Each newspaper needs to create its own unique identity in the digital age.

During the thematic discussion, journalist Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, and President of the Vietnam Journalists Association - received many questions from journalists about the development of journalism in the current context.

Responding to the question of how the press would position itself if it couldn't compete with social media, journalist Le Quoc Minh said that mainstream journalism is transforming quite slowly. For a long time, mainstream journalism has had a sense of self-confidence and complacency, believing that no one can match it.

Each cell needs to create its own unique identity in the digital age (Figure 1). — Mr. Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, and President of the Vietnam Journalists Association - shared his views at the thematic discussion session. Photo: Le Tam

"Mainstream media used to be positioned as the gatekeeper, giving the public whatever they were given, and only letting them know what was published in print. However, times have changed in the Internet age, where people are free to immerse themselves in a sea of information. There's a situation where people feel they don't necessarily need to turn to the press to get information."

Journalist Le Quoc Minh stated that the dominance of social media is real, and demanding that mainstream journalism compete with, keep up with, or stay ahead of social media is unrealistic. However, mainstream journalism cannot and should not chase after social media.

Citing figures showing that Vietnam currently has nearly 1,000 press and magazine agencies, mostly small-scale, Mr. Minh informed that many press agencies only have 40-50 people, while television stations have a few hundred staff. The total number of people working in journalism is currently around 40,000-45,000, of which 25,000 hold press cards.

However, Vietnam has 100 million people, not including Vietnamese people living abroad. In reality, every person holding a smartphone is ready to become a news agency. Therefore, journalist Le Quoc Minh argues that traditional journalism cannot compete with social media in terms of speed of information dissemination.

Each cell needs to create its own unique identity in the digital age (Figure 2). — According to journalist Le Quoc Minh: "We have shifted from a mechanism where users seek out news to a mechanism where news finds users."

However, if we prioritize balance, diversity of sources, and objectivity, other organizations will never be able to compete with journalism.

"Using the strengths of social media to compete with the weaknesses of traditional journalism is unsustainable. What we should aim for is to do better, more professionally, and more effectively than them," journalist Le Quoc Minh stated.

In the past, when people wanted information, they had to turn to newspapers, buy magazines, listen to the radio, or watch television to passively follow the news. Now, news finds its way to readers. Journalist Le Quoc Minh raises the question of how to use technology and how to spend money to ensure news reaches the right readers who care about it.

Answering a question about current journalistic technology, journalist Le Quoc Minh stated: “We have shifted from a mechanism where users seek out news to a mechanism where news finds users. Without technology, this would be impossible. We spend a lot of money on information distribution, but how to get that information to users is another matter. In reality, technology is king, and content is queen.”

Each individual needs to create their own unique identity in the digital age (Figure 3). — Journalist Le Nghiem, former Director of the Department of External Information ( Ministry of Information and Communications ), and Vice President of the Vietnam Digital Media Association, shared his views on the topic of "Freedom of the Press". Photo: Le Tam

High-quality content is always needed, but delivering that content to the right target audience requires technology. "How to create high-quality content, good technology, and a unique identity for each newspaper is something every media organization desperately needs," said the Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association...

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/moi-to-bao-can-tao-ban-sac-rieng-cho-minh-trong-ky-nguyen-so-post299322.html