Press agencies need to diversify business models, thereby diversifying revenue sources.

+ At the National Press Conference summarizing the work of 2023 and deploying tasks for 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang shared that the press in 2023 generally did "much better than last year". As someone who has always closely followed the life of the press, how do you view the Vietnamese press in 2023? In your opinion, what are the better and more positive points of the Vietnamese press in the past year?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: In 2023, the press has basically seriously implemented the leadership, direction, and orientation of information, closely following the goal of maintaining political stability, creating social consensus and people's trust in the Party and the regime. The propaganda work to protect the Party's ideological foundation and fight against and refute the wrong and hostile views of press agencies has clearly changed from thinking to content, form, and propaganda methods. The agencies have actively informed and propagated to orient public opinion in the face of complicated developments in the regional and world situations. Especially with foreign affairs activities - a bright spot of Vietnam in 2023 - the press has reflected faster, more promptly, and more creatively than the traditional way of doing things for a long time.

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

Over the past year, the press continued to focus on propaganda on preventing and combating corruption and negativity, and combating signs of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle. The press also strongly promoted the building and development of Vietnamese culture and people in accordance with the direction and direction of the General Secretary at the National Cultural Conference in 2021.

What is particularly gratifying is that in the past year, press agencies have begun to pay more attention to building columns, with series of articles about humane stories, thereby honoring the value of beautiful life, contributing to spreading positive energy in society. The fact that these series of articles attract the attention of a large number of readers shows that the public always pays special attention to people, good deeds, and that "using beauty to eliminate ugliness", using positivity to push back negativity, is always the right direction for the press.

Of course, it cannot be denied that besides the positive changes, there are still grey spots in the press picture in 2023. That is the situation where a number of reporters and collaborators are prosecuted, temporarily detained, prosecuted, tried, taking advantage of professional activities for personal gain, seriously affecting the image, reputation and public trust in the press; there are still some journalists who threaten and harass organizations and individuals... causing outrage in public opinion.

+ Many people believe that economic pressure causes journalists to fall, and that the struggle with “bread and butter” is the reason why many journalists bend their pens and lower their professional ethics. Do you agree with this view?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: I think that the story of journalistic ethics and journalism economics must be thoroughly understood. Professional ethics are important in all professions, but in journalism it is even more important. Each issue needs to be addressed to what extent, how it is conveyed all demonstrate the responsibility of journalists to the public. Every journalist must be clearly aware of this issue, must consider it an immutable principle of journalism.

In recent times, some journalists have committed wrongdoings, even violating the law and losing the trust of readers. However, financial and institutional difficulties cannot be used to justify the wrongdoings of press agencies or individuals or journalists. The mission of the press is to serve readers, audiences, and the People.

Therefore, in the coming time, the Vietnam Journalists Association will strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Central Propaganda Department, ensuring the orientation of information and propaganda, and closely coordinating the management of press agencies and individuals who violate the law. For press agencies that repeatedly violate the law, we will recommend strong solutions, even revoking the license, and the leaders of newspapers whose reporters violate the law will also be held responsible.

+ But clearly in recent times, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and in 2023, journalism economics has become the biggest headache for newsrooms, sir?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: The decline in revenue from newspapers, especially print newspapers, was predicted in advance and has actually started many years ago. However, not only print newspapers but also radio and television, and even online newspapers are not attractive enough to both readers and businesses in the face of the dominance of social networks, so revenue has remained the same or even decreased.

For example, in the field of radio and television, the total revenue of radio and television stations in 2023 will decrease by 23% compared to 2022. The reason is that advertising resources for digital in general will increase, but a large proportion will fall into the pockets of big names such as Google, Facebook... and some other large technology platforms. According to many studies, in the future, press agencies that rely too much on advertising will certainly face more difficulties.

+ The economy of journalism is increasingly difficult, while journalists and editorial offices still have to complete their propaganda tasks. Sir, is it time to have more solutions to "resolve" the economy of journalism so that editorial offices can struggle less, so that journalists can survive, stay in the profession and wholeheartedly devote themselves to the mission of transmitting information?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: Recently, the authorities have actively taken action to solve the economic problem of journalism. For example, there have been documents from the Government requiring the strengthening of policy communication and placing orders with press agencies. This is a very important solution that can help press agencies have the right source of revenue. In particular, Directive No. 07/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister shows innovation in thinking about policy communication work of State agencies, requiring ministries, branches, and local authorities to arrange appropriate apparatus, human resources, and budget resources for this work, including the budget to place orders and assign tasks to the press to participate in communicating the Party and State's guidelines and policies.

This approach is very correct, because the press has spent a certain amount of time and space to propagate the policies and guidelines of the Party, the State as well as the locality, so being provided with a budget is understandable and natural. However, from that very correct purpose to the implementation, there are still many difficulties. For example, some press agencies think that it is difficult to build a standard or the standard is still low because it is calculated based on the basic salary; then the budget expenditure for the press is still low (regular expenditure is below 0.5%, investment expenditure is below 0.3%). These are the obstacles that must be resolved to help the press have a source of funding while contributing to policy propaganda.

In addition, the issue of press tax, although it has been mentioned for a long time, has not yet had a clear solution. According to many press agencies, in the context of the difficult press economy, with a sharp decrease in revenue, the abolition of the regulation in Circular 150/2010/TT-BTC "salary costs included in reasonable costs when determining the taxable income of the press are the actual bonuses paid to employees, with valid and legal documents" will cause many financially autonomous press agencies to face many difficulties while still having to perform their political tasks well.

+ Resolving economic obstacles in journalism through clear policies is not something that can be solved overnight. Therefore, it is still important that press agencies take the initiative in diversifying their revenue sources, isn’t that right, sir?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: That's right. I always hold the view that in the story of the press economy, the initiative and self-effort of the editorial offices are the fundamental factors for the sustainable development of the press. Advertising revenue, although still important, is no longer a large source of revenue as before, and many studies have shown that the press should not be too dependent on advertising revenue. Reality also shows that revenue from online advertising, even if increasing, cannot compensate for the decline in print revenue. Revenue from policy communication, for example, is a very important factor, but let's consider this as a part of the press agency's revenue.

We must identify that the State only creates favorable conditions, but cannot do the work of press agencies. Press agencies should not be too dependent or rely too much on this single source of income, but need to strive to improve themselves, be more proactive in diversifying business models, thereby diversifying revenue sources. According to international studies, each press agency needs to apply at least 3-4 business models to be able to survive and develop sustainably.

Looking around the world, the story of survival through diversification efforts is evident in many major newspapers. The Guardian, for example, combines subscription-based news apps with sponsorship, digital advertising, platform and corporate revenue, and even events. The Financial Times, which has found success with its digital subscription model, also uses display and native advertising, in addition to its media consultancy services, and hosts a wide range of events, such as its annual FT Weekend Festival.

Many newspapers, such as the Washington Post, even generate revenue from e-commerce, data business, and technology business. The Washington Post built its own content management system (CMS) and it was so good that after using it effectively in the newsroom, they sold it to 400 other news organizations around the world.

Some press agencies in Vietnam have also tried to diversify their revenue sources, such as organizing events, sports tournaments, and testing digital fees, but the results have only been modest.

It must be said right away that this is very difficult, especially in the context of having to compete with technology corporations that constantly come up with new ways, plus user behavior has changed a lot. However, my point of view is that the press must dare to take risks to experiment with new ways of doing things and find the way that suits them best. In addition, it must be persistent and tenacious, dare to go all the way with experiments, firmly hold on to its own strengths. Success will not come to those who do not have perseverance and determination.

+ Among the many solutions to generate revenue for the press, recently many opinions have emphasized the story of generating revenue on digital platforms. Is this the path that Vietnamese media agencies will have to take to ensure the press economy?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: The story of diversifying revenue sources of the world press as I just mentioned is also proof of the application of technology to create revenue sources. Digital transformation is a vital factor for newsrooms, not only creating new development opportunities but also bringing diversity in revenue sources, helping the press diversify its business model. Data business, e-commerce, affiliate marketing or becoming a business partner of digital platforms are examples. The future press business model will focus more on digital transformation, digital data, multi-channel, diversifying revenue sources from cooperation and association with banks, businesses, etc.

At Nhan Dan Newspaper, we have built a digital transformation strategy with 11 very clear pillars, from developing according to the press-technology agency model, multi-platform development, promoting product thinking, AI application, etc. The newspaper has applied modern journalism methods, especially investing heavily in data journalism to create unique and attractive products, increasing the level of interaction with readers.

+ But when talking about content production on digital platforms, we cannot help but mention copyright protection. The phenomenon of copyright infringement in the digital environment is happening widely at a high speed, with increasingly serious and complicated nature, and increasingly wide scope. If there is no effective solution, this will be the obstacle that reduces the revenue of the press. What is the "immediate thing to do" in the story of copyright protection in the coming time, sir?

- Journalist Le Quoc Minh: Protecting press copyright is a prerequisite to protect the financial resources of press agencies as well as effectively implementing digital content business models, contributing to solving the problem of press and media economics in current press agencies. Therefore, it is not only necessary to do it immediately but also to do it resolutely, thoroughly and requires the cooperation of many parties. On the part of the Vietnam Journalists Association, we advocate that in the coming time, we must start an "all-out war" to protect press copyright because otherwise, it will be very difficult for the press to continue to exist and develop.

In a recent meeting with Google, we had a frank discussion about how Google must help the Vietnamese press do three things. First, Google must ensure copyright issues for the press. Google has the tools and the platform to support copyright protection; those who “steal” and “remix” content must be labeled to help the press protect copyright. Next, Google needs to help the press protect its revenue. Finally, Google needs to help the press with training. Recently, this group coordinated with the Vietnam Journalists Association to organize a very large-scale training program that lasted for 5 months and brought many results, and we plan to continue such training programs in the following years.

In the near future, also within the framework of the National Press Forum, in addition to the National Press Festival 2024, we will also have a separate discussion session on this topic. Technological advances and the strong development of social networks have made the fight against copyright infringement of press works more difficult than ever. But difficult does not mean impossible. If press copyright is not protected, it is impossible to operate professionally, let alone develop healthily. Therefore, press agencies should join hands and stand side by side with the Vietnam Journalists Association in this fight.

+ Thank you!

Red Ginseng (Implementation)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/cac-co-quan-bao-chi-can-da-dang-hoa-cac-mo-hinh-kinh-doanh-tu-do-da-dang-hoa-nguon-thu-post281860.html