WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch Managing Vietnamese newsrooms: the role of internal communication Vu, T. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Mrs Thu Vu, 2015. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: ((http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] MANAGING VIETNAMESE NEWSROOMS: THE ROLE OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION VU THU HONG A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2015 THESIS ABSTRACT There have been many studies on news production but little has been found about newsroom efficiency despite the fact that this is journalists’ main concern. The very few (mostly foreign) researchers who study Vietnamese media usually look at them from policy making and political-social perspectives, and with an outsider’s eye. They have little physical access, if any, to the media houses, which surely limits their view. Their approach implicitly over-emphasizes the influence of political forces and neglects the media’s own dynamics. This research takes a different approach: from insiders’ point of view. Using two daily newspapers as case studies, this multi-disciplinary ethnographic research seeks to understand the strategies Vietnamese news media employ to cope with the subsidy cuts and increasing competition while still under close political control. A particular focus is on the newsroom operational strategies to improve efficiency. It is found that organizational structure and culture, work climate, motivation and employee satisfaction, leadership and management styles, personnel policies (task requirements vs personal abilities and skills), systems/policies and procedures, and most importantly, communication are the factors that affect the newsroom efficiency, as well as newsroom strategy implementation and results. 2 LIST OF CONTENT Thesis abstract 2 List of content 3 List of tables and figures 6 Acknowledgements 7 Author’s Declaration 8 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 9 1. Introduction 9 2. What is this research project about? 10 3. Conceptual Framework 12 4. A journalist-turn-academic ethnographic approach to media production 18 5. Why this research? 18 6. The presentation of this thesis 22 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 24 1. Background 24 2. Media strategies: Media economics and media management as framework 27 2.1. Distinct economic characteristics of the media 27 2.2. Media Organisations’ Strategies 29 2.3. Print newspaper situation and strategies 31 3. Newsroom efficiency management: news production/newsroom sociology, organizational behavior and organizational communication as framework 33 3.1. News production 33 3.2. Convergence: As a strategy or a process? 39 3.3. The limits of news production, media convergence and media management research 45 3.4. The need for studying newsroom efficiency 48 3.5. Organisational behavior 50 3.6. Organisational structure and culture 51 3.7. Leadership 55 3.8. Organisational and internal communication 59 3.9. Communication and motivation in change management 66 3 3.10. A model of newsroom effectiveness 69 3.11. The Maestro Concept: a method to improve newsroom efficiency via communication and leadership 74 4. Summary and further discussion: The use of the literature and this thesis’ contribution back to it 81 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 89 1. Research question 1 89 2. Research questions 2-5 93 2.1. Ethnography 95 2.2. Case study 96 2.2.1. Selecting Tien Phong Case Study 101 2.2.2. Fieldwork reality 102 2.3. Document analysis 105 2.4. A final note on journalist-turned academic approach 109 CHAPTER IV: VIETNAMESE NEWS MEDIA STRATEGIES 112 1. Vietnamese news media’s strategies 112 1.1. News media’s strategies to cope with political control 112 1.2. News media’s strategies to cope with ownership control 118 1.3. Journalistic/professional strategies and practices to cope with political control, cost cuts and increased competition 121 1.4. Business strategies to cope with budget cuts and increased production costs 132 1.4.1. The Broadcasting Sector 133 1.4.2. The Online Sector 137 1.4.3. Vietnam News Agency (VNA) 139 1.4.4. The Print Sector 141 2. The print news media’s strategies 142 2.1. Some background about the print news media 142 2.2. Print news media strategies to survive and develop economically and professionally 146 2.2.1. Horizontal Integration of Content: diversified versus fragmented 147 2.2.2. Horizontal integration: Multi – Platform Strategies 154 2.2.3 Diagonal and vertical integration: expanding into other businesses 156 2.2.4. Increased Interactivity with the audience 158 4 2.2.5. Marketing, distribution and copy sales strategies 161 2.2.6. Advertising sales strategies 168 2.2.7. Other strategies 171 Summary 172 CHAPTER V: TIEN PHONG AND TUOI TRE’S NEWSROOM EFFICIENCY STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION 173 1. CASE 1: TIEN PHONG 176 1.1. Introduction 176 1.2. Newsroom efficiency management 178 1.2.1. Problems affecting newsroom efficiency 178 1.2.2. Strategy implementation and results 206 1.2.3. Change management, the issues of leadership and communication 218 1.2.4. Summary 225 2. CASE 2: TUOI TRE 227 2.1. Introduction 227 2.2. Newsroom efficiency management 229 2.2.1. Factors contributing to efficiency 229 2.2.2. Problems hindering efficiency 230 2.2.3 Strategies implementation and results 248 2.2.4. Change management and the role of communication 258 2.2.5. Summary 259 CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION 261 1. Vietnamese news media’s strategies to cope with changing environment 261 2. Newsroom efficiency management 267 3. Conclusion 273 REFERENCES 278 APPENDICES 296 5 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Factors affecting newspapers 16 Figure 2: Internal factors affecting newsroom efficiency 17 Figure 3: Convergence Continuum 44 Figure 4: Exhibit: Strongest Correlates of Change Management 68 Figure 5: Burke-Litwin Causal Model of Performance and Change 70 Figure 6: Architecture of organistional variables responsible for the success of BBC News Online 71 Figure 7: Comparison of Tien Phong and Tuoi Tre newspapers 98 Figure 8: Top prints with rating of 9.0% or higher (claimed readers) 143 Figure 9: Tien Phong organisational structure 187 Figure 10: Tien Phong administrative structure (daily content) 194 Figure 11: Tien Phong news production decision make flow (daily print) 196 Figure 12: Number of articles received and published - March 2010 214 Figure 13: Tuoi Tre administrative structure 236 Figure 14: Tuoi Tre News Flow 238 Figure 15: Tuoi Tre’s simplified copy flow 243 Figure 16: Tuoi Tre New News Flow proposal 249 Table 1: Four models of organisational behavior 50 6 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors Paul Dwyer and Colin Sparks, who were always there for me, no matter if it was weekend or holiday, and who must have had heart- attacks due to my last-minute approach. Paul gave me a great guidance on the structure of the thesis and tremendous support with my study suspension due to family reasons. Colin generously spent his research budget on some of my overseas study trips. I also thank my supervisors and other professors, lecturers and staffs from CAMRI and the Research Office who were very supportive and patient with me. I am grateful to Le Xuan Trung, Doan Cong Huynh, Hoang Quoc Dung and many other journalists from Tuoi Tre, Tien Phong Newspapers and other media organisations in Vietnam for their support without which this study would have been impossible. And finally, I thank my dear husband for “pushing” me to finish this prolonged project! 7 Author’s Declaration I declare that all the material contained in this thesis is my own work. 8 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction Ten reporters from one news agency go to the same press conference? Not that unusual even if a bit extreme! Three or four reporters from a 65-staff newspaper go to the same small event such as a press conference or a building construction opening ceremony? Everyday life! At 8.30 am, an experienced three-member TV crew goes out in the channel’s logoed van with full equipment without any clue what they will be covering. Different topics are discussed on the way. The whole morning (in the van) is spent discussing, travelling here and there non-stop and waiting for news opportunities. After several failures, they decide to do a story that is suggested by the van driver. By 3pm, they manage to do a few ten-minute interviews for a 30-second report that is broadcast a few days later. Editors back at the station have no clue what they will get before they see the news packages that are video-edited just before air-time. Why surprise? Nothing new! Working as a journalist and journalism trainer in Vietnam for nearly two decades, I have often heard of or seen those types of practices. Many journalists go to the field without having discussed with their editors what news they will cover, leaving a lot of room for chance. Many editors wait in the office until almost deadline without knowing what the main story will be. A huge number of stories are written but never published, while the editors keep complaining about the shortage of stories supplied. Everyone sees that there is a clear communication problem at their workplace which leads to huge inefficiency, but no one acts to solve this problem.