When the 'digital environment' becomes the 'living environment'...

In Session 2: Practices, experiences and solutions for managing digital newsrooms in the ASEAN region in the Workshop "Practices, experiences and solutions for managing digital newsrooms in the ASEAN region" held on December 7, in Hanoi, experts and leaders of press agencies discussed and exchanged practical experiences, thereby proposing practical and feasible solutions to transform the newsroom operations of press agencies towards building a digital newsroom model.

The presiding committee of Session 2 from left to right includes: Journalist, Dr. Ta Bich Loan - Head of Entertainment Program Production Department, VTV3, Vietnam Television; Major General Doan Xuan Bo - Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper; Comrade Nguyen Duc Loi - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association and Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thu Hang - Head of the Professional Department of the Vietnam Journalists Association.

Digital newsroom model: An inevitable trend

In the report on the World Press Overview 2023 towards 2024, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) said that one of the important priorities of newsrooms in 2024 will be research on product development and digital newsroom management.

As the leader of Vietnam's leading mainstream electronic newspaper, Mr. Tran Tien Duan - Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper - VNA said that to keep up with the trend of digital journalism and have the capacity to perform the above tasks, newsrooms need to build a technical infrastructure and a content management system (CMS) strong enough for digital technology to effectively serve journalism, helping journalists in the digital age reduce repetitive tasks and focus more on creating creative products.

"VNA has determined a strategy to converge its digital platforms, so the CMS and NPS of the entire industry are gradually integrated into a unified entity to help coordinate, manage, synergize information and cross-promote information products better," said Mr. Tran Tien Duan.

Mr. Tran Tien Duan - Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper - VNA shares about the practice of managing the digital press office at VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper.

To transform digital journalism, as well as build a digital newsroom model, Mr. Tran Tien Duan emphasized that human resource training is one of the most important tasks to build a digital newsroom, because traditional journalism thinking will find it difficult to meet the new requirements and challenges of the digital age.

Besides, technology now goes hand in hand with journalism, so according to Mr. Duan, newsrooms need to set aside a certain amount of funds for development, or find ways to link up with technology companies on the principle of mutual benefit.

"To have the cost of investing in technology, newsrooms need to diversify their revenue sources, open up business directions based on their strengths, including revenue from the press public through fees, organizing events, communication campaigns with quality modern press products broadcast on multiple channels and platforms, data business...", the Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper proposed a solution.

Sharing about the reality of press and media activities in Laos, Mr. Aditta Kittikhoun, Lao Journalists Association said that currently, most Lao people have switched to using social networks with the dominance of Facebook and the penetration of mobile devices. In Laos, social networks are the internet and the internet is social networks.

“We see the growing influence of social media companies in the media ecosystem not only in Laos but also in many other countries,” said Aditta Kittikhoun.

Mr. Aditta Kittikhoun said that social networks are increasingly "encroaching" on the market share of information and advertising of newspapers.

According to Mr. Aditta Kittikhoun, the transition from traditional newspapers to online through websites and then social networks - creates certain opportunities and challenges. Challenges such as social networks taking too much control, from being a distribution channel to a competitor of other media companies; duplication of content and reducing the development of websites. Meanwhile, the opportunity is to create new forms of media that reach more people, creating stronger exchanges.

Mr. Aditta Kittikhoun made recommendations to build a healthy media environment, Governments and the Press Association need to support more effective management mechanisms for social networks, media companies need to invest in new technologies such as AI, consider new business models to gain customer trust, and diversify information channels. Along with that, people need to think critically but constructively with media companies.

Sharing about the role and conditions for transitioning from a traditional editorial office to a converged digital newsroom model, journalist Mohamad Najiy Bin Muhammad Jefri - Secretary of the Malaysian Journalists Association said that the emergence of the Internet, digital publishing and social media has created a new playing field, putting press agencies before two choices: keep up or lose readers.

“We couldn't afford to lose our readers, so we made the effort and converted,” said Muhammad Jefri.

Today's newsrooms will only be effective if they are willing to transform into digital hubs, says journalist Muhammad Jefri.

According to journalist Muhammad Jefri, building a digital newsroom model is bringing many opportunities in the context of a declining print newspaper readership, a generally stable but aging television audience, and a rapidly increasing amount of time spent on digital media.

Newsrooms today will only be effective if they are willing to transform into digital hubs, but knowing what content to put where and when is essential to achieving maximum effectiveness.

“To meet the needs of readers and maintain a friendly working environment in the newsroom, there is a need to have a viable strategy and create an environment where in the future, synthetic media as well as artificial intelligence and machines can thrive,” the Malaysian Journalists Association Secretary stressed.

Many challenges arise around the story of digital transformation of the newsroom.

In the discussion session with the topic "Issues and solutions to optimize digital newsroom management in ASEAN countries", Mr. Chavarong Limpattamapanee, Chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand, Senior Advisor to the Federation of Thai Journalists, Manager of the Thairath Daily Newspaper Data Center shared about the digital transformation process and building a digital newsroom at Thairath Daily Newspaper.

Mr. Chavarong said that at first, Thairath Daily only digitized information by taking information from printed publications and posting it on the website. However, more and more people followed the news on the internet, and Thairath Daily realized the difference between online news readers and newspaper readers.

Discussion session with the topic "Issues and solutions to optimize digital newsroom management in ASEAN countries".

“Through our research, we found that readers who follow news online do not want to rehash the news in the paper but want to read something new. Therefore, we did not put the entire content of the paper on our website but extracted, selected, and only presented the main points that are suitable for online readers,” said Mr. Chavarong.

Referring to the method of identifying readers suitable for a specific type of journalism, Mr. Nguyen Hong Son - General Director of OSB Investment and Technology Joint Stock Company emphasized that it is completely possible to rely on the application of technology and analyze reader data to find out who are the readers of which product group.

Mr. Son emphasized two options that newsrooms can apply: the first is to rely on their traditional readership, the second is to rely on technology to collect information and conduct testing, thereby obtaining feedback data from readers for analysis and adjustment.

Regarding technology investment in newsrooms, journalist Ta Bich Loan raised the issue: Buying new technology is not easy for small newsrooms, however, gradual improvements can be more costly because more integration is required. Investing in new technology from the beginning faces a familiar problem, which is that technology can become outdated very quickly.

Mr. Chavarong Limpattamapanee shared his opinion at the discussion.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Chavarong said that initially, Thairath Daily only had a small editorial office, then gradually expanded. Especially after social networks became popular, this agency used social networks to distribute information and also to collect information.

Emphasizing the human factor in innovation and digital transformation of production and publishing processes in press agencies, Mr. Ngo Tran Thinh - Head of Digital Content Department, Ho Chi Minh City Television News Center said that each agency has a process of formation and development with certain characteristics not only in terms of facilities, personnel organization, but also in terms of the qualifications of each employee, which is also a major obstacle between the old way of thinking about journalism and the way of applying new technology.

Mr. Ngo Tran Thinh - Head of Digital Content Department, News Center, Ho Chi Minh City Television Station.

"For example, among the team of veteran journalists, experienced, with many years of experience in the profession, trained in working tools such as cameras, camcorders, notebooks, pens..., of course, there will be difficulties and even difficulties in integrating when the current generation of young reporters are quick in using modern electronic devices, simple and compact working tools, sometimes only need a smartphone to have a perfect news report. So just considering the mindset between old and new in the form of working shows that there are difficulties, it is impossible to change quickly overnight", Mr. Ngo Tran Thinh cited.

At the Seminar, delegates from countries in the region all assessed that human resources, finance and technology are vital issues that have been and are being raised for the construction and operation of a digital newsroom model. To build and operate a digital newsroom requires synchronous investment in human resources, technical foundation, technology and funding... This is a difficult problem for most press agencies in ASEAN today.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Loi believes that the opinions, spirit of interaction, solidarity, and consensus on digital transformation awareness of the delegates show the prospects of the ASEAN press bloc, solidarity, and the development of professional, humane, and modern national and regional journalism.

Concluding the workshop, comrade Nguyen Duc Loi - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association said that most opinions agreed on the view that digital transformation of journalism is the application of increasingly modern technology to journalism activities and digital newsrooms are the convergence of technology with content and operations, helping to improve the quality and efficiency of journalism and communication.

Not only analyzing the aspects of content, technology, human resources, etc., opinions at the seminar also analyzed the current situation and solutions for digital newsroom management from the perspective of business management and financial management in press agencies in the context of national digital transformation in Vietnam today; proposed to promote research coordination on digital transformation and digital newsroom management among ASEAN countries, to find practical and feasible solutions to help build a digital newsroom model at press agencies in Vietnam as well as ASEAN countries in the coming time.

Delegates take souvenir photos.

"The opinions and spirit of interaction, solidarity, and unity in digital transformation awareness of the delegates show the prospects of the ASEAN press bloc, solidarity, and the development of professional, humane, and modern national and regional journalism," emphasized comrade Nguyen Duc Loi.

PV Group

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/khi-moi-truong-so-tro-thanh-moi-truong-song-post275497.html