On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of VOV Online Newspaper, the reporter had an interview with journalist Pham Manh Hung, Deputy General Director of Voice of Vietnam (VOV), member of the Party Committee of the Vietnam Journalists Association, former Editor-in-Chief of VOV Online Newspaper about the special milestones of VOV.VN as well as concerns about doing online journalism in the context of digital transformation.
+ Reporter: Having held two consecutive terms as Editor-in-Chief of VOV Online Newspaper (VOV.VN), what deep impressions did that journey leave on you, sir?
- Journalist Pham Manh Hung: When the leaders of Voice of Vietnam decided to establish VOV News e-newspaper, the initial main goal was to conduct foreign propaganda, bringing the Voice of Vietnam beyond national borders, to overseas Vietnamese and readers around the world via the internet.
However, when I took on the role of Editor-in-Chief, it was also the period when electronic newspapers in Vietnam were developing strongly, the internet was booming, and newspapers were targeting domestic audiences. At that time, I realized that this was a good opportunity. The biggest concern was how to build a newspaper with the character, unique content, and professionalism of the Voice of Vietnam that had been built and nurtured by generations of leaders to serve the public and further spread the Voice of Vietnam brand on the internet.
To do that, first of all, the editorial office needs a very professional idea of journalism, producing journalistic products that are truly electronic newspapers, not simply editing radio works to put in the newspaper.
VOV also has a rich source of resources including domestic and foreign correspondents. So how can we bring all the resources, content, dedication and creativity of our reporters to the newspaper?
Second, to develop an online newspaper, we need the best and most advanced technology, and above all, we need the editorial team and reporters in the newsroom to change their way of working. VOV Online Newspaper does not just wait for news from radio stations and permanent stations to be sent back, but operates as an online newsroom. All news and events that take place need to be continuously reflected, keeping up with the content trends of domestic and international newspapers so that the "hottest" things can appear on VOV Online Newspaper.
With that goal, the newspaper changed from VOV News to VOV online and later to VOV Electronic Newspaper. We also hope that when readers access VOV Electronic Newspaper, they will not only read news like other newspapers, but also find content from VOV radio channels on it. This is also the difference and uniqueness of VOV Electronic Newspaper.
To do that, we have to change our working habits, reporters have to be on the lookout for news early in the morning, late at night, day and night to be able to bring the news to readers as quickly as possible. The editorial office also focuses on training reporters in writing skills to keep up with news trends. In addition, it is also necessary to create a technical and technological platform so that radio content can be posted promptly.
A big step forward during that period was the creation of specialized pages for radio channels such as VOV1, VOV2, VOV4, VOV6, etc. We not only published news in foreign languages but also put 13 ethnic minority languages on the website. To this day, VOV is still the most multilingual news agency.
This is also a very special point, a very big step forward of VOV Electronic Newspaper.
With the continuous development of the team of reporters and editors, VOV Online Newspaper has achieved high growth in rankings. Of course, each scale has different standards, but there are years when the Newspaper has achieved a readership growth of up to 300% compared to the previous year.
VOV Online Newspaper is ready to address very hot current issues, major issues of politics, socio-economics, culture at home and abroad, with many very important articles, especially serving the cause of national renewal and Party rectification. The articles of VOV Online Newspaper are a very important source of news reference for politicians, Party and State leaders as well as colleagues and experts.
With its relentless efforts, VOV Online Newspaper has affirmed its position through major press awards such as the National Press Award, the Golden Hammer and Sickle Award, Foreign Information Award, Dien Hong, especially international press awards such as the ABU Digital Press category. However, I think that the most important thing is that VOV Online Newspaper is increasingly affirming its position and trust in the hearts of readers.
It can be said that VOV Electronic Newspaper has affirmed its role, position and prestige as a major, national press agency.
+ Reporter: Established within the National Radio Station, in the early stages of development, did the team of reporters and editors of VOV Online Newspaper encounter difficulties in changing the way they do journalism, sir?
- Journalist Pham Manh Hung: The characteristic of radio is sound, news on radio is often short. Meanwhile, electronic newspapers need multimedia, sound, images, and very professional written language, completely different from spoken language.
Along with that, the pressure when working in an electronic environment is also very different from that of radio, if there is any negligence, it will have a huge impact. This is also a big challenge when the station restructures, moving radio reporters to work in electronic newspapers.
To overcome this difficulty, the Newspaper has proactively assigned reporters and editors with relatively solid online journalism skills to train and retrain the team transferring from radio.
Looking back on the past journey, it is impossible to count all the hardships, difficulties, and even the price paid when there were stumbles during the work process. Working in an online newspaper, reporters must gradually get used to being happy for one day but sad for a few days. Working in an online newspaper also requires constantly dealing with content and technical issues... that process helps the team of reporters and technicians of the newspaper become much more mature.
In fact, if you work to get paid, meet quotas, and complete your duties, you will not be able to grasp the trend. If you are responsible and love your job, you can do well in any environment. The clearest proof is that many colleagues who have switched from radio to online newspapers have done very well, becoming pillars of VOV.VN.
It must be added that, in the current context, every reporter and editor needs to adapt to the constantly changing press environment with the impact of science and technology and must master it.
An online journalist not only knows how to edit content, take photos, and make videos, but also needs to know new ways of expression such as Emagazine, digital media - integrating all types of journalism on online newspapers.
I think that people working in electronic journalism also need to be aware of their luck compared to other colleagues when they have platforms to demonstrate all their talents and abilities, thereby creating press publications that are only available in the electronic environment, on digital platforms.
Through several years working at VOV Online Newspaper, there is one thing that is very happy, that is we have created a working culture, a specialized, diligent, responsible press culture with information, responsible to readers, a very healthy competitive environment helping each other develop for the common benefit of VOV.
VOV Online Newspaper has been affirming its position and prestige, doing journalism with integrity, passion and dedication. This is also the baggage and core value for the newspaper to be able to achieve further progress.
+ Reporter: As you just shared, journalism in general and online journalism in particular are very hard, journalists face many challenges, but if they have love and enthusiasm for the profession, all difficulties can be overcome. So, to encourage the working spirit and foster more love for the profession for the team of reporters, is that also one of the difficult but very important tasks of the newspaper's leadership?
- Journalist Pham Manh Hung: When I was the Editor-in-Chief of VOV Online Newspaper, I always realized that the leaders have the biggest role, they are the ones who lead, show the way, inspire, set discipline, and set standards to evaluate the contributions of each member. They are also the ones who see most clearly the outstanding skills and abilities of each reporter and editor to assign them to suitable jobs. The leadership team is also the team that sets an example, showing their colleagues how to do things and how to work based on their own accumulated experience.
Leaders in online newspapers must be master craftsmen, and the editorial board must also be very responsible, perceptive, able to cover the whole picture, sensitive to information, grasp news trends, and know what the public needs in the vast sea of information.
It must be affirmed that, in addition to responsibility, creativity, leadership, setting an example, and work organization are important requirements for leaders working in a digital and electronic environment.
It must be said that, for state agencies like VOV, income is certainly not the main factor to attract talented people. What attracts talented people is a standard office culture, so that they feel they have a solid support in all situations, so that they feel encouraged in a timely manner.
Working in an online newspaper is very stressful, so the most important thing is to relieve the pressure when necessary, make love and responsibility for work a community - that is, there is a shared responsibility from leaders to employees, and to enjoy the same achievements in journalism. This is a common requirement for every editorial office, not just for online newspapers.
Journalism requires creativity, if working in an environment that is not comfortable in terms of ideology and spirit, it is difficult to create high-quality journalistic products. Of course, the role of leadership is very important, but if reporters and editors lack passion, enthusiasm, thinking, and sharpness, it is difficult to succeed.
+ Reporter: Nowadays, with the explosive development of social networking sites and the global internet explosion, what challenges are the press in general and VOV Online Newspaper in particular facing, sir?
- Journalist Pham Manh Hung: Today, we are facing an explosion of information, data, and daily content produced exponentially on cross-border social networking platforms.
The public is almost “saturated” with information, news, and content. More than ever, online newspapers must return to their core values: the function of reporting news professionally, the ability to provide in-depth information, provide useful information, the ability to analyze, and point out the nature of ongoing domestic and international events. Furthermore, online newspapers also have the ability to forecast the development direction of events through press products presented in a professional and attractive manner.
Therefore, if we only stop at the function of verifying information, we will always run after social networks. That makes traditional journalists always have to think about how to respond to the information access culture of readers.
I think that journalists are facing challenges but also have many opportunities, which is rich technology, progressing every day. If we can quickly apply technology to the process of producing press content, it will help the works become more attractive and have more depth. Nowadays, doing online journalism, if only satisfied with the level of writing news articles and inserting photos is not enough. An online journalist will need many skills such as filming, editing images, storytelling, and even appearing in front of the camera like on television.
It is also important to realize that today, journalism is not only done for the domestic environment but also for foreign ones. That requires journalists to be increasingly sharp and sensitive; if they do not keep up with the trends of journalism, they will fall behind.
+ Reporter: Entering the age of 25 with many challenges and opportunities ahead, what directions does VOV Online Newspaper need to take to develop more strongly, increasingly better meet the needs of readers, and affirm its position as the country's leading press agency, sir?
- Journalist Pham Manh Hung: I think you still have to be very enthusiastic and sharp. Maintaining enthusiasm and passion for news, work, and working responsibly with your brand and public is extremely important. No matter how the situation changes, you need to maintain these factors.
Faced with such rapid changes, sometimes we feel tired. The nature of journalism is that after providing a topic or news, reporters begin their journey to find new topics, emotions, and materials to tell new stories to serve the public. Thus, journalists need to always maintain their passion for the profession and maintain a truly cooperative working environment.
With online newspapers, the spirit of teamwork is very clear. One individual cannot create success, and one column cannot create a newspaper.
A newspaper like VOV.VN has the nature of synthesizing political, economic, social, cultural, and world issues. It must be able to show the public the overall picture of the country and the world, the major trends that are happening today. The content is not just about political issues, but also needs to focus on soft, rich, and diverse information so that readers have to come back to read it many times every day. This is a big challenge, but there are also many conditions to be able to do it.
To develop journalism, including electronic journalism, many conditions are needed, some of which the newspaper itself can solve, such as mechanisms, general policies, investment in human resources, technology, and finance. Without investment, there cannot be good journalism products.
But for the press to develop well, it also needs larger policies such as copyright and support from the State to help the mainstream press maintain its leading role in public opinion. On the other hand, each newspaper also needs to optimize itself, each editor and reporter also needs to be aware of their opportunities when working in online newspapers.
Currently, we have many advantages. If we can take advantage of them, VOV Electronic Newspaper will always affirm its leading position in the Station's multimedia communication complex.
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When achieving today's goals, we should not be satisfied, but need to optimize at the highest level. This is also the driving force leading the newspaper to achieve new steps, new successes in the future. I believe that VOV.VN has many opportunities to develop more successfully in the future when it is formed and developed within a leading national press agency with many priority development policies. As one of the 6 key national press agencies, playing a very important role and mission in the Revolutionary Press, this is an opportunity, a challenge and also allows us to believe that we can achieve more success, develop even higher if we maintain our passion for the profession.
+ Reporter: Thank you!
According to VOV.VN
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