen around it, thereby establishing strategies and plans to change the situation. Professor Claire Woods believes that professional communicators should be curious and unfamiliar with all situations and events and observe them from a different, new perspective. For example, when looking at an organization, we should observe things like: brands, images, symbols... and ask ourselves why they use such symbols and logos? What does that say about this company? And what do the people in that company say about the company where they work? "Think creatively beyond the framework and make a difference" is the final message the professor sent to students. To do this, "you must observe carefully, become a researcher yourself, use all your senses to observe, think and analyze. You will always be good researchers with your own situations".

Autonomy before technology

Professor Collete Snoden cleverly opened his sharing by introducing the beauty of his hometown. That is the city of Adelaide in Australia, much smaller than Hanoi, with a population of more than one million people. Professor Collete Snoden has a special interest in new science and technology. For the professor, science and technology have brought about revolutionary changes. The evidence is the appearance of the printing press, which has greatly changed communication technology and changed the world. People no longer only receive information by word of mouth, but information is spread worldwide thanks to technology. There are more and more new software, more new technology applications and employers and bosses always want their employees to update those new technologies. But we must also ask ourselves, are we being controlled by technology in our communication career or are we just using technology as a tool to practice our profession? Of course, the answer is to use the superiority of technology as a tool to fulfill the purpose of communication well. From there, the problem is the appropriate use of technology in communication. A new technology brings many benefits but also brings many negatives, as an economist said: "On the one hand, technical technology expands the limits of your understanding, but on the other hand, it creates cultural limitations". For journalists and communicators, the important thing to care about is how technology affects your work? Specifically, these issues: Does the person you want to communicate with have the same communication tools and technology as you do? Are there areas in a large country that cannot be contacted? The ideas are great but to implement them requires a large cost? Or do the people you want to communicate with understand the message you convey in the way you do? These are important issues for media workers in modern society - a society of globalization.