According to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, the press is the vanguard and main propaganda force. The Party and State must pay attention to investing in the press force.
On the occasion of the 99th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed: "The Vietnamese press has been, is and will always be loyal to the Party's cause, for a Vietnam with rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization and happiness".
Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the Vietnamese revolutionary press has been around for 99 years and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. The founder of the Vietnamese revolutionary press was President Ho Chi Minh. The revolutionary press honestly reflects the mainstream of Vietnamese society, creates social consensus and trust, spreads positive energy, uses beauty to eliminate ugliness, fuels the aspiration for a strong and prosperous Vietnam, and creates spiritual strength to contribute to realizing the goal of Vietnam becoming a high-income developed country by 2045.
"Over the years, we have done a good job of that task. In a survey of professional prestige in society, journalism was ranked 9/10 in 2018, and by 2022 it had risen to 3/10, just behind the teaching profession and the medical profession," Minister Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized.
According to the head of the Information and Communications sector, the country's press workforce is 41,000 people, of which 23,000 are granted press cards. The number of press agencies is 797, of which 127 are newspapers. The number of newspapers has decreased by 40% compared to before the Plan. The state budget for the press in 2023, including regular and investment, is 7,800 billion VND, accounting for 0.47% of the total state budget. This is currently a low level.
Every year, press agencies create about 40 million news articles, which when entering cyberspace spread into 400 million news articles, forming the mainstream of cyberspace. Each year, they produce 20,000 hours of radio and 50,000 hours of television. The proportion of policy communication accounts for 20%.
Investing in digital transformation of journalism
The Minister of Information and Communications emphasized that one of the five leadership methods of the Party is propaganda, and the press is the vanguard and main propaganda force. The Party and State must pay attention to investing in the press force.
In the past, the weapon was paper and pen, but now there is also technology, mainly digital technology. In the past, press agencies wrote articles, now press agencies create digital platforms for many people to participate in writing articles. And the digital platform is technology. In the past, only the press wrote articles, now many people write online, so the press must have technological tools to evaluate information trends, people's moods on cyberspace to write articles to guide public opinion. And that is also technology.
According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, a press agency that is said to have transformed digitally has up to 30% of its costs, both investment and regular expenses, for technology. Regarding human resources, up to 30% are technology people. To transform digitally press agencies, investment is needed. The country is modernizing, the press must also modernize. Investment in digital technology is not large, does not cost much, but the results are very large and fast.
"Recently, the budget for press investment was very modest (0.22% of total state investment expenditure), and after the Press Digital Transformation Strategy was issued, it has not increased. The Ministry of Information and Communications has recommended that the Government and the Prime Minister pay attention to directing press management agencies to invest in digital technology to modernize their press agencies. One of the great advantages for digital transformation of press and modernization of digital technology for press is that we have many strong and excellent digital technology companies. When there is an investment budget, we can assign them the task of implementing the digital transformation of press" - said the Minister of Information and Communications.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has advised the Prime Minister to issue the Press Digital Transformation Strategy. The Ministry has also established the Press Digital Transformation Support Center. And the Ministry is also the focal point for state management of digital technology.
"We are committed to accompanying and supporting press agencies in digital transformation," the head of the Information and Communications sector affirmed.
The "bisexual" mechanism of journalism
Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the press agency is both a public service unit and an enterprise. It is a public service unit because it carries out the propaganda tasks of the Party and the State, providing information services as public services, so it needs to be invested in, assigned tasks, and ordered by the Party and the State.
But press agencies now have to compete with digital platforms, attract quality journalists and media workers in the market, and accept market mechanisms. Therefore, press agencies must also operate like businesses.
"A breakthrough reform in the mechanism for the press is to accept that press agencies have two parallel operating mechanisms: as both a public service unit and an enterprise. But business journalism is for the sake of journalism, not for profit," the Minister of Information and Communications emphasized.
Changing the perception of authorities at all levels about communication in general and policy communication in particular
On March 21, 2023, the Prime Minister issued a very important Directive on policy communication. Previously, policy communication was considered the sole responsibility of press agencies. Now, the Prime Minister directs that policy communication must be considered a function, a task, and a job of governments at all levels. Therefore, governments at all levels must have a specialized apparatus to do communication work and have a regular annual budget to carry out this task through press orders. This budget is the source for ordering press agencies.
Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that on this basis, the Ministry of Information and Communications has issued an action plan to perfect the apparatus for communications work at all levels, provide guidance on budget allocation, and amend relevant circulars on economic and technical norms so that authorities at all levels can place press orders.
"The Vietnamese press has been, is and will always be loyal to the Party's cause for a Vietnam with rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization and happiness" - the Minister of Information and Communications affirmed.
According to VTV
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/can-dau-tu-cho-cong-nghe-so-de-chuyen-doi-so-cac-co-quan-bao-chi/20240622093148226
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