From the early newspaper publishing techniques...
In the book “We make Khanh Hoa newspapers” it is said that: The first years of making Thang newspaper (from April 1947) were full of difficulties, lacking in all aspects, the newspaper had to be printed using primitive printing techniques, which was writing in reverse on a flat stone surface with charbonel ink to create a printing plate and then printing into a newspaper (lithographic printing). However, the journalists at that time made efforts to publish 300 to 700 copies per issue (3 to 4 issues per month), distributed through secret communication channels. Moreover, during this time, there was also an additional French-language newspaper called Le Trait d'Union (The Gap Noi). This was a newspaper published exclusively for French officials and soldiers. By 1965, Khanh Hoa Liberation Newspaper was born, printed by mimeograph machine, size 20 x 30cm with 4 pages, and limited distribution. During difficult times when there were no rollers, the journalists at that time were creative in using bamboo tubes wrapped around bicycle tubes instead and printing in the lithographic method on stone tablets. By the end of 1973, Zone 5 provided a typographic printing machine, a horizontal type, improved to be compact, printed by hand, easy to transport; printing size 30 x 40, newspapers from 4 to 6 pages, with numbers from 2 to 3 colors, printing quantity from 200 to 500 copies. In addition to publishing in the province, it was also regularly published in the capital Hanoi , the twinned province of Bac Thai and provinces in Zone 5 such as: Quang Nam - Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum. After liberation and the renovation period, Khanh Hoa Newspaper was printed in 2-color offset, then 4-color...
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| Photo of Thang's time working for the newspaper in Hon Du war zone. |
Since 1998, Khanh Hoa Newspaper has started to apply information technology to newspaper publishing. At that time, typewriters were replaced by computers to enter news articles. The layout was also done on computers with Page Maker software, then printed on decal paper (reverse letters) to send to the printing house to print the newspaper. At this time, through the Internet, Khanh Hoa Newspaper also registered to buy news from Vietnam News Agency to publish in the newspaper... Along with that, the work of managing records, documents, accounting, royalties... of the newspaper has also gradually applied information technology, helping to manage and retrieve information quickly and accurately.
By 2007, with the strong application of technology and the Internet, Khanh Hoa Newspaper had completely created electronic publications, directly exporting layouts to PDF files to transfer to the printing house via FTP, no longer having to print decals and manually deliver to the printing house as before. This practice avoided many errors, helping to improve the quality of prints.
In 2019, Khanh Hoa Newspaper tested the editorial management software, helping to optimize the workflow. All use the same platform, reporters no longer send news articles via email as before. The software helps facilitate the management and tracking of news articles. However, after more than 2 years of implementation, facing new task requirements, realizing that this software has not fully met the job: It only helps solve the publishing problem for printed newspapers, has not integrated work processing for electronic newspapers, handling administrative work... so the Editorial Board of Khanh Hoa Newspaper has oriented to build a converged editorial system with superior features.
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| Leaders of Khanh Hoa Newspaper attended the National Press Conference to summarize work in 2024 and deploy tasks in 2025. |
Along with the converged editorial system approved by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee for implementation, Khanh Hoa Newspaper employees have also proactively upgraded their IT skills to meet new requirements in the digital age. Self-training sessions at the editorial office have been continuously implemented, many digital transformation classes have been sent by the Editorial Board to department leaders, reporters, and technicians to attend, then return to convey and spread the way of doing things within the newspaper collective...
Along with the development of the converged editorial system, Khanh Hoa Electronic Newspaper has been interested in, invested in upgrading, opening many new sections, many new genres suitable for modern journalism trends have appeared more such as: Infographics, E-magazine, Podcast, Reading online newspapers, Livestream... During this period, the Newspaper also promoted the development of social networking platforms such as: Facebook Fanpage, Tiktok, Youtube... In particular, Khanh Hoa Newspaper Fanpage currently has more than 69,000 followers and has been granted a Blue Tick by Facebook. In addition, Khanh Hoa Newspaper has also built channels on Spotify and Zalo Official platforms to update and share news with readers.
In 2023, for the first time, the Center for Supporting Digital Transformation of Press (Department of Press, Ministry of Information and Communications, now the Ministry of Science and Technology) issued a set of criteria to assess the maturity level of digital transformation of press agencies nationwide. Khanh Hoa Newspaper has paid great attention and made efforts to complete each criterion. In the 2023 ranking results, Khanh Hoa Newspaper was ranked 3rd in the Local Press Bloc. In its continuous efforts, combined with consulting experts, the Center for Supporting Digital Transformation of Press, and the collective of Khanh Hoa Newspaper continue to strive to complete the missing criteria, the Editorial Board resolutely directed, with a roadmap and implementation methods. Along with moving towards building a paperless newsroom, the Newspaper has also initially tested the application of AI technology to the newspaper publishing process, that is, using AI integrated into CMS (content management software) to support spelling check on manuscripts, helping reporters and editors limit errors. In addition, members of the Newspaper also research and learn other AI applications to serve their professional work more quickly and effectively. In the ranking results of the level of maturity of digital transformation of newspapers in 2024 in the Local Newspaper sector (newspapers with governing bodies belonging to provinces and centrally-run cities), Khanh Hoa Newspaper was honored to be at the top among 62 press agencies in the sector that participated in the assessment.
The path to digital transformation of journalism is still full of difficulties and requires continuous efforts, innovation and creativity of the whole team. In the coming time, Khanh Hoa Newspaper will continue to identify key tasks in digital transformation; research and learn good practices, suitable to the conditions to apply to the unit, gradually improve itself and contribute to the overall digital transformation of journalism of the whole country.
From the old Thang Newspaper to Khanh Hoa Newspaper today is a long journey. On that journey, journalists from the generation of writing with iron pens, upside down letters, printing on stone to the generation of multimedia journalism with the support of AI today are all united for the newspaper, always striving to be worthy of being the voice of the Party Committee, Government and People of Khanh Hoa province.
PHU QUOC
Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/xa-hoi/202504/ky-niem-78-nam-ngay-truyen-thong-bao-khanh-hoa-26-4-1947-26-4-2025-tu-viet-chu-nguoc-in-tren-da-den-xuat-ban-bao-voi-ai-d1c17f1/
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