After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese press is increasingly affirming its great position.

After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese newspapers are increasingly asserting their position. Image 1

+ This June, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press celebrates its 98th anniversary, and in just two years, it will reach the “centenary” milestone. Over the past century, the Revolutionary Press has left an indelible mark in the history of the Vietnamese nation. Is that mark the fact that the press has become a sharp ideological weapon, the voice of the Party and the State, and a broad social forum for the people, Mr. President?

- The Vietnamese Revolutionary Press is different from the private press of other countries in that, in addition to providing truthful information on all aspects of life and playing the role of social supervision and criticism, it also carries the mission of propagating the Party and State's guidelines and policies and is a bridge between the Party and State and the people. This mission has never changed, and in fact, after nearly 100 years of development, the Vietnamese press is increasingly asserting its great position. From a modest number of newspapers with simple facilities and journalism methods nearly a century ago, the number of press agencies and journalism teams has now become extremely powerful, with all types of journalism from traditional to modern, keeping up with the development of the world press. During war as well as peacetime, and especially during nearly 40 years of renovation, the contribution of the press in the struggle to protect and build the country, protect the Party's ideological foundation, and orient information for the people has always been recognized by the Party, the Government and the people.

100 years of Vietnamese Revolutionary Journalism is certainly a very special milestone. The Central Propaganda Department has directed the preparation work towards this milestone. The Vietnam Journalists Association, together with the Ministry of Information and Communications and relevant ministries and branches, will have specific instructions so that each local Journalists Association, each Inter-Association and Sub-Association of Journalists, as well as each press agency can develop their own plans in the third quarter of this year.

After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese newspapers are increasingly asserting their great power. Image 2

+ The press accompanies the country and the people, therefore, when the country is changing and developing with higher and further goals, it is thought that the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press must also set new missions for itself to serve better. What will be the most essential missions of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press on the new development journey, Mr. President?

- The core mission of Revolutionary Journalism remains intact and very consistent in all circumstances, but the specific tasks in each stage and the way to realize that mission will have to change to suit the new situation when there are many changes in both the journalism environment with new media technologies and fierce competition from billions of information sources of organizations and individuals, to changes in the information reception behavior of the public, readers and listeners.

In the current period, when readers and audiences are gradually "migrating" to digital platforms, the press is forced to carry out digital transformation in order not to lose readers, to continue to carry out well the mission of propagating the Party and State's guidelines and policies as well as providing useful information to the people. Multi-platform, multimedia journalism in the digital age is obvious, no need to debate anymore. And in a period when an ordinary person owning modern equipment and technology can also create attractive content, the press must be more professional, must achieve high quality to maintain its difference. Users are increasingly intelligent, increasingly strict about quality issues and have many opportunities to choose news sources, so the press cannot be lenient, cannot and should not compete with social networks, must be steadfast in its professional path.

Furthermore, in the context of information being flooded and mixed with truth and falsehood, cyberspace is becoming increasingly toxic, the task of protecting the Party's ideological foundation is more urgent than ever. The press needs to proactively participate in this work in flexible, diverse, easy-to-understand and easy-to-receive ways for the public, taking advantage of modern communication technologies to spread information widely and "target" the target audience. The press must also actively detect and expose fake news, untruthful news, closely coordinate with authorities and strengthen cooperation between press agencies to protect press copyright - a vital factor for the press to develop sustainably and effectively.

After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese newspapers are increasingly asserting their position. Image 3

+ To successfully complete its new missions, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press must certainly force itself to innovate. In your opinion, where should that innovation begin and what are the things that “should be done immediately” so that the country’s press can truly be “revolutionary, professional, humane and modern press and media”, sir?

- Steve Jobs - CEO of Apple once famously said that "Innovation is the only way to win". This saying is even more true in the digital age, when technology develops rapidly, making long-term strategies no longer suitable and only disruptive innovations can bring growth. The same is true in journalism. Now mainstream journalism has to compete with billions of information channels of all types on the Internet, professional journalists have to compete with countless individuals on social networks who own mobile devices with mobile applications that can support content production very quickly. If press agencies only produce text information, take photos, build radio and television programs as they have done for the past tens or hundreds of years, can they attract users, generate revenue, and survive? The answer is NO!

But innovation is not about racing with social networks, or being caught up in the algorithms of technology platforms. The difference of journalism is in professionalism, in the assessment of information, in the multi-dimensionality and reliability of the content. An individual can post any information they see on social networks, but a journalist must make his own choices, must answer the question "What benefits will this information posted in the newspaper bring to society?" That information must be organized professionally according to journalistic standards to ensure fairness and balance, and it would be even better if modern journalism technologies can be applied and solutions can be found to help society become better.

I don’t like to struggle with the questions of “where to start” or “when is the right time to innovate” . Innovation often starts with the simplest things, and costs nothing. And reality proves that the mindset of “thinking big, starting small” is the right mindset. There is no single way of doing things, a strategy that is right for every newsroom, so leaders of press agencies need to experiment and accept risks, accept failure to find their own path. A development strategy that is “tailored” specifically for the newsroom, suitable for the resources of the press agency as well as the target audience, is the effective strategy.

After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese newspapers are increasingly asserting their position. Image 4

+ When mentioning professional and modern goals, we cannot fail to mention the newly approved Strategy "Digital transformation of journalism to 2025, with a vision to 2030". The Strategy has many major goals that need to be achieved in the near future (2025) such as: 50% of press agencies apply artificial intelligence to optimize operations; 80% of press agencies operate and operate a converged newsroom model, producing content according to digital journalism trends; Press agencies optimize revenue sources, of which 30% of press agencies increase revenue by at least 20%... To realize these goals, in your opinion, what role should state management agencies play in orienting, leading and supporting press agencies?

- The direction of the management agency is very clear, the goals are also very specific and many of them are completely feasible, for example, the construction of a converged newsroom, the trend of digital content production, and even the application of artificial intelligence in the production process is not too difficult. Please note that we need to have a more correct understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) technology: For a long time, press agencies around the world have been applying AI a lot in the process of detecting hot information, collecting and analyzing data, recommending personalized content for readers, tracking user behavior, etc., not just machines writing articles instead of humans. The goal of increasing revenue depends on many factors, including the health of the economy and the requirement for press agencies to diversify revenue sources and innovate in business models.

From the perspective of the Vietnam Journalists Association, we have and will carry out many activities such as conferences, seminars, training programs, and workshops on how to organize a modern newsroom, modern journalism technology, successful experiences and lessons from newsrooms, and cooperation programs with foreign press associations. The Journalists Association is also promoting the protection of press copyright - a key factor that helps press agencies retain their own high-quality content to attract readers and audiences, and prevent it from being illegally copied by other individuals and organizations, thereby creating opportunities to generate revenue.

But in my opinion, if each press agency does not see the need for transformation in order to proactively take appropriate steps, the set goals are meaningless. It must be admitted that while some press agencies are very bold in finding new development paths, both to retain readers and to create stable and long-term revenue, there are also many press agencies that still have a "wait and see" attitude. Daily and weekly production activities take us away very quickly, so if we do not proactively build a specific strategy for the editorial office and take action immediately, there will come a day when we are startled because the 2025 milestone is near. The important thing is not whether we achieve the goals set by the Government or not, but that the press agency itself will not be able to survive, will lose readers, lose revenue, and will not be able to fulfill its mission.

After nearly 100 years of development, Vietnamese newspapers are increasingly asserting their position. Image 5

+ On the occasion of June - a very special anniversary month for journalists, I would like to ask the Chairman a side question: It is known that both you and your brother chose journalism, out of the desire to follow in their father's footsteps. With more than 3 decades of journalism, journalism, for you, must therefore have a very special place?

- My brother and I graduated from university in the same year and both decided to follow our father's career in journalism. Initially, we chose the profession, but looking back, I think perhaps journalism chose us, because over the past 33 years, as a matter of fate, I have had the opportunity to work in many different types of journalism, many different units - both domestic and foreign, thanks to which I have learned a lot of knowledge and experience. The journalism environment is increasingly challenging, being a journalist today is much more favorable than before but it is also quite difficult. However, if I could go back in time more than 3 decades ago and ask to choose a career again, I would definitely still choose journalism.