The Interest Level Of The Vietnamese In Russia For Vtv4 Channel

Abstract

The development of science and technology has changed all the areas of social life, including the press. In the 4.0 era, the method of producing news and receiving information also has many vital variables. The traditional mass media such as television, print newspapers, radios must compete sharply with new media such as network alarms, mobile TV. In this article, by surveying 50 people living in Russia, the author studied the interest of Vietnamese people in Russia for TV channel VTV4 (TV channel for overseas Vietnamese). It can be said that information demand is a fundamental need for individuals from all societies in every era. Information has turned into a product; the demand for it is associated not only with bright goals but also with the most low-key "human" needs. The study is not only significant for journalism in general but also contributes to the optimization of the communication process of the VTV4 television channel, as well as other Vietnamese mass media to the overseas Vietnamese living abroad.

Keywords: Mass mediatraditional journalismVTV4 channelVietnamese in RussiaVietnamese press

Introduction

After the 1986 Doi Moi, the Vietnamese press gained significant achievements and contributed significantly to the national construction mission of all Vietnamese. The media are supposed to be the official organ of propaganda advocacy, the party line of The Communist Party, the policies of the State to the country. The more society develops, the more significant the role of journalism is. Since the first Vietnamese newspaper was born in the late 19th century, the country has hundreds newspaper agencies, radio-television, electronic magazines and newspaper (Ministry of information and communication, 2019). In modern society, television is the most common model of traditional journalism, as well as the essential media in each country, ethnics. Hence, television has become "the sharpest knife" than ever not only on social preferences but also in the socio-economic field (Duong, 2011). However, the press in general and television in particular in Vietnam in recent years has many significant innovations; they give more multi-dimensional perspectives of news and contribute to the monitoring and social management. Society stability and the increase of living standard lead to the demand for information' people is also rising, especially for overseas Vietnamese, who live and work in different countries around the world (Barabash et al., 2015).

Currently, approximately 4.5 million Vietnamese are living and working in about 110 nations and territories, 80 % of them are living in developed countries, including about 500,000 intellectual and experts (State Committee For Overseas Vietnamese, 2019). The Vietnamese have come to study, live and work in Russia since the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, many people remained on to maintain their careers. Many of them came to European countries, some moving to countries in the CIS block, some returned to Vietnam. According to unofficial statistics, approximately 100 thousands Vietnamese people are living in Russia (including both legal and illegal residence). Vietnamese people mainly live by wholesale, retail, consumer goods such as clothing, footwear and handicrafts. Moreover, in recent years, Vietnamese have exploited many new business models such as the establishment of tourism companies, import-export companies or open restaurants in many cities of Russia.

As the overseas Vietnamese in other countries, besides the world news, the Vietnamese people in Russia also have a considerable information demand of the country's situation, they also want to know what is chancing on their homeland. It is crucial to target on this audience object. Since the mission of the press is supporting the Vietnamese community in foreign countries and the whole world update state of Vietnam, the achievements in the Doi Moi process, from that, attract the foreign investment for the cause of developing and defending our country (Do et al., 2015). To meet the information needs of overseas Vietnamese and to promote Vietnam to international friends, the external television channel VTV4 has been established and settled into operation since 1998.

Problem Statement

Previously, the VTV4 channel was broadcast abroad via satellite, which has to use an aerial dish or satellite receiver device to capture the signal. But now, Vietnamese expatriate can watch television via VTVGo-the official VTV online TV app. That means users can see all of VTV's channels, from VTV1 to VTV9. With smartphones, users can download the VTVGo app for free on their phone or visit the www.vtvgo.vn website. With smart TVs using the Android operating system, the audience can download apps to TV and turn the TV into a "smartphone" with a large screen. Furthermore, the following can purchase the Box VTVGo receiver, which connects the TV and the Internet to view VTV programs.

The first problem the author would like to mention here is that instead of using only an aerial dish or satellite receiver device to watch VTV4 as before. Then now, they have to do more complicated manipulation. It requires them to own a smart TV, or Box VTVGo, and the internet connection at home is a must-have.

Secondly, with the explosion of the Internet, the appearance of social networks and smart technological devices, in recent years, have led to the active development of social media. Currently, there are about 92.8 million Internet users, over 144 million people (Krivoshapko, 2019) in Russia. In which about 80.5 million people access the Internet by phone. Users tend to prefer following news via smartphones than reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching TV. That has become a challenge for traditional media, including television.

Thirdly, in the digital era, information and news need producing and broadcast quickly. However, creating the news on television would take more effort and time; simultaneously, selecting the attractive news to televise also faces many barriers, as the air time is limited only in 24 hours per day.

Research Questions

To study the interest of Vietnamese people in Russia for the TV channel VTV4, the author has asked several questions as follows:

• Is the TV channel VTV4 the official leading channel for Vietnamese in Russia now?

• Should VTV4 change the production methods and the content of television programs to meet the increasing demands of viewers?

• Should VTV4 promote the exploitation of other platforms to bring information to the broader public?

Purpose of the Study

Thanks to surveying the behaviors, hobbies and the frequency for VTV4 channel of viewers, the author could define the concern of them in general, as well as of the Vietnamese living in Russia in particular, for a sort of traditional journalism, especially VTV4.

The survey results help authors, as well as scholars who are interested in the field, could offer solutions to improve the communication process of mass media to the public.

Research Methods

The author used analyzing and summing up methods to prove some fundamental characteristics of VTV4 channel and the Vietnamese community in Russia. Also, the author uses a survey with ten multiple-choice questions; each question has three answers; users choose 1 of 3 answers. Survey participants were 50 Vietnamese in Russia, mostly Moscow. They were aged between 16 and 60 years, including 20 men and 30 women, including students, students, office workers, business owners, artists, workers, freelance business people. The survey conducted on 7/2/2020 by sending a questionnaire via a personal Facebook message.

The reason for choosing VTV4 is that: firstly, VTV4 is the only Vietnamese TV channel for overseas Vietnamese. Secondly, the information and bulletin broadcasts are all verified for reliability. Currently, VTV4 channel has covered all over the world and broadcasted 24/7. Since its establishment, VTV4 has become a reliable and standard source of information for overseas Vietnamese.

Findings

The authors achieved specific results, not just for general press theory, but also for people whom theirs work concerns to, television in particular. Specifically, based on the characteristics and behaviors of television viewers, they can tailor their content, broadcast timeframes to meet the public's desire, thereby enhancing communication efficiency.

In the field of Vietnam's external information, channels broadcast abroad or using foreign languages are considered particularly valuable in introducing Vietnam to the world and updating new information for overseas Vietnamese who are living in foreign countries.

Therefore, propagating information widely for external information channels to people is one of the essential tasks in foreign affairs. According to the survey results, 80 % of respondents answered knew and are cognizant of VTV4 pretty well, only 20 % were heard and did not know much about it. When questioning about the frequency of news viewing on this media channel, 40 % responded they had not seen, 36 % responded they viewed less than three times/week and 24 %-more than three times per week. A variety of reasons explains this result: watching TV can relate to each person's living habits, or possibly relating to the competition right in the media market, between the new and traditional types of journalism. Users will have to share the time to receive news via channels such as online newspapers, social networks, television, radio, newspaper.

Vietnamese consider family to have the highest value in one's life (Nowicka, 2014). In other words, Vietnamese people value the common, the collective rather than the individual ego. In a traditional Vietnamese family, all members fancy having dinner or chatting together after a workday. That is one of the reasons explains up to 80 % of respondents said that they often watch channels VTV4 in the evening. Furthermore, for many people, the evening is their only spare time of the day, when they can sit in front of the TV and enjoy their favorite shows. For families with children born in Russia, it is essential to give them a Vietnamese environment. Parents considering, mastering the Vietnamese language makes it easier for young people to communicate with their relatives as well as to exchange their native culture (Laila et al., 2012). Because one of the most decisive challenges for immigrants is language barriers, this is one of the significant issues that hinder the inclusion of the community (Nguyen & Pham, 2016).

As mentioned, VTV4 takes responsibility for promoting Vietnamese culture and people to the world. Creating the habit of viewing the Vietnamese language program for children born in Russia will bring many benefits. Firstly, advancing the language capital, making it simple for children to communicate with relatives in Vietnamese. A prominent feature of Vietnamese people is; generally, they always keep in touch with their relatives, whether they are far away, in Vietnam or scattered around the world (Laila, Anne-Lise et al., 2012). On the other hand, it boosts the knowledge of the native land of their parents. The Vietnamese always try to remain both culture and language through highly individualized cultural practices that we find in every Vietnamese home (Tran, 2002). Therefore, the majority of respondents prefer to watch Vietnamese programming on VTV4 in the evening.

A person always requires a special sphere of life, where all his interests and needs can be developed and satisfied. It is called social (Frolova, 2014). At the same time, the social sphere includes education, culture, healthcare, social security, physical education, catering, public services, passenger transport and communications (Nguyen, 2018). "Social information" is the answer of 64 % of respondents with the question "which area they are most interested in information". Financial information is the concern of 12 % of the person who responded, according to which the information on politics is 24 %. Accordingly, only 58 % of people are interested in the Russian newsletter of this channel; the Russian news broadcast at 23H Vietnam, which is 19h in Moscow.

The appearance of the Internet and modern technological equipment has created an explosion of information around the world. It is also the premise of a new type of journalism – multimedia journalism. Not only in the world, right in Vietnam, the traditional building model is also being replaced by the multimedia building model. Momentarily, the transmission of information to the public is not merely through text, static images, but also animations, audio, video, graphics, the other new and modern forms of the digital application (Nguyen, 2017). That has changed the habit of the audience, from newspapers, television, radio to computers, mobile phones or tablets. Currently, the number of active media social users in Russia is about 70 million; this figure in Vietnam is about 62 million (We are social, 2019). 70 % of respondents replied that their main news channel is social networks such as Facebook, Zalo, Youtube. Online or social media compared to traditional media types obviously have more advantages, outstanding points such as the tremendous amount of information, the transmission, and reception of messages do not depend on space and time, integration of attractive multimedia products (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2014).

Most programs and broadcasters in the world momentarily have Facebook channel, where fans can follow and watch TV shows directly (Phan et al., 2016). VTV4 channel keeps up with the trend, also has its fan page on Facebook and possesses a YouTube channel. However, these channels do not work efficiently; 60 % of respondents do not know VTV4 fan page, 68 % do not know much about YouTube channel of VTV4.

Information demand is one of the fundamental needs of individuals. One of the tasks of Journalism in general and communications, in particular, is meeting the information demand of the public. It can be said that information becomes a unique commodity, and consumers are the audience. In terms of satisfaction after "taking" the products (information) on the VTV4 channel, there are 88 % of respondents answering that they are satisfied or delighted with what they received. Based on experience and satisfaction with a particular product, customers decide whether they recommend the product to others. 28 % of respondents are not sure if they will recommend VTV4 to others.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, the author reached the following conclusions.

Firstly, the TV channel VTV4 holds enormous attention from the Vietnamese community in Russia. The Vietnamese community in Russia is typical, many of whom do not know Russian. On the other hand, due to traditional Vietnamese living habits, watching Vietnamese TV programs is usually, in every Vietnamese family in Russia.

Secondly, the traditional press in general, television in particular, in this case, VTV4 are experiencing many challenges from network alerts, social networking sites. Users incline to switch from newspaper reading, watching TV to taking social news via convenient clicks.

However, television still has its muscles to attract the public. If the online journals and social networks give readers a tremendous amount of information, then the television could bring them programs, analytical articles with depth and proper view. As human life evolves, the mass media becomes an essential part of life; that is when people approach various information sources. The reader must not only handle these sources of information but also to worry about the risks inherent in life. Furthermore, information from sites such as open encyclopedias, YouTube, the social network is challenging precisely because the amount of information is excessively large, at the same time they are not examined by those who are experienced and responsible (Nguyen, 2016). The mission of the press, of television, is to bring to the public an honest picture of society, things, the problem taking place in life; therefore, so far, the press always reckon that the integrity is the supreme principle in journalism (Nguyen & Pham, 2014). Overall, television cannot compete with social networks in speed and coverage, but it can take advantage of the legality and accuracy of the information in communication.

Exploiting more social networking sites such as Facebook, Zalo, YouTube to share news articles, TV shows is necessary for VTV4 channel. That is a common way that the other newspapers, programs have followed. Because, in the present time, social networking is the fastest and most effective means of spreading information to readers.

So far, VTV4 is still a prestigious channel for Vietnamese in Russia. Nevertheless, in this era, when science and technology are continually changing, the types of journalism in general and VTV4 television channels in particular need to be modified to conform to modern trends and retain audiences.

Acknowledgments

We want to express our sincere thanks to the Vietnamese in Russia participating in the survey for helping us in completing this research.

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