The role of radio and TV in the life of ethnic minorities in Vietnam : case study: the H'mong people in Lao Cai and Lai Chau province

Abstract

In this thesis, we will follow the discourse on the role of radio and TV in the life of minorities in Vietnam. Before going in depth to answer the research questions, I am going to give an introduction to the situation of ethnic minorities and media for ethnic minorities in Vietnam. My research focused on the roles of radio and TV regarding the fields of education and identity preservation for ethnic minorities. The research questions will be answered by looking at the H’mong minority, who are the case study of the thesis, who are located in the northern part of Vietnam who are one of the poorest and most undeveloped minorities in the country. Nowadays, ethnic minorities in Vietnam are still coping with serious difficulties in life such as poverty and illiteracy. Meanwhile, media for ethnic minorities, including radio and TV for ethnic minorities in Vietnam, are at a low level of development. In fact, both VTV5 (the TV division for ethnic minorities, belonging to the national TV station VTV) and VOV4 (the radio division for ethnic minorities, belonging to the national radio station VOV) have made a lot of effort to produce suitable programs for minorities but there remain limitations in both content and the ways used to express the content of those programs. The reasons come from difficulties in both radio and TV stations and minorities. However, roles of radio and TV in the life of ethnic minorities in Vietnam are obviously increasing quickly and are displayed more and more effectively. I focused on the two main roles of radio and TV as educational instruments and as instruments for assisting minorities in preserving their identity, highlighting their effects in preserving minority languages and cultures. In addition, looking at influences that radio and TV have made in the life of minorities, we see that radio and TV are playing more and more important roles in their lives.