Project Proposal

Project Background and Justification

Key contributors of ICTs to contemporary journalism are in: (a) providing constant updates of news contents, such as the tsunami disaster in December 2004 and the US-Iraqi war in 2003; (b) expanding the people’s access to global information resources; (c) enhancing connectivity among journalists, their sources and readers, thus journalistic accountability; and (d) sparking fundamental changes in how the media can enhance participative democracy, especially in post-Communist countries, such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The main offspring of ICTs is the Internet, which over the past decade has enabled geographically isolated journalists to contact distant regions for research, and in turn, to network with their overseas counterparts and, consequently, publish their articles globally. This has to an extent empowered and ‘emancipate’ journalists working in highly regulated media environment.

Journalists in the rich industrialized world have long integrated ICTs in their daily work. Most research on ICT applications to journalism has focused on the rich industrialized nations. However, research on how ICTs have or have not transformed the media in developing economies, for instance in the Indochina region, is starkly lacking, for reasons which range from inaccessibility to primary research subjects due to political restrictions and the lack of interest by funding organizations, to inadequate in-country research expertise and low research priority given to a region that is increasingly become a source of cheap labour in the global economy.

Over the past decade, the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have cautiously embraced the Internet – primarily to disseminate public relations information to attract foreign investments and tourism. Which effectively reinforces an impression that the Internet is used as a Party organ, just as the media are traditionally being used as a state apparatus. For the lack of empirical research evidence, this impression sticks in the collective perception by outsiders.

This proposal aims to fill this research gap. The three countries were selected for research because they share similar political history and economic experience. This investigation is a direct response to the lack of research and scant literature on ICTs’ positive effects on the Indochinese media, which today are operating in an increasingly open market economy.

Evidence of the integration of ICTs in the Indochinese media, which if made available, would help NGos, aid organizations, governments and journalists realistically locate their perceived separate functions – albeit with a common interest to improve the quality of life and civil governance in a transitionary economy. The potential strengths of ICTs to foster sustainable economic and social development in the Indochina region via the media are apparent, but remain untested.

This brief background shows the projects falls within the four thematic areas outlined in the IDRC home page:

• Research and development into innovative ICT applications, with a clear focus on practical and replicable approaches and techniques.
• Research on Internet infrastructure design, performance, management policy and related topics.
• Development of practical solutions based on the application of proven and readily available Internet technologies with minimum basic research.
• Research on the outcomes and social impacts (via media contents) of specific ICT policies and interventions and application of Internet technologies.

Project Objectives

The project focuses on the media in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia because the three countries share similar political history and are on relatively similar trajectory in its economic development. Specifically, the project aims to:

1. Conduct an inventory analysis of existing ICT infrastructure in the region and its integration in the media industry. 
2. Survey the journalists’ immediate and long term needs, strengths and limitations in ICT applications. The survey will also record the successes that may have already been achieved, despite the constraints. 
3. Map the legal, political, economic, language and cultural impediments to ICT integration in the news industry. 
4. Examine whether ICTs have empowered journalists, most of whom are not formally trained, in becoming effective representatives of the public interest. 
5. Design a low cost model for education and training in ICT-assisted news production for journalists in the region. This model will be sustained by ongoing networking with media educators and trainers from overseas.

Project Beneficiaries

Local:

The immediate beneficiaries from the education and training model will be the journalists and media educators in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Embedded in the model is a mechanism for developing long-term networking in ICT-assisted media reporting with follow-up training provided by Dr Eric Loo and Dr Morris Jones. Further funding application to aid organizations to implement these training workshops will be written next year.

The comprehensive report and recordings of interviews, which identifiy the issues, needs, obstacles and catalysts of ICTs’ integration in the media industry will benefit ongoing work to improve the standards and output of journalism in the region. The report will also provide a basis for introducing policies where both commercial news industry and the state will be able to work together for the public interest.

Regional:

Aid agencies, government organs and "think tanks" focused on assisting the development of ICTs in the region will benefit from the comprehensive country reports, which identify the problems and opportunities. Strategies for addressing these problems and capitalizing on the opportunities can be developed from the country reports.

Global:

The global academic community and media-research funding organisations will benefit from a better understanding of how ICTs are being applied to journaism in a region that is relatively undocumented by most researchers. This will also benefit areas such as intercultural/international communication, media and communications studies, information and communications technology and international affairs.

Project Sustainability

The project is designed to be completed in 16 months. Four months are allocated to edit, write the script and produce a 30-minute documentation. This will be completed using the standard iMovie program from an iBook G4 laptop computer. The documentary will be stored in digital format for future references.

As one of the long-term aims of the project is to provide ongoing training and education for ICT-assisted journalism, the report will recommend a mechanism for sustaining a networking of journalists, media educators and trainers via the Internet. This is envisaged to take the form of a Web repository where teaching, training resources and regional news contents can be uploaded. The Web repository can be administered from Vietnam, if the ICT infrastructure allows, or from overseas, for instance from the University of Wollongong’s School of Journalism’s home page at: www.uow.edu.au/crearts/journalism

Project Methodology

The project adopts a combination of primary documentation research, policy studies, empirical surveys, personal interviews with journalists and government officials, and ICT-needs and inventory study based on a structured questionnaire.

Background research will be conducted in Australia due to the easier access to library resources and the Internet. Background findings will be emailed or in some cases, posted to appointed country researchers for follow-ups and corroboration.

Country researchers will establish contacts with journalists, editors and relevant government representatives for meetings and discussions on policy issues. All discussions to be recorded by digital handycams.

With the background research complete, the researchers will travel to Hanoi, Phnom Penh and Vientiane to conduct ICT-needs and inventory study, survey of ICTs integration in the news industry, interviews with journalists and government leaders. The field trips are scheduled for December after the monsoon season.

Much time will be spent in the news room observing the daily operations of ICT-related journalism activities, and dialoguing with journalists. Direct research will allow the researchers to observe how the usage of ICTs fits into the overall context of the societies being examined.

One issue that will be explored is the physical access to infrastructure in these regions, such as the availability of computers, telecommunications services and Internet connectivity. The economics of such services, relative to the local economy, and technical issues such as bandwidth and the reliability of connections will also be examined.

Cultural issues such as the use of different Asian languages on the Internet will be examined, along with the problems of displaying languages that do not use the Roman alphabet on the Internet, are to be considered.

The project will be diverse and utilitarian in its focus. It will address "hands on" issues such as access to infrastructure, economics and work routines. Thus, the project will help to inform the future development of ICT-related journalism through grants, assistance projects and training programs.

Project Outputs

Upon completion of the research, results of the project will be collated and disseminated through scholarly papers, media articles and industry reports. Interviews with journalists and government officials will, where appropriate, be recorded on digital videos for future references. These publications and edited recordings will be accessible in a digital format through libraries and other sources.

The primary outputs of the project are:

1. An assessment report of ICT application needs by Indochinese journalists.
2. A profile report of the journalists’ strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in ICT application.
3. A report on existing ICT support systems for journalists.
4. A comprehensive training and education model for ICT-assisted journalism.
5. A learning resource manual framework.
6. The first comprehensive industry reports of ICT integration in the Indochina media industry.
7. A collection of digital video recordings of the field trips and interviews. Secondary consideration of converting recordings into a 30-minute news documentary of the stae of ICT-aided journalism in Indochina.

Project Timeline

August – November 2005:

Background research in Australia; scope and limitations; literature review, questionnaire design. Organising trips to Hanoi, Vientiane, Phnom Penh.

December 2005:

Field trip by Australian academics – Loo and Jones - to Hanoi, Vientiane and Phnom Penh

January – February 2006:

Compilation of research notes, translations, transcribing.

March 2006:

Checking of translations and transcriptions, reviewing digital recordings, coding of questionnaires.

April - May 2006:

Writing first draft of research framework, literature review, methodology, research questions, scope and limitations.

June 2006:

Write first draft of findings and discussions.

July 2006:

Writing second draft of research framework, literature review, methodology, research questions, scope and limitations, findings, discussions and conclusions.

August - September 2006:

Writing final draft of research framework, literature review, methodology, research questions, scope and limitations, findings, discussions and conclusions.

October – December 2006:

Editing and production of 30-minute digital recordings. Writing script for 30-minute recordings. Submission of final project report, and 30-minute recording to IDRC-PAN.

Project Monitoring

The researchers will work with country researchers who will carry out the ground work, set up appointments with journalists and government representatives; and act as interpreters. Country researchers will carry out the processing of research data and contribute to the preparation of the final reports. Given the limitations of online communication with country researchers, much time will be spent in Hanoi University, Vientiane Times and the Royal Phnom Penh University during the early stage of the project. Final stage of writing the report will be completed at the School of Journalism, University of Wollongong.