The press needs to take full advantage of social media platforms.

Don't follow social networks

On the afternoon of June 14, the Digital Cafe Club (Vietnam Digital Communications Association) organized a seminar on “Journalism in the digital age: Opportunities and challenges”. Journalist Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, as a speaker, received many questions about the development of journalism in the current context.

In particular, the explosion of social networks has posed many challenges to newspapers in terms of information competitiveness. In just a short time of explosion, social networks have shown dominance. Many journalists at the discussion asked the question, what kind of mindset should the press have?

Responding to the above concerns, Mr. Le Quoc Minh admitted that the mainstream press has been changing quite slowly. The reason is that for a long time, the press has been somewhat confident and subjective, thinking that no one can compare to them.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper shared at the discussion.

In the past, when people wanted to know information, they had to go to the press, buy newspapers, turn on the radio, turn on the TV to passively follow information. But now, news comes to readers. With the age of the internet, people are "free to dive into the sea of ​​information". Many people feel that it is not necessary to go to the press to get news.

Therefore, Mr. Minh believes that the trend of social media domination is real. Demanding that mainstream media must compete, follow or go ahead of social media is not feasible.

Vietnam has a population of 100 million. In fact, every person holding a smartphone is ready to become a press agency. Therefore, Mr. Le Quoc Minh believes that the press cannot compete with social networks in terms of information speed. "However, the press should not follow social networks," Mr. Minh emphasized.

“It is impossible to use the strengths of social networks to compete with the weaknesses of the press. But doing better, being better, and being more professional is what we need to aim for,” said Mr. Le Quoc Minh.

The press does not compare itself to social networks, but press agencies must have appropriate social media strategies. Mr. Minh gave the example of Nhan Dan Newspaper, before he joined, the newspaper's fanpage only had 24,000 likes, now it has increased to 300,000 likes.

People's Television on Youtube has about 3.6 million followers, and newspaper products posted on TikTok have millions of views. This shows that the press needs to dominate social media platforms to have appropriate communication policies.

At the end of 2023, Nhan Dan newspaper published a page about OCOP products, attracting the attention of readers. Or recently, the printed newspaper product Panorama of more than 3,000 m2 recreating 4,500 characters in the tragic battle of the last 56 days of Dien Bien Phu created a media fever, attracting the attention of many young people.

Mr. Minh also cited that Vietnam Television (VTV) also has a strategy to dominate social networks and is doing very well with livestream and television programs that attract a large audience.

“Technology is king”

At the seminar, the President of the Vietnam Journalists Association repeatedly emphasized the importance of technology to the development of journalism today.

"20 years ago, we emphasized the role of technology in journalism, as an inseparable part of journalism. But at that time, not many people agreed on this point of view. Press agencies at that time were too confident in themselves and forgot to prepare for a period when technology developed strongly," said Mr. Le Quoc Minh.

The discussion content received attention from many experts, journalists, and managers.

The press has always had the view that “Content is King”, which emphasizes the most important role of press work is the quality of content. However, Mr. Minh believes that in the current context, technology is king and content is queen.

“Good content is always needed, but to bring content to readers, technology is needed. How to have good content and good technology to create a unique identity for each newspaper is what every press agency needs.

We have moved from a mechanism where users find news to a mechanism where news finds users. Without technology, it would be impossible. We spend a lot of money to distribute information, but how to get information to users is another matter,” Mr. Minh affirmed.

Minh Thu

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/bao-chi-can-tan-dung-tot-loi-the-cua-cac-nen-tang-mang-xa-hoi-a668414.html