Technology experts with years of experience working alongside newsrooms have affirmed that the digital transformation journey in journalism is not just about upgrading content management systems, but a comprehensive restructuring process encompassing people, processes, and technology.
In the context of increasing pressure for faster updates, multimedia content, and personalization, newsrooms are forced to transform themselves to keep up with trends and maintain their vitality.
The digital transformation journey at newsrooms.
For nearly two decades, content management systems (CMS) have become the backbone of online journalism in Vietnam. Initially, newsrooms primarily used ready-made CMS solutions that met basic needs such as managing articles, images, and publishing tools. However, as demands for faster updates and multimedia capabilities increased, these platforms revealed their limitations in terms of customization and scalability.
According to technology experts, digital transformation in newsrooms often begins with replacing traditional CMS systems, which only meet basic needs for managing articles, images, and publishing. While readily available platforms are quick to deploy, they lack flexibility and often restrict workflows, leaving large newsrooms limited in terms of customization and expansion.
According to Mr. Bui Cong Duyen, Director of the ONECMS converged newsroom product line, digital transformation in Vietnamese journalism is currently in a "mid-stream" stage—no longer at the beginning, but not yet at the end. Over the years, media organizations have prioritized resources for digital transformation. However, compared to major international media organizations, we are still far behind.
"The biggest characteristic of journalism is its timeliness and the constant pressure to update, as well as the ability to serve a large number of simultaneous readers. This requires an extremely stable and flexible technology system. I believe that the converged digital newsroom model will become the common standard. As content platforms become increasingly diverse (Facebook, TikTok, Podcasts, OTT...), newsrooms need powerful tools to organize content in a unified manner, ensuring speed, rigorous journalistic censorship processes, quality of work, and business efficiency. Convergence is the key to modern journalism."
Understanding this reality, many companies are developing customized CMS systems tailored to the specific requirements of each newsroom.
Mr. Do Chien Thang, Chairman and CEO of Hemera Technology and Media Joint Stock Company, shared that on June 2nd, 2025, Hemera Media launched its brand-new Content Management System (CMS). Specifically designed for newspapers, magazines, portals, and news websites, this new CMS version is Hemera Media's effort to keep pace with the rapid development of technology.
The Hemera AICMS platform, upon its launch, stands out for its extensive application of artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the entire content management and distribution process. From editorial boards to specialized departments, editors, and reporters, everyone will experience a completely new working system. Intelligent AI features will help users optimize their work, saving time and costs and achieving unprecedented efficiency.
Hemera is also a partner with Vietnam Economic Magazine/VnEconomy in building the Asko Platform management platform. This platform includes Askonomy and many other AI tools designed to optimize tasks in the media field. This system can help reporters and editors bring these advanced AI tools closer to a wider audience of readers and business users in the future.
Adopting a separate CMS platform for each newsroom not only solves technical problems but also represents a commitment to long-term partnership. Technology experts emphasize that success lies in understanding the organization's specific characteristics, from the division of professional departments and editorial style to the target readership.
The deployment process typically begins with surveying the existing infrastructure, which is highly diverse and inconsistent across newsrooms, and then building corresponding modules. Although demanding significant resources in terms of time and personnel, this "tailor-made" approach yields positive results: the system operates stably, minimizes errors, and is flexible to changing needs.
Alongside Hemera AICMS, many other organizations have also offered comprehensive solutions such as ONECMS. This platform allows for the synchronization of production processes for print newspapers, online newspapers, and social media channels on a single interface.
"We offer deployment packages tailored to the scale and budget of each organization. In addition, ONECMS's system supports cloud-based operation, reducing infrastructure investment costs. Furthermore, the authoring and publishing tools are designed to be user-friendly, making them easy for teams to use without requiring advanced IT skills," shared Mr. Bui Cong Duyen.
A prime example demonstrating the effectiveness of a digitally converged newsroom is the Dak Nong Newspaper after implementing ONECMS. Within a year, this unit, which was once a local newspaper with limited human resources and infrastructure, rose to the top group among 63 local Party newspapers in terms of traffic and news update speed.
A second example is the implementation of ONECMS at Nhan Dan Newspaper – a large media organization with many different print publications. Thanks to the converged newsroom model specifically for print newspapers, all publications such as Nhan Dan Daily, Nhan Dan Weekend, Nhan Dan Monthly, Thoi Nay, special editions, etc., are produced using the same ONECMS software. This saves time, printing costs, manpower, and increases accuracy, while also improving coordination between specialized departments and member newsrooms.
This change stems not only from technology, but also from reporters and editors having access to flexible production workflows, intuitive interfaces, and instant feedback capabilities through centralized management support features.
However, digital transformation is not just about technology; it's also about people. Psychological barriers from long-time journalists, who are attached to traditional processes, often cause delays and resistance.
The "key to success" lies not in the scale of the technology, but in the digital leaders – those who motivate and encourage the team to familiarize themselves with and fully utilize new tools.
According to Mr. Duyen, the "key to success" lies not in the scale of the technology, but in the digital leaders – those who motivate and encourage the team to familiarize themselves with and fully utilize the new tools. The transition process typically lasts from 2 to 6 months, including technical training, testing, and continuous adjustments to suit operational realities.
Therefore, transformation projects are accompanied by comprehensive training programs, practical workshops, and 24/7 technical support. Continuously gathering internal user feedback and adjusting features based on real-world responses helps improve adoption rates, thereby shortening the time to recoup the investment.
Finally, to ensure sustainable results from digital transformation, experts suggest that news organizations need to develop long-term strategies with clear roadmaps and periodically evaluate KPIs related to publication speed, engagement levels, and business performance. Viewing digital transformation as an investment in the future, not a temporary expense, will encourage leaders to be more decisive in allocating resources and removing obstacles.
What are the future trends in journalism?
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution continues to advance, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a fundamental driving force in how newsrooms operate and produce content. From automating tedious tasks to supporting strategic decision-making, AI not only enhances efficiency but also opens up numerous creative opportunities for journalists.
Mr. Bui Cong Duyen shared: "Our company specializes in providing products to media organizations and we have noticed that over the past 10 years, technology has been changing rapidly, every day, every hour. Especially recently, the emergence of AI, natural language processing, and AI generation has significantly changed the way media organizations operate."
Once "unlocked" within the management system, artificial intelligence will become a powerful assistant for reporters and editors. AI now not only optimizes processes such as automatically converting text to audio via Text-to-Speech or transcribing audio recordings into written form using Voice-to-Text, but it can also suggest headlines, write summaries, and recommend suitable illustrations.
According to experts, AI significantly reduces manual workload, allowing journalists to focus on analysis, investigation, and creating high-quality content. Notably, modules that analyze reader data in real time help newsroom leaders understand browsing habits, preferences, and trends, thereby personalizing publication times and article topics.
This application has proven remarkably effective at VnEconomy, with both reader retention rates and advertising revenue increasing after the extensive implementation of AI.
Once "unlocked" within a management system, artificial intelligence will become a powerful assistant for reporters and editors.
Beyond AI, future journalism technology also focuses on producing multi-channel multimedia content: podcasts, short videos , interactive infographics, and even OTT channels or conversational chatbots. These innovations help newsrooms transform from mere "news production" centers into "smart content hubs" connecting reporters and readers.
Mr. Duyen stated: "We believe that AI will not replace journalists, but rather act as an intelligent assistant to help journalists work faster, more thoroughly, and more creatively. At the same time, AI will also serve as a bridge for newsrooms to easily transition between different forms of journalism, blurring the lines between print, digital, social media, and video, moving towards a truly convergent, modern, and sustainable newsroom model. Journalists will use AI as a tool to support faster reporting and better work processing. Therefore, journalists should boldly apply AI in their work while maintaining the core values of journalism."
For newsrooms considering embarking on a digital transformation journey, Mr. Bui Cong Duyen emphasized: "Start small, but with a long-term strategy. Don't wait for perfection before implementing. Most importantly, you must have a clear 'information architecture' and a team ready to adapt. Consider technology not as an expense, but as an investment in the future."
In summary, the journey of digital transformation and integration of new technologies in journalism is a continuous process, from upgrading technology and training personnel to applying AI and expanding multimedia. When technology and people work together, newsrooms not only address current challenges but also proactively shape the future of Vietnamese journalism: faster, more accurate, and more creative than ever before.
We invite readers to read the following series of articles:
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cong-thuc-nao-de-chuyen-doi-so-thanh-cong-cho-bao-chi-viet-nam-post1045279.vnp
![[Photo] Reception to welcome General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife on their State visit to the Philippines](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/01/1780295488620_vna-potal-chieu-dai-chao-mung-tong-bi-thu-chu-tich-nuoc-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-tham-cap-nha-nuoc-toi-philippines-8798060-7855-jpg.webp)
Comment (0)