Portrayal of civil society organisations in print and online newspapers

PORTRAYAL OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS... Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and EnvironmentPORTRAYAL OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN PRINT AND

PORTRAYAL OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS

IN PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS

Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment

PORTRAYAL OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS

IN PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS

Authors:

Dinh Thi Thuy Hang, PhD

Nguyen Thanh Loi, PhD.

Nguyen Thi Minh Hien, MA.

Vu Thi Phuong Thao, MA.

Thế Giới Publishers

TABLE OF CONTENT

2.1 CONCEPTS AND PERSPECTIVES

3.1 SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF POTRAYAL OF CSOs

IN PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN VIETNAM

3.2 SURVEY AND EVALUATION ON SOME ARTICLES ON VIETNAMNET DISCUSSING CIVIL SOCIETY AND CSOs

3.2.2 Attitudes of the state toward civil society and CSOs 373.2.3 Development of civil society and CSOs

3.2.4 Advocating for the development of civil society

3.3.1 Outstanding points about CSOs in the media 39

3.4.1.1 Results of interviews with leaders

of management agencies of media organisations 41 3.4.1.2 Results of interviews with media leaders 423.4.1.3 Results of interviews with reporters 433.4.2 General Evaluation of In-depth Interviews 45

Though the institutions have made a substantial contribution to society, most people still lack or have just a vague understanding

of the existence and role of these organisations Many people are not clear about the role of CSOs and why they are important for the country’s development It is because information disseminated through the media about CSOs is still limited On one hand, the CSOs are not active in building and promoting their image And they lack the experience to reach out to the media, send strategic messages, or mobilise societal support for their mission On the other, information

in the media about CSOs is neither catchy nor in-depth The issue is how CSOs in Vietnam can become widely known, understood, and supported so that they can contribute more to national development.Vietnam now has nearly 19,000 journalists working for over 800 media agencies The Vietnamese media is a mouthpiece of the party and state and, as a forum for the people, has great influence in setting the agenda as well as on the country’s economic development For many years, the Vietnamese media has contributed actively

1 Thang Van Phuc & Nguyen Minh Phuong, Roles of Society Organisations in Developing and Managing the Society, National Politics Publishing House, Hanoi, 2010.

to the fight against corruption, negative acts, and surreptitious deeds of corporates The media is always an important source for disseminating information to the public Besides, people can express their thoughts and legitimate aspirations to authorities through the media The media is an important source of information for both the government and public, and acts as a bridge between them.

Therefore, CSOs need to use the media as an effective communication channel to communicate messages to the public and promote their social roles and values They also need to use the media to provide information to the government about their role and activities Through this, authorities can better understand their role and activities This can create links, mutual understanding, and trust between the authorities and CSOs Besides, CSOs can promote their image to the public

In Vietnam, the term “civil society organisation” is regarded as sensitive by the media and thus often avoided The research group found the term “civil society” being mentioned only 30 times in 460 news articles selected In some documents and articles, the term

“civil organization” is used instead of “civil society organization.” Thus, in this study, the two terms are used interchangeably

2 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

2.1 CONCEPTS AND PERSPECTIVES ON CIVIL SOCIETY AND CSOs

2.1.1 Concepts of civil society

Civil society is a term defined in many different ways in the

ideological, political, and legal history of the world There are

currently different approaches to this term Civil society in the western

lexicon is derived from social life in ancient Greece – the ancient Greek Polis and the Roman city with “free citizens” appeared for

the first time in history The term for civil society in Greek is koinonia

politike2 (in French: Société Civile, in English: civil society, and in

Russian: grazhdanskoe obchtsestvo) Sometimes it is translated as citizen

society to emphasise the role of citizens in the society.

The concept of civil society appeared quite early in Europe The common definitions of civil society emphasise the voluntary spirit of citizens in the protection of their legal rights and values The concept

of civil society appeared earliest in England (1594) when it was understood as people living in the community The concept is then understandable from two different angles Some Scottish philosophers (18th century) described civil society as a civilised society with a non-arbitrary state By the 19th century, in Germany, in the political works

of Hegel, the term civil society became distinct from the term state.3

Hegel described civil society as part of moral life, which is composed of three elements: family, civil society, and state A self-organized civil society should be considered and regulated by the state, otherwise it would only serve selfish interests and not contribute to the common good. 4

2 Sketches on civil society in history and experiences in our country, updated on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009, at http://www.hcmulaw.edu.vn/

3 Developing civil society organisations in Nghia Binh Commune, Nghia Dan District, Nghe An Province

4 Developing civil society organisations in Nghia Binh Commune, Nghia Dan District, Nghe An Province

K Marx discussed civil society in his early works on German ideology and Jewish issues Like Hegel, he regarded civil society as

a historical phenomenon, the result of historical development that was a “gift” of nature, and temporary The fundamental difference between the viewpoints of Marx and Hegel is the starting point in analysing the nature of civil society and the state, and the relationship between them While Hegel started out from the view of “common sense” and “Absolute Idealism,” Marx took real life and mode of production as the starting point He believed that only when human power was organised into social and political power would the emancipation of humans be complete

Thus, the term civil society has had different connotations and

implications through various historical periods The common point is the adjective “civil” which describes social relations adjusted from a

civil orientation, as distinct (relatively of course) from the state Thus,

this term should be used to refer to institutions “outside of the state.”

2.1.2 Concepts of CSOs

In the simplest sense, “organisation is a group of people working together.” In the broader sense, “organisation is the assembly of many people into a group, committee, and association for the purpose of operating or managing a job.”5

According to the World Alliance for Citizens (CIVICUS), civil society is “the arena outside of the family, state, and market where people associate to advance common interests.” Accordingly, to improve the effectiveness of the state, it is necessary to base on the relative power of market and civil organisations Civil organisations can be both partner and competitor of the state in the provision

of public services; they can bring positive pressure to bear on the government to improve the supply and quality of public services.6

Due to the historical context and the different relationships between the state and society, there are different approaches and perspectives

5 Concept on civil society organisations, published on October 29th, 2009 at http:// www.ytecongcong.com/index.php?

6 PhD Thang Van Phuc, Asst Prof Nguyen Minh Phuong, Roles of society organisations in developing and managing the society, National Politics Publishing House, Hanoi, 2010.

on CSOs According to Dr Irene Norlund, there are three approaches

to CSOs The neo-liberal theory suggests that CSOs should exist independently, belong to the “third area,” be a “voluntary sector”

in which citizens organise themselves into groups and solve arising problems through “civil” dialogue and non-violent measures The role of these organisations is to control and balance the relationship between the state and the market According to the Model of Good Society, a civil society organisation is a component part of society, not entirely separate from the state, market, and family, which is located

in the intersection of three sectors; its boundary is not well-defined, there is an interaction among the state, market, and CSOs in order to bring about agreement between everyone The post-modern model sees CSOs as belonging to the third world and enhances the role of sharing, understanding, connection, and cooperation among parties involved in dialogue and discussion

With regard to range, according to Linz and Stepan, CSOs belong

to the intermediate space between the private sector and state, which

is called the third area

With regard to functions, Anirudh Krishna identifies CSOs as performing at three different levels: 1) Demonstrate the benefits and needs of citizens; 2) Protect the rights of citizens; 3) Provide goods and services directly without relying on state agencies.7

With regard to network, Andrew Wells Dang proposed the

concept of civil society networks to emphasise the close links between

CSOs, informal groups, and individual activists, rather than governmental organisations alone.8

non-In short, civil society organisations can be understood as a voluntary assembly of individuals or groups, linking up to promote positive changes for a better society

Bich San and the ADB research document of 2009 on CSOs Assoc Prof Dr San believed that there were 3 types of society

organisations in Vietnam: Fully government-funded organisations

such as the Trade Union, Women, Youth, Farmers, and Veterans

Associations; Partly government-funded organisations such as the

Union of Science and Technology, Union of Literature and Arts,

Journalists Association; and Civil society organisations consisting

of non-governmental organisations, self-funded, and based organisations.9

community-According to the Asian Development Bank (2009), CSOs are classified into 9 types as follows:

- The non-governmental organisation (NGO): NGOs are professional,

intermediate, and non-profit organisations that provide or support provision of services related to social and economic development, human rights, public welfare, and emergency relief

- The professional association: These organisations represent the

interests of their members who operate in a specific career field or work in a particular job Professional associations can create standards related to their members’ occupations such as associations of architects, public accountants

- The fund: Funds are charity organisations founded by individuals

or entities of a legal status to support the business in line with the objectives of the fund For example, the Ford Foundation (USA), Aga Khan Foundation (Switzerland)

- The independent research institute: These organisations mainly

carry out research and analyses related to public policy issues and disseminate their research findings and recommendations in the hope of influencing decisions and policy makers

- The community-based organisation (CBO): These organisations

often resolve immediate concerns of their members The basic characteristics of CBOs are that they can mobilise the community through an expression of need, organise and implement a

9 Pham Bich San, The Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and State in Vietnam: the Prospect of Restructure?, Annual Conference of Non- governmental Organisations in Vietnam, 2011

participatory process, access development services from outside, and share interests among their members.

- The religious organisation: Religious groups established around an

area of worship or congregation, a religious institution, a registered

or unregistered institution having religious characteristics and principles

- The people’s organisation: They are organisations consisting of

common volunteers that promote economic and social prosperity of members

- The social movement and trade union: These are large-scale

unofficial groups, including many individuals or organizations and aiming at social change through collective, organized, and long-term activities

As we see, the Asian Development Bank classifies CSOs based

on the nature of their activities Assoc Prof Dr San classifies CSOs based on whether or not an organisation receives state funding

2.1.4 CSOs in Vietnam

The first Constitution of Vietnam in 1946 and subsequent Constitutions drawn up in 1959, 1980, and 1992 acknowledged that citizens have the right to assemble and forming associations

in accordance with legislative regulations Decree No 52-SL dated 22/04/1946 prescribes the establishment of associations:

“Associations are unions having a permanent character, consisting

of two or more people in a covenant to achieve a common purpose, which is not profit.”

Indeed, CSOs operating on voluntary bases have existed in Vietnam for a long time Especially during times of natural disasters and wars, the activities of these organisations showed even more clearly the spirit of voluntary, mutual assistance existing among people to mitigate the misfortune The development of CSOs is very diverse, with many different types and names such as unions, associations, societies, federations, clubs, foundations, institutes, centres, councils, committees, voluntary groups

Decree No 45/2010/ND-CP on 21/4/2010 by the government

defines associations as “voluntary organisations of Vietnamese citizens and organisations of the same profession, same gender, with common interests, that share the common goal of uniting members for regular non-profit activities in protecting rights and interests of associations, members and communities, contributing to the social and economic development of the country ”10

Thus, the activities of such organisations as groups, unions, and associations in Vietnam are similar to that of CSOs in other countries that operate publicly and widely, based on the voluntary participation

of individuals into any organisation for a positive purpose

2.2 AIM OF THE STUDY

2.2.1 Goals

Based on the analysis and evaluation of media coverage of CSOs

in Vietnam, the study will recommend strategies for CSOs to (i) engage with the media in promoting its image among the public as well as among policy makers; and (ii) enhance its internal strength to better brand itself

2.2.2 Objectives

• Analyse the image of CSOs portrayed in 5 print and 2 online newspapers in Vietnam between 7/2010 and 6/2011 quantitatively and qualitatively

• Analyse and compare the portrayal of CSOs in print and online newspapers through the survey findings

• Conduct in-depth interviews with leaders of media

management bodies, leaders of media editorials, and

journalists; then analyse their viewpoints on CSOs and how CSOs are covered in the Vietnamese media

• Based on the results of content analysis and in-depth interviews, the study will provide an overview of the current media image of CSOs in Vietnam and make recommendations

on communication and branding strategies for CSOs

10 Thang Van Phuc & Nguyen Minh Phuong, Roles of Society Organisations in Developing and Managing the Society, National Politics Publishing House, Hanoi, 2010.

2.3 METHODOLOGY

2.3.1 Samples

The study applies content analysis to articles published in print newspapers Nhan Dan, Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre, Nong Thon Ngay Nay, and Phu Nu Viet Nam, and online newspapers Vietnamnet and VnExpress With a sampling period of one year (July 2010 to June 2011), the research team hopes to be able to assess how the media currently covers CSOs in Vietnam

The research team selected the newspapers based on the following criteria: large circulation, large number of readers, and representing different groups in society The seven newspapers selected to analyse are:

• Nhan Dan (the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, the voice

of the state and people of Vietnam, published daily)

• Thanh Nien (the forum of the Youth Union of Vietnam, daily)

• Tuoi Tre (the Communist Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City, daily)

• Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Forum of the Farmers Association, 4 issues a week)

• Phu Nu Viet Nam (the Central Body of the Vietnamese Women’s Union, 4 issues a week)

• Vnexpress.net (the most visited online newspaper in Vietnam, ranking 3rd in Vietnam in number of visitors, and 379th in the world)11

• Vietnamnet.vn (one of the first and most favourite online newspapers, ranking 17th in Vietnam in number of visitors, and 2380th in the world)12

2.3.2 Sampling

Samples were selected by using a list of keywords (See list of keywords in Appendix), list of international non-governmental organisations (288 organisations), “List of foreign non-governmental

11 Alexa.com on 18 Nov 2011

12 Alexa.com on 18 Nov 2011

organisations operating in Vietnam”- NGO Resource Centre, 2009, and list of non-governmental organisations in Vietnam (including approximately 365 organisations, sourced from VUSTA)

Regarding the scope of the study, it is acknowledged that the characteristics of CSOs in Vietnam are very different from those in other countries around the world Some organisations labelled “non-governmental” are actually professional associations (farmers, writers, journalists, etc.) with an apparatus akin to governmental agencies and funded by the government Therefore, these professional associations are not the subject of this study The subjects of the study are international non-governmental organisations in Vietnam (INGOs); Vietnamese non-governmental organisations in Vietnam (VNGOs); and community-based organisations (CBOs) On the other hand, the research team did not survey television news because the time available for the study was only 3 months, while it was feared that collecting data from television could be difficult and time-consuming.After evaluating pilot samples from all newspapers for one week, the research team decided to take the samples from all newspapers over a one-year period Preliminary sampling resulted in up to

957 items The research team screened the items, put aside some inappropriate ones, then used the randomise command in Excel to randomly reduce the number of samples to 538

The research team again reviewed and put aside items that were out of the scope of the research for example, articles introducing Vietnamese CSOs operating overseas or foreign CSOs operating in other countries

The final number of samples was 460, of which 447 were coded according to the code book developed by the research team The other 13 articles posted on Vietnamnet were not coded but analysed separately, because:

- First, the articles were not written by journalists but by experts,

politicians, or researchers on civil society in Vietnam

- Second, the articles did not name or discuss any specific CSOs;

they actually published the views of experts and scholars on civil society

- Third, unlike other newspapers, Vietnamnet has a separate

column for comments and opinions by experts on current social issues

2.3.3 Research methodology

- Quantitative method

The study analysed the contents of the 460 news items and articles collected from seven newspapers over one year from July 2010 to June 2011

For content analysis, the researchers developed a code book consisting of 23 questions based on the theories of CSOs and based

on the actual content of the articles Excel spreadsheet was used for coding and analysing The research team believed that quantitative results of the research were not so complicated that statistics software SPSS needed to be used Results of the quantitative analysis are one

of the inputs for designing in-depth interview guides for qualitative research

- Qualitative method:

Qualitative method includes in-depth interviews and discussions For in-depth interviews, the research team developed a set of interview questions based on the results of quantitative analysis, based on the theory of civil society and CSOs, media theory, and the professional experiences of the researchers The content of in-depth interviews was then analysed based on groups of issues that respondents mentioned

2.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This is the first study on the media image of civil society organisations in Vietnam, so literature is scarce Literature that the research team could access mostly discussed the role of social organisations, not the media image of CSOs in Vietnam In addition, there were no situational assessments of communications and media relations of CSOs

Furthermore, the research team met with difficulties in interviewing leaders of media management agencies, leaders of media houses, and reporters because they were either reluctant to

talk about civil society or did not know clearly what civil society meant.

Another limitation related to doing research of online newspapers

As the interface of online newspapers changes with time, it was difficult for the team to define the location of articles

3 FINDINGS

3.1 SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF PORTRAYAL OF CSOs IN PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN VIETNAM (between 7/2010 and 6/2011)

Of 460 articles surveyed, 447 articles were coded and 13, not To get

the findings of this survey, the form and content of those articles were evaluated With regard to form, the six main sections being evaluated are Genre; Posting Location; Posting Time; Information Source; Quotes from Concerned Organisations; and Illustrations With regard

to content, the seven main sections being evaluated are Headlines, Subjects, Organisations’ Form, Fields of Operation, Locations of Operation, Contribution of CSOs, and Attitudes towards CSOs

3.1.1 Form

3.1.1.1 Genre

The research group adopted the criteria that a piece of news consists

of 300 words at most and a feature consists of 300 words at least This

is the norm for most media organisations in Vietnam According to surveys and statistics about the five print newspapers, 75.8% of the samples were news pieces while only 24.2% were features In contrast,

in the two online newspapers surveyed, news stories accounted for 1.7% while features accounted for 98.3% (See Chart 1)

This difference may be due to the limited space in print whereas online newspapers can post long articles words on their website Also, media organisations generally have strict rules based on royalty about which events should be reported in the form of news and which as features.

Another reason for the fewer number of features on CSOs in print newspapers is that CSOs usually provide information of a

PR nature, which is not “hot” enough to attract the attention of readers

3.1.1.2 Posting Location

Articles about CSOs were mainly carried in the inside pages

of print newspapers (accounting for 98.5%) This is because the information was not important to society Due to the nature of online newspapers, it was difficult to evaluate the importance of stories based on their location A number of stories may have been posted on the homepage of online newspapers but moved to the inside pages by the time the study was conducted On Phu Nu Viet Nam and Nhan Dan in particular, some articles appeared on both the front and inside pages, so the total number of pages were more than 100% (see chart 2) Some articles on the front page mentioned the eight Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations For example, an article titled “Impressions of 2010 and the way ahead” on Nhan Dan, issue No 52, published on 26 Dec, 2010, said Vietnam had completed 5 of the 8 Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule This article appeared on both the front page and inside, illustrated with a photo of primary school students in Hoang Giang (Nong Cong District, Thanh Hoa Province) giving flowers to Mr Christopher Carpenter, president of the Foundation for Microprojects in Vietnam (FMV) on the occasion of his return

to the school, which was built with FMV funds

3.1.1.3 Posting Time

It was found that the peak time for articles about CSOs is the last two months of the year (November and December) This was the opposite of what the research group expected at the beginning of the study that articles on CSOs would be published more during the flood and storm season when many relief organisations step up their activities

The reason could be that CSOs usually need to spend their fund

and report about their activities to donors by the end of the year (this

is also common to many organisations and agencies in Vietnam) November was the peak time, with 17.4% of all articles published, four times higher than in February (4.5%) (See Chart 3)

3.1.1.4 Source

95.3% of 447 articles being coded carried reporters’ bylines

If a journalist has his or her name in an article, it means he or she personally attended the event, activity, or press conference, or got information from a press release Their presence offers opportunities

to CSOs, but it is essential that communications officers of CSOs actively create relationships with the media and enhance their skills

in providing interesting information to attract audiences and have

an influence on society

3.1.1.5 Representatives’ quotes

According to the research findings, 82.4% of articles about CSOs published in print newspapers had no quotes from their representatives, which means the voices of the CSOs were only heard faintly Quotes from a CSO executive in an article reflect the voices and opinions of his/her organisation As stated in section 3.1.1.1, most of the items published in print newspapers were brief news about the CSOs As a result, their representatives’ voices were absent from those news items

In contrast, 82.1% of stories on online newspapers directly or indirectly quoted CSO representatives One explanation is that online newspapers have a larger number of feature stories, and, unlike news

stories, it is necessary to have quotes in features (See Chart 5).

For example, in VnExpress, an article titled “The tearful letters

sent to Santa Claus” and published on 24 Dec, 2010, said, “Mr Tuan

(of Dong Nai province) is one of the volunteers participating in donating money and Christmas gifts to disadvantaged children He said that every Christmas, members of voluntary groups put a gift bag on their shoulders, wear Santa suits and go to each and every alley to hand out gifts to kids in poor houses, orphans, and street children”.

Features with a name and the voice of a specific person like that create a close connection with readers who can visualise the organisation’s activities through real stories being told by an insider

3.1.1.6 Illustrations

89.7% of the news and features about CSOs’ activities were published with illustrations Of this number, print magazines accounted for 36.1% Tuoi Tre was top of the list with 54.4% of its articles published with illustrations

As mentioned before, print newspapers usually report briefly

on the activities of CSOs So pictures are not necessarily attached

to stories about CSOs, and this may have a negative bearing on the attention readers pay to them (See Chart 6)

‘Rainbow’ for visually impaired students” (The Vietnamese Women, November 19, 2010), “Youth celebrate Earth Hour” (Tuoi Tre, March

7, 2011)

Some news and features mentioned the names of CSOs: “Reading with our Children Club celebrates its 1st birthday” (The Rural Today, June 7, 2011), “The warmth in An Phuc house” (Nhan Dan, March 20, 2011) When the name of an organisation is mentioned in the headline, it helps promote the organisation because its name is visible immediately

3.1.2.2 Topics

The most popular topics in the media today are relief assistance, donation, charity and compassion, accounting for one third of all

news and features (30.2%) The other popular topics are education, development, and community support, accounting for 18.8% People may think poverty and hunger eradication efforts will feature a great deal in news and features about CSOs However, the topic was not mentioned much, accounting for only 3.1% The reason is that news about poverty reduction and hunger eradication

is usually reported to raise donations and these programmes are mostly launched by media organisations For instance, some newspapers have set up humanitarian funds with names such

as “The leaf helps the torn leaf” and “Golden hearts” …to get donations from the public However, activities related to poverty reduction and hunger eradication usually take place in localities and are reported by local newspapers, which are not included in the scope of this research

The research also shows that some hot topics in society such as HIV/AIDS, violence, gender equality, and climate change are not mentioned much in news and features about CSOs This may be because these issues are among the Eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and are reported in other forms UN organisations usually cooperate with Vietnamese governmental agencies to organise events related to these topics The media had lots of news stories and features about UN activities and their big events jointly held with governmental agencies However, those articles were not included in this research

By comparing, we can see that the rate of the news and features relating to relief assistance, donation, sponsorship, charity, and compassion were equal in print and online newspapers However, the rate of education, development and community support stories

in print was four times higher than online (accounting for 5.1%) It should be noticed that of news and features in the print, the Vietnamese Women reported 34% of articles on education, development, and community support This newspaper belongs

23.6-to the Vietnam Women’s Union, so the activities of the union are actively reported in the newspaper In addition, information about relief assistance, donation, and charity appeared usually in Thanh Nien (accounting for 68.1%)

3.1.2.3 Organisational Forms

In general, the names of civil society organisations were mentioned

in news and features Print newspapers mostly mentioned just CSOs’ names while online sites carried further information about them

Of 447 news and features being coded, INGOs got reported the most, accounting for 43.2% of all organisations named; CBOs followed at 37.6%; and VNGOs were less mentioned, accounting for 19.2% These figures can be assessed as follows:

INGOs are usually big with many relief assistance and sponsorship activities that have influence on and attract the attention

of the media INGOs also have more funds, so they can allocate more for communication Some INGOs such as Oxfam and Operation Smile were often mentioned in Thanh Nien and Vietnamnet Lien Aid (a Singaporean NGO) got regular mention in Nhan Dan and Vietnamnet

As for CBOs, news and feature stories usually reported about the activities of clubs, voluntary and charity activities of youth, Buddhist charity groups, and community groups (reading books, learning foreign languages, protecting the environment…) These activities are usually undertaken by youths The media tends to report about disadvantaged people It also mentions the role of youths in development activities in society and community News and features about youths account for most stories about CBOs