Remaking the Newsmakers : Exploring Swedish Media Aid Interventions in Vietnamese Journalism
Mattsson, Andreas LU
(2025)
In Dissertationes Universitatis Helsingiensis
2025(227).
- Abstract
- Foreign aid for media development has often been associated with the promotion of specific models or ideals for journalism. Efforts by national aid agencies, NGOs, UNESCO, and media organisations have aimed to support journalists worldwide. However, due to limitations in financial sustainability, inadequate media structures, and competing journalistic ideologies in recipient countries, the impact of media aid on press freedom in authoritarian media systems has often been limited. Despite this, the design and execution of training for journalists under the banner of media aid have received little attention.
This doctoral compilation thesis delves into the Swedish media aid programme in Vietnam from 1993 to 2007, organised by the... (More) - Foreign aid for media development has often been associated with the promotion of specific models or ideals for journalism. Efforts by national aid agencies, NGOs, UNESCO, and media organisations have aimed to support journalists worldwide. However, due to limitations in financial sustainability, inadequate media structures, and competing journalistic ideologies in recipient countries, the impact of media aid on press freedom in authoritarian media systems has often been limited. Despite this, the design and execution of training for journalists under the banner of media aid have received little attention.
This doctoral compilation thesis delves into the Swedish media aid programme in Vietnam from 1993 to 2007, organised by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by Fojo Media Institute, now a unit within the Linnaeus University, and Swedish Radio (SR). The study approaches the programme from the perspective of the donor country, Sweden, exploring its underlying motivations, implementation strategies, and broader political context. These training initiatives sought to foster democratic development and enhance human rights in Vietnam by training local journalists. Swedish journalists and radio technicians were recruited to conduct training activities for their Vietnamese counterparts.
The 20th century saw dramatic political events in Vietnam, significantly impacting the media system. Since reunification in 1976, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has maintained power. By the early 1990s, Vietnam began its ascent from poverty, emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world during the 1990s. However, the Vietnamese media system remains relatively underexplored within scholarly literature. Few studies have thoroughly examined news production dynamics under the CPV regime during the 1990s.
This dissertation presents a comprehensive analysis of project documentation and interviews with former trainers. The document analysis is based on materials acquired between May and July 2020 from three Swedish state authorities: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sida, and Linnaeus University. The interview study was conducted from November 2020 to April 2021. The dissertation employs a robust theoretical framework, incorporating media system theories, journalism ideology, journalism culture, media ethics, and journalism pedagogy, to scrutinise these projects. Additionally, concepts from development studies and translation studies are utilised to further examine the role of interpreters in training settings.
The three papers included in this dissertation offer distinct perspectives on the journalism training programmes in Vietnam that were the core of the aid programme from Sweden.
Article I explores the design of the training programme through the lenses of media ethics and media system theories. The findings illustrate how Swedish media aid intervened in the Vietnamese media landscape by facilitating a technological transition in journalism. However, the training in newsroom management and media ethics faced challenges due to conflicting journalism ideologies and social norms.
Article II examines the role of trainers in transferring journalism culture from Swedish news organisations to their Vietnamese counterparts. The findings reveal that trainers acted as conveyors of journalism culture from their respective Swedish newsrooms. The article highlights that journalism culture cannot be transferred between media systems without being adapted to the local context. Interviews with former trainers indicate that social norms hindered the implementation of the journalistic ideology, while the transfer of technological equipment and knowledge significantly influenced journalism production.
Article III comprehensively analyses the assigned role of interpreters as brokers of journalism from Sweden to Vietnam. The results in this article demonstrate that the interpreters' roles extended beyond mere language translation to include the broking of journalism from Sweden to Vietnam. This evolution underscores the interpreters' crucial role in facilitating the training projects.
Finally, the three articles emphasise the importance of examining journalism training within the broader context of foreign aid, urging a shift beyond simplistic press freedom rankings. They advocate for a relational approach to journalism, one that recognises the diversity of journalistic practices and uncovers variations in journalistic culture and ideology within the media systems involved. In this context, I underscore the need to identify the competing journalism ideologies and loyalties that shape individual journalists' ability to adapt to the models being introduced.
Furthermore, this dissertation offers unique insights into the Vietnamese media system during the pivotal years preceding the digital transformation in journalism in the early 2000s. As a result, it makes a valuable contribution to the existing body of literature on the Vietnamese news industry. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/770f30e9-7d0b-4983-b9a3-f0de9e643d9b
- author
- Mattsson, Andreas
LU
- supervisor
- publishing date
- 2025-06-18
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- journalism, media development, media aid, foreign aid, media ethics, Journalism culture, journalism ideology, media systems, Vietnam, Sida, journalism practice, interpreters, journalism education, journalism training
- in
- Dissertationes Universitatis Helsingiensis
- volume
- 2025
- issue
- 227
- pages
- 106 pages
- publisher
- University of Helsinki
- ISSN
- 2954-2952
- 2954-2898
- ISBN
- 978-952-84-1052-2
- 978-952-84-1053-9
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 770f30e9-7d0b-4983-b9a3-f0de9e643d9b
- alternative location
- http://hdl.handle.net/10138/596491
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-09 16:10:33
- date last changed
- 2025-06-12 02:17:56
@phdthesis{770f30e9-7d0b-4983-b9a3-f0de9e643d9b,
abstract = {{Foreign aid for media development has often been associated with the promotion of specific models or ideals for journalism. Efforts by national aid agencies, NGOs, UNESCO, and media organisations have aimed to support journalists worldwide. However, due to limitations in financial sustainability, inadequate media structures, and competing journalistic ideologies in recipient countries, the impact of media aid on press freedom in authoritarian media systems has often been limited. Despite this, the design and execution of training for journalists under the banner of media aid have received little attention.<br/><br/>This doctoral compilation thesis delves into the Swedish media aid programme in Vietnam from 1993 to 2007, organised by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by Fojo Media Institute, now a unit within the Linnaeus University, and Swedish Radio (SR). The study approaches the programme from the perspective of the donor country, Sweden, exploring its underlying motivations, implementation strategies, and broader political context. These training initiatives sought to foster democratic development and enhance human rights in Vietnam by training local journalists. Swedish journalists and radio technicians were recruited to conduct training activities for their Vietnamese counterparts.<br/><br/>The 20th century saw dramatic political events in Vietnam, significantly impacting the media system. Since reunification in 1976, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has maintained power. By the early 1990s, Vietnam began its ascent from poverty, emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world during the 1990s. However, the Vietnamese media system remains relatively underexplored within scholarly literature. Few studies have thoroughly examined news production dynamics under the CPV regime during the 1990s.<br/><br/>This dissertation presents a comprehensive analysis of project documentation and interviews with former trainers. The document analysis is based on materials acquired between May and July 2020 from three Swedish state authorities: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sida, and Linnaeus University. The interview study was conducted from November 2020 to April 2021. The dissertation employs a robust theoretical framework, incorporating media system theories, journalism ideology, journalism culture, media ethics, and journalism pedagogy, to scrutinise these projects. Additionally, concepts from development studies and translation studies are utilised to further examine the role of interpreters in training settings.<br/><br/>The three papers included in this dissertation offer distinct perspectives on the journalism training programmes in Vietnam that were the core of the aid programme from Sweden.<br/><br/>Article I explores the design of the training programme through the lenses of media ethics and media system theories. The findings illustrate how Swedish media aid intervened in the Vietnamese media landscape by facilitating a technological transition in journalism. However, the training in newsroom management and media ethics faced challenges due to conflicting journalism ideologies and social norms.<br/><br/>Article II examines the role of trainers in transferring journalism culture from Swedish news organisations to their Vietnamese counterparts. The findings reveal that trainers acted as conveyors of journalism culture from their respective Swedish newsrooms. The article highlights that journalism culture cannot be transferred between media systems without being adapted to the local context. Interviews with former trainers indicate that social norms hindered the implementation of the journalistic ideology, while the transfer of technological equipment and knowledge significantly influenced journalism production.<br/><br/>Article III comprehensively analyses the assigned role of interpreters as brokers of journalism from Sweden to Vietnam. The results in this article demonstrate that the interpreters' roles extended beyond mere language translation to include the broking of journalism from Sweden to Vietnam. This evolution underscores the interpreters' crucial role in facilitating the training projects.<br/><br/>Finally, the three articles emphasise the importance of examining journalism training within the broader context of foreign aid, urging a shift beyond simplistic press freedom rankings. They advocate for a relational approach to journalism, one that recognises the diversity of journalistic practices and uncovers variations in journalistic culture and ideology within the media systems involved. In this context, I underscore the need to identify the competing journalism ideologies and loyalties that shape individual journalists' ability to adapt to the models being introduced.<br/><br/>Furthermore, this dissertation offers unique insights into the Vietnamese media system during the pivotal years preceding the digital transformation in journalism in the early 2000s. As a result, it makes a valuable contribution to the existing body of literature on the Vietnamese news industry.}},
author = {{Mattsson, Andreas}},
isbn = {{978-952-84-1052-2}},
issn = {{2954-2952}},
keywords = {{journalism; media development; media aid; foreign aid; media ethics; Journalism culture; journalism ideology; media systems; Vietnam; Sida; journalism practice; interpreters; journalism education; journalism training}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
number = {{227}},
publisher = {{University of Helsinki}},
series = {{Dissertationes Universitatis Helsingiensis}},
title = {{Remaking the Newsmakers : Exploring Swedish Media Aid Interventions in Vietnamese Journalism}},
url = {{http://hdl.handle.net/10138/596491}},
volume = {{2025}},
year = {{2025}},
}