The quality of Savannakhet’s local media still needs to improve so the province can promote itself to the country and world, according to the provincial Information, Culture and Tourism department.Director of the department Ms Davone Xaysoulien told Vientiane Times via phone that she really wants to promote the province through print, electronic and online media, however the quality of local press still needs to improve because they have a major role in addressing this issue.
“For example, Savannakhet is a passing province between Thailand and Vietnam, therefore, local services and tourism are important areas to cover in Savannakhet but how do visitors know about tourism if we don’t have journalist writing articles about these issues,” she explained. Last week, the department arranged a training workshop for Savan Phatthana newspaper and district media to share experiences and lessons learnt with one another aiming to improve the quality of local reporting.
Ms Davone said the training workshop identified several issues and found ways to solve them.
According to Xonnabouly district journalist Mr. Bounlonh Khamphasy the training increased their knowledge on writing news reports and sending information to the Savannakhet Information, Culture and Tourism department but their skills still required development and their equipment needed upgrading.
“Sometimes we have interesting information to report but lack the budget to pay for the internet to send the news in a timely fashion. We also have video stories for provincial television but our computer is slow and sometime doesn’t work due to being old,” he explained.
The workshop was part of Savannakhet province’s efforts to address local media shortcomings employing lecturers from provincial radio and television as well as Savan Phatthana newspaper.
“Deputy Minister Savankhone Razmountry asked me why I don’t use lecturers from newspapers in Vientiane. I honestly told him that I didn’t have the budget,” Ms Davone said.
She also noted that accessing the internet was crucial for local media to report on stories and her department was investigating ways to get better equipment and resources to district journalists in the province.
Source: Vientiane Times
