Press solutions to turn the situation around and avoid the news

Many readers are haunted not only by how negative events unfold, but also by the widespread coverage of the story in the press. Many have abandoned the habit of reading the daily newspaper simply because the press publishes too much repetitive negative news. Keeping readers and maintaining the mission of transforming society for the better is the focus of the press.

The tendency to avoid “gray” news

Recently, the appearance of negative information, focusing on the pain and dark sides of society is one of the causes of anxiety and heavy pressure on social psychology. There is a flood of negative information from violations by large corporations such as FLC, Tan Hoang Minh, Tan Hiep Phat to horrific murders and student suicides. The appearance of positive and negative information, reflecting social life on the media and press has met the needs of the public. But how to have a balance, to reach the ultimate goal of orienting, contributing, building... to make society better is what the press today should be careful about in order to have the right direction.

The phenomenon of readers avoiding news is happening on a global scale and the Vietnamese press is not immune to its influence. Photo: GI.

News avoidance is a phenomenon that has been raising alarm bells in the media over the past few years. Last year’s Reuters Digital News Report (DNR) found that nearly half of UK (46%) and US (42%) readers avoid the news. Experts say there are a number of reasons for this, from negative trends in the news cycle, to poorly performing news websites, to extreme news and readers’ ability to read and understand the news. Data in the Digital News Report shows that news avoidance, which often involves important news such as politics, has doubled in some countries since 2017, as many people find press coverage negative, repetitive, hard to trust and makes them feel powerless.

According to a recent report by the Press Department - Ministry of Information and Communications, the content of most newspapers in Vietnam is also duplicated. The problem is that this duplication comes from the fact that many articles only reflect how events and phenomena occur. Once the press becomes a faulty copy of social networks, it is inevitable that readers will lose the habit of reading newspapers every day.

Commenting on this issue, journalist Nguyen Hoang Nhat - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper said that the trend of avoiding news is not surprising because it has been happening for the past few years, when too many people feel tired of the repetition of news topics, plus too much negative information can affect the mood of readers.

The phenomenon of readers leaving mainstream news sites and "migrating" to digital platforms is something that has happened and is happening. "Many people, even myself, have lost the habit of typing a certain url into the address bar in the browser. In addition, new factors such as ChatGPT or generative AI tools can also speed up this process. If they have a question, instead of searching in the press, readers will open a chatbot to ask and they can easily satisfy their needs with just a few clicks," said journalist Hoang Nhat.

Highlighting Solution Journalism

There are many ways to define this positive journalism trend. The difference is that instead of just reporting on what is happening or social problems, Solution Journalism focuses on how to respond, finding ways to solve problems with the mission of proactively improving society. Solution Journalism does not avoid negative news, but reports on negative issues in a constructive way, finding solutions to bring more positive results to the community. Solution Journalism is not about reporting good news - positive news, but it makes people, officials, governments and people in the public apparatus responsible for solutions to social problems. According to this theory, if the press only focuses on reflecting how the problem is progressing or only exposing the negative side, then that is not the whole story.

Journalist Nguyen Hoang Nhat believes that Solution Journalism (or Constructive Journalism) is in line with the direction that the Propaganda Department, Ministry of Information and Communications has recently mentioned, against the situation of being flooded with negative and sensational information in the press. It is the fact that there is too much negative information in the press that has led to the situation of avoiding news or losing trust in the press as has been the case for many years. And therefore, promoting Solution Journalism is also the solution to solve that situation. The press cannot stop at exposing the reality but must ask the question "What needs to be done to build a better society?".

Journalist Nguyen Hoang Nhat said: Promoting Kien Tao Journalism means returning to the core values ​​of journalism. It is true that journalism cannot turn its back on negativity, but don't just stop at exposing the reality, go to the bottom of the problem.

“I believe that is the right solution to regain public trust in the press. KOLs, vloggers, and bloggers cannot replace journalists; when news sources need to speak up, they will still choose journalists over bloggers. But of course, press agencies and journalists themselves also need to innovate, improve quality, and keep up with the latest trends in world journalism in the Digital Transformation period,” said journalist Hoang Nhat.

Many world journalism experts believe that one of the fundamental solutions to avoiding news is to give readers the right to participate in the story or news source of their choice. According to journalist Hoang Nhat, in fact, if we did not give readers that right, they would have done it themselves, because this is the Web3 stage, when users create content themselves. But there needs to be a line between the content of the press agency and that of the users. And newsrooms must return to the problem of improving the quality of press agencies, helping readers recognize fake news - real news, distinguish between facts (objective truth) and opinions, distinguish between a sponsored article and an objective article in the true sense.

In addition, newspapers need to create a common mission with readers, for the benefit of the community and connect more deeply with readers, build new relationships based on data, helping readers personalize their news pages. “For example, if I am only interested in politics, the world or sports, I will want the news page I visit to display fewer irrelevant stories. But to personalize the news page like that, technology and data are needed,” said Deputy Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper.

It can be seen that, in the face of the trend of avoiding news, Solution Journalism can be one of the ways to bring positive changes to newsrooms, at least creating a fundamental difference between a press product and the news that is widely reflected on social networks today. News must be the brainpower of journalism workers, not a copy of social networks. Solution Journalism is both a method and a goal to achieve with the mission of transforming society to become a better place!

Hoa Giang

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bao-chi-giai-phap-xoay-chuyen-cuc-dien-ne-tranh-tin-tuc-post249908.html