Of course, strong enough mechanisms and consensus from many sides are still needed, but certainly the issues raised at the Forum and the practice of journalism have established the basic "rails" to ensure balanced, trusting, and long-lasting relationships in policy communication work.
Resources have not really received due attention.
The “hot” issue from the practice of journalism to the roundtable of the Forum is how to communicate policies effectively, truly catch up and shoulder important political tasks in the current context. The majority of press agency leaders at the 2023 Editor-in-Chief Forum said that although the press is considered the main channel for implementing policy communication, the mechanism and resources for the press to perform its tasks well have not really received due attention.
Attending and speaking at the Forum, Deputy General Director of the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) Pham Manh Hung shared very frankly about press activities as well as policy communication. He admitted, " VOV is facing the risk of declining revenue. A large and prestigious station like VOV is facing difficulties, so other stations and press agencies must face even more difficulties."
Mr. Pham Manh Hung shared that VOV has many advertisements that are almost not broadcast or are broadcast in installments. Recent statistics show that 70-80% of corporate advertisements now belong to cross-border platforms. Therefore, most press agencies now need to rely on public budgets, from orders from state agencies.
VOV Deputy General Director also said that the Policy Communication Forum is an opportunity to talk about communication policy. This is also an opportunity for press agencies to change the perception of functional agencies. According to him, the press and media must take actions to help improve macro policies so that the press has better conditions in its operations, so that the press can "survive" and "breathe easier".
Panorama of the Editor-in-Chief Forum. Photo: Son Hai
Sharing this view, Mr. Luu Quang Dinh - Editor-in-Chief of NTNN/Dan Viet newspaper said that the newspaper has been 100% financially independent since 1997. Every year, the newspaper publishes thousands of articles, almost "free" policy communication because only 1% of the budget is supported by the State budget. " About 5% of the newspaper's revenue comes from orders from the Government, localities... but for the past 10 years, that number has not changed, even decreased. If there is funding, the communication will be of better quality, deeper, and more dense. I really hope that the 5% figure of Nong Thon Ngay Nay newspaper or the budget source for press agencies will be raised to 30-40% " - Editor-in-Chief Luu Quang Dinh shared.
The above worrying figures raise the issue that the lack of investment resources for press agencies to carry out policy communication work has created significant obstacles for press agencies, most of which are still struggling with the problem of financial autonomy. Furthermore, in the new context, the press is losing viewers and listeners to social media, losing advertising market share, etc.
Meanwhile, the press, when participating in the policy communication process, needs investment in resources, especially economic and technological solutions. Although the Government has had many solutions to support the press, the ordering mechanism, economic and technical standards, and low current unit prices are creating a lot of pressure for press agencies in performing their assigned tasks. In addition, the lack of economic resources also significantly reduces the ability to receive new technologies, reducing the competitiveness of mainstream press agencies in the context of the explosion of social media types.
The forum attracted the attention and participation of many leaders of press agencies, press management agencies, and leaders of local departments and branches. Photo: Quang Hung
The difficult story of "media budget blockage"
One of the issues that has not yet been resolved at the Forum is the difficulty in the ordering mechanism of press agencies when establishing standard unit prices. The problem is still difficult, especially in some press agencies belonging to large ministries. The difficulty lies in the fact that we are still rigid in the regulations on bidding, financial regulations and acceptance work.
In particular, the requirements for building technical economic norms, weighing each letter according to the style of production and business units and enterprises because spiritual values and material values are very different. However, due to the mandatory requirements for building, press agencies still have to do it, even having to hire consultants during the construction process. However, since Circular 18/2021/TT-BTTTT was issued on November 30, 2021 (effective from January 20, 2022 to present (August 2023), many press management agencies have not yet approved technical economic norms, especially ministries and branches.
Giao Thong Newspaper - a newspaper with quite stable resources, the head of the newspaper has another concern - that is the issue of unit price standards causing "blockage in policy communication funding". Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Ba Kien said that Giao Thong Newspaper has been established for more than a year but has not yet had its unit price standards approved. Now it has to return to applying Decree 18 on royalties. However, in 2024, it will not be possible to apply this decree to disburse policy communication funding, because at that time the press agency will pay salaries according to job position.
Therefore, in order to avoid being blocked in policy communication budget, Mr. Kien suggested that the Ministry of Information and Communications study and help press agencies to have appropriate mechanisms. Regulations such as Circular 18 are currently very difficult for press agencies.
In addition, according to Mr. Le Trong Minh - Editor-in-Chief of Investment Newspaper, one of the difficulties that the press is facing is also in the ordering mechanism, when bidding procedures are making it difficult for press agencies to win policy communication contracts at the central and local levels...
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam - Deputy Minister of Information and Communications spoke at the Forum. Photo: Son Hai
As part of this story, the issue of autonomy is also raised to talk about the role of the governing body in policy communication. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam - Deputy Minister of Information and Communications said that in order to help the press agency perform well in its policy communication task, "both sides must join hands to do the common work and both sides find what they expect". What Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam also emphasized is the need to improve the relationship in terms of mechanism, policy and economy between the press and the governing body.
According to the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, most press agencies currently do not receive financial support from their governing bodies. “ Currently, many governing bodies misunderstand the autonomy of press agencies and think that autonomy means swimming alone, ” Mr. Lam assessed. Obviously, when “difficulty” limits “wisdom”, the biggest impact is on product quality, which is the quality of the policy communication problem of press agencies.
Corresponding chords…
How to respond in unison to be effective and solve the urgent stories today... is what the leaders of press agencies, leaders of local ministries and branches want to spread at this Forum. Frankly presenting solutions, Mr. Luu Quang Dinh emphasized: “ We recommend four issues, specifically: We need to perfect the policy institutions on policy communication to place orders for the current press agencies. Next is the awareness of Party committees, ministries, branches, and localities that need to be more complete, considering policy communication not only the work of the press but also the work of the government, the government must proactively place orders for the press. Third, from policy institutions to awareness, another issue that needs to be mentioned is resources. Finally, a very technical, very specific issue is the establishment of technical unit price norms...”.
Mr. Tran Thanh Lam - Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department. Photo: Son Hai
| Mr. Tran Thanh Lam - Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, assessed the 2023 Editor-in-Chief Forum as a very useful event to help policy makers have better policies and mechanisms, so that the press can do a good job of communicating its policies. However, he also said that the press needs to look back at itself to see if it has really done a good job of communicating policies. "We have heard many Editors-in-Chief talk a lot about the issue of what policies do for press communications. However, I also think that we need to look at what our press has done for policy communication work," he asked. |
In addition to macro-policy issues, many opinions also raised the issue of effective “unanimity” between the two main subjects involved in policy communication, which are local ministries and press agencies. In the current context of chaotic information, not proactively providing information to the press is no different from “suicide” in front of public opinion. If not handled promptly, it is very likely to lead to a media crisis and, further, a lack of consensus in policy implementation, causing social instability.
Explaining from the perspective of the press management agency, Mr. Luu Dinh Phuc - Director of the Press Department, said: " In Vietnam, we have basically done very well following the direction and orientation of the Party and the management of the State. However, there are still stories and local policies that have not been thoroughly surveyed and evaluated when issued, leading to information being spread on social networks that is contrary to official information. The reason is that people have not had access to information, lack of information, leading to opinions and comments from a different perspective... ". This raises the problem of coordination between agencies in all 3 stages of policy communication: policy development, dissemination and promulgation, and consumption.
Regarding coordination, Ms. Le Ngoc Han - Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Quang Ninh also shared the local approach. She said: “ Quang Ninh always attaches special importance to policy communication, considering the press not only as a development resource but also as a solution for socio-economic development. Quang Ninh believes that the press must “lead the way”, that is, not to propagate one-way nor to use it only to speak or speak well of itself. The press also needs to “go in and accompany” the policy-making process to be able to help the policy”.
Respecting the critical nature of the press, wishing for participation in the way of "going in and going together" as Quang Ninh province is doing, how many localities will apply it and when will it become popular as a matter of common sense between the two sides? That is an open question, which needs to be raised when we have enough resources, enough trust in each other to... "correspond".
Of course, no matter how difficult it is, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press always puts the mission and responsibility of writers first, as we have always done. Therefore, the press is forced to seek solutions, forced to "single-mindedly" for a professional, innovative and developing press. Although the issues raised by the leaders of press agencies at this Forum still need to be resolved in the coming time, it cannot be resolved overnight. But the journey to the destination should not be slowed down because of the challenges that have not been overcome.
Concluding the Forum, Mr. Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association said that the delegates at the Editor-in-Chief Forum had debated and uncovered many issues. There were issues that could be resolved soon, there were issues that required intervention from ministries, branches and even higher levels to amend. There were issues that lay in the initiative of press agencies, which needed to be bolder, more proactive and energetic from press agencies instead of waiting for funding, they could participate in communicating the policies of ministries, branches, localities with creative and effective ways, increasing revenue for press agencies...
“ Policy communication work still requires a lot of effort. There needs to be more direction from the Government level. Policy communication is not only a story of seeking resources but also a story of cooperation between authorities and press agencies, the story of propaganda is not only one-way but also multi-dimensional, critical to perfect policies. From today's exchanges, I hope our press will be more professional and objective. This is certainly not the only and last forum on policy communication. After this Forum, we need to strengthen propaganda on policy communication. We have the power of the press, we need to increase awareness of authorities on policy communication, between the State, authorities and the press need to "respond in unison" to be able to communicate policies effectively " - Mr. Le Quoc Minh emphasized.
It can be said that the 2023 Editor-in-Chief Forum organized by the Journalists and Public Opinion newspaper has "touched" important issues, creating an impression of an open forum, discussing and finding initial solutions for policy communication work. Certainly, in the coming time, as affirmed by the Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association Le Quoc Minh, we will have many more seminars and forums with deeper and more detailed discussions to "unlock" many resources in policy making and implementation, while helping the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press operate professionally, better performing its tasks and missions of serving the Fatherland and serving the People.
Ha Van
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