Raise the press propaganda budget from 0.65% of GDP to 1% of GDP
Over the years, press agencies have stepped up policy communication, creating public consensus on the Party's guidelines and State policies, and meeting the public's increasing need for information. Continuing to closely follow the situation, promptly informing on current issues of public interest.
Currently, the country has more than 800 newspapers and magazines, 77 domestic radio channels and 57 foreign channels. The human resources of the press agencies nationwide are currently about 41,000 people, of which 20,283 are carded journalists.
Of which, there are 6 key press agencies (VTV, VOV, Vietnam News Agency, Nhan Dan Newspaper, Quan Doi Nhan Dan Newspaper, Cong An Nhan Dan Newspaper), 127 press agencies, 670 magazine agencies (including 318 scientific magazines, 72 literary and artistic magazines). This is a large resource, making an important contribution to the communication of the Party and State's policies.
Deputy Director of the Press Department Dang Thi Phuong Thao. Photo: Le Tam
Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thao - Deputy Director of the Press Department (Ministry of Information and Communications) shared: Previously, with the old way of doing things, policy communication often focused mainly on handling incidents and events, only providing information and paying little attention to the story. This way of doing things also did not assess the impact of policies and communication in the process of discussing, promulgating and implementing policies.
One of the problems with the previous policy communication approach was that it was more “qualitative” than “quantitative”, and there was no reflex to use data to analyze the situation. There were no tools to measure and scan information in newspapers and on the internet, and no real-time statistics to evaluate.
Regarding press economics, the Deputy Director of the Press Department said that in the press sector, 39% of units are completely autonomous, 25% of units are guaranteed by the state budget, and 36% of units are partially autonomous.
According to Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thao, “The Minister of Information and Communications is very concerned about the issue of the press being a tool of the Party and the State, producing news articles according to the direction of the Party and the State but without any support. The Minister is also assigning the Press Department and relevant agencies to consider and have support policies for press agencies.”
In fact, the total budget for press propaganda currently accounts for only about 0.65% of GDP. The Ministry of Information and Communications is aiming to increase this rate to 1% of GDP. The press is the main channel for policy communication. Therefore, the state needs mechanisms and support. If the press agency relies entirely on the market, it will become market press.
Change some methods of providing information to the press
Always dynamic, constantly innovating, creating, keeping up with the trends of modern media, many press and media agencies have tried to carry out policy communication. Adhering closely to the Party's guidelines and policies, directing information closely and decisively, creating close coordination, strong and synchronous changes in press and media work.
The editorial offices have applied many types of modern journalism, applied digital media technology, and published on multimedia platforms. There are press agencies that broadcast on multimedia platforms, including digital media platforms, social networks, and YouTube to bring information, guidelines, and policies of the Party and State not only to the domestic public but also to contribute to promoting the image of Vietnam to the world.
New awareness is needed about how to do policy communication. Photo: Le Tam
However, if policy communication only comes from the press agencies without active coordination from all levels of government, the effectiveness will not be high. Deputy Director of the Press Department Dang Thi Phuong Thao said that in recent years, the perception of policy communication has changed. Accordingly, policy communication is now the job of state administrative agencies. The press and other media are the means and tools to carry out communication work.
Therefore, government agencies need to arrange human resources and specialized apparatus for communications, and allocate budget for policy communications as for other fields such as health, education, etc.
In the budget for policy communication, there should be a budget for the press and new communication methods that are suitable for the trend. The new way of thinking and doing today is that in order to manage, it must be visible (measurable, assessable and able to regulate information trends...). The government needs to communicate first, using many methods to change perceptions and create social consensus.
The Deputy Director of the Press Department also said that a number of "media crisis" incidents related to the implementation of recent policies and guidelines have their root causes in the lack of proactive provision of information or incorrect and ineffective communication from state administrative agencies.
To solve this problem, state agencies need to increase ordering and assigning tasks to press agencies to spread official and positive information in the press and online. Ordering and assigning tasks must not affect or contradict the autonomy of press agencies.
“State agencies also need to change some methods of providing information to the press to gain the initiative, organize press conferences more frequently, provide short press releases instead of answering interviews or invest in good stories, positive inspiration to spread and lead information trends about the industry and locality,” Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thao added.
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