Data - the "nucleus" of digital transformation of journalism

The process of digitalizing newspapers in Vietnam began more than two decades ago. Since then, the concept, strategy and content of digital transformation of newspapers have changed and been supplemented with many elements, becoming stronger, more diverse and more profound.

Leverage Big Data for Profit

While news agencies are trying to adapt to the digital transformation process, Big Data has emerged as an important tool. It is considered the "nucleus" in promoting and ensuring the successful digital transformation of the press.

Big Data that media agencies are aiming for includes many different types of information. This Big Data is expressed through large amounts of information, transmission speed and diversity of content and types of information, bringing invaluable insights and opportunities for media agencies to enhance content creation, attract readers and build press economic strategies for their agencies.

When large enough amounts of data are created, along with powerful tools and processes to analyze and process that data, news organizations can benefit in many ways.

News organizations can leverage big data to gain a deeper understanding of their audience's preferences, behaviors, and consumption patterns. Analyzing large data sets allows news organizations to understand what content resonates with their target audience, allowing for personalized content recommendations that align with their audience's goals. According to the paper: "Digital Transformation Through Data" published by Deloitte and Google News Initiative, this personalization helps news organizations build better content plans, enhance user experience, increase engagement, and strengthen brand loyalty.

Big data analytics also empowers news organizations to identify new trends, topics, and formats that are most likely to attract audience interest. By incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), news organizations can adjust their content strategies accordingly by analyzing large amounts of data, such as social media discussions, search trends, and user feedback. This data-driven approach ensures that journalists can create content that is relevant, engaging, and optimized to meet the needs of the public.

In the research report of the Catalan Press Commission titled: "Algorithms in the newsroom: Challenges and recommendations for AI with journalistic ethics" the results of the investigation show that press agencies apply AI to process data in almost all stages of publishing their news and articles, from determining content, approach angles, image recognition, title selection, and automatic content production.

Source: Deloitte and Google News Initiative's Guide for News Organizations to Leverage Data Value

Strengthen revenue generation strategies

It is safe to say that big data provides news organizations with comprehensive, comprehensive analytics tools to track and measure the performance of their digital assets. By analyzing metrics such as page views, click-through rates, and social media engagement, news organizations can optimize their content distribution strategies. These insights help news organizations identify areas for improvement, refine their content strategies, and maximize the reach and impact of their digital offerings.

Media organizations can also leverage big data to enhance their monetization strategies. By analyzing audience data, media organizations can identify potential revenue streams; such as targeted advertising, content delivered to the right audience in need. Big data analytics also allows for precise audience segmentation and precise ad targeting, leading to higher conversion rates, increased subscriptions, and increased advertising revenue.

The important issue is that despite recognizing the advantages that data and big data can bring, not all press agencies have built appropriate strategies, as well as successfully implemented database building and exploitation activities.

Source: Research on algorithms in newsrooms by the Catalan Press Commission

Therefore, to build a database, press agencies need to implement and invest in a number of key tasks. In particular, it is necessary to establish a mechanism, innovate thinking and apply technology in powerful data collection, to collect relevant information from many different sources, including social media platforms, web analytics tools, content management systems and customer file management systems. This data must be integrated into a centralized repository, ensuring that everyone, from press agency leaders to reporters, technicians... can easily access and use it.

Newsroom leaders need to identify and invest in secure data storage infrastructure and tools powerful enough to handle massive amounts of information. Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility, cost savings, and the ability to expand storage capacity as needed. Effective data management practices, including data cleansing, standardization, and quality control, are essential to maintaining accurate and reliable data sets.

In addition, it is necessary to invest in and apply advanced analytical tools and technologies, AI, such as machine learning algorithms and data visualization platforms. Many press agencies in our country have now applied tools and technologies in the production of information graphics, videos , news articles and automatic distribution to the target audience, thereby optimizing readers, ensuring improved content quality and distribution.

It can be said that in the digital transformation process of news agencies, big data plays a key role, being the core in shaping content creation strategies, attracting audiences and generating revenue. By harnessing the power of big data analytics, news agencies can gain valuable insights into their readers, thereby segmenting readers, optimizing content distribution and enhancing efforts to improve the economics of journalism for the news agency itself.

Requires a comprehensive approach

Building an effective big data system requires a comprehensive approach. It involves robust data collection, integration, storage, analysis, and visualization, along with appropriate security, ethical data governance, and compliance measures.

Capturing and mastering big data is a guarantee for the digital transformation of news agencies to maintain competitiveness, provide personalized experiences and adapt to the growing needs of readers.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su/du-lieu-hat-nhan-chuyen-doi-so-bao-chi-20230620211226972.htm