Employees of press and broadcasting agencies in Vientiane and to a lesser extent Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Champassak generally have a fundamental grasp of contemporary journalism and sufficient tools with which to do their job effectively, but the majority of reporters from the provinces lack even the most basic skills and equipment. For this reason much of the work of the National Mass Media Training Centre is currently focused on the training of provincial journalists. Set up in 1980, the centre currently offers one-week in-service and three-month intensive courses in both print and broadcast journalism leading to the award of a certificate. The Centre has benefited from assistance under the UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication and has also participated in a number of international programmes in collaboration with agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF, ASEAN and AMIC, but it is keen to engage in further collaborative projects with a view to meeting its many developmental needs. These include reporter training in different media at both central and local levels; vehicles for transportation; and modern equipment such as computers, digital cameras and software, plus IT training to facilitate their use (the Centre uses computers for basic word processing but does not yet have an E-mail account).

Subject to the identification of funding, the government is planning to upgrade the Centre in 2005 to the status of a National Faculty of Mass Media within the proposed new University of Arts. When this happens it will be relocated to the Ban Phonpapao campus along with the Faculties of Dance and Music (currently the National School of Music and Dance) and Fine Arts (currently the National Faculty of Fine Arts), where it will offer three-year Diploma courses in Mass Media Studies.

At the time of writing a five-year Bachelors degree course in Mass Communications (Journalism) - covering both journalism and technical training in the areas of television, radio and press - is being launched by the Faculty of Letters of the National University of Laos (NUOL). When its first graduates emerge in 2010 this programme is expected to make a significant contribution to the development of journalism in Laos.

Established in 1968, the Lao Journalists’ Association brings together editors, journalists, producers, cameramen and TV and radio technicians with a view to sharing professional experience and organising in-service training and development programmes for both editorial and technical personnel working in print and electronic media. In 2004 the Association moved into brand new premises built as a gift by the Vietnamese government.