Press agencies must hold data, cannot depend on digital platforms

“When we talk about AI in the press, everyone says it’s far-fetched”

This point of view was expressed by Mr. Le Quoc Minh at the discussion session “Digital communication promotes economic recovery” organized by the Center for Economic Cooperation and Development. digital content production and development (Vietnam Television) held on the morning of May 24. At the discussion session, experts pointed out trends as well as opportunities and challenges facing press agencies in a multi-dimensional and diverse information environment.

At the discussion session, experts said digital transformation in the field of communication is now inevitable. According to Mr. Le Quoc Minh, many issues a few years ago were unfamiliar, but now they are associated with the activities of press agencies.

“When we talk about cross-platform, many people think that it is not realistic for Vietnam. When we talked about fake news in 2016, no one believed it. When we talked about AI in the press in 2018 people also thought it was very far away. Now it’s all happening and it’s tied to the activities of the press agencies.” Mr. Minh said. However, he also stated that it is necessary to grasp the trend and promptly convert: “If you don’t grasp the trends, the things that seem inevitable may not happen to you.”

Sharing more about digital transformation at Nhan Dan Newspaper, Mr. Le Quoc Minh said that the newspaper has switched to prioritizing content on the digital platform (Digital first), many unconfirmed contents have been pushed. on social networking systems to reach readers.

Talking about the perspective of digital transformation trends, Mr. Pham Anh Chien, Deputy Director of the Center for Digital Content Development and Production, Vietnam Television said: “The production and distribution of content and the technology infrastructure must create the same power of a system in order for it to thrive.”

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong, Chairman of Yeah1 Group, now we should not worry about where digital transformation is going anymore, but focus on how to create content that can be created based on current advantages. interact with billions of people around the world. He also said that press units can take advantage of platforms to spread content according to their goals.

Newspapers must be aware of user data

The editor-in-chief of Nhan Dan newspaper said that for a long time, news agencies and content producers depend too much on different platforms. However, in recent years, the mindset of news agencies has changed a lot.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh pointed out the fact that when relying on many platforms, press agencies and media get traffic but have no readers or audiences, because the newspaper does not know the unique data. Fakes do not target the right audience, do not know who the readers are, where they come from. “Press agencies now have to go back to capturing user data, which is extremely important. If we do not understand user data, depending on other platforms and methods, the media cannot provide content that is targeted to the right audience, let alone personalize the content. Dung”, Mr. Minh said.

According to the expert, to build our own platform is very difficult, but we must actively collect reader data, if we understand and have a relationship with our readers, we will win at least 50%. Therefore, the current trend of journalism is not to depend on platforms but to capture reader data to be proactive in content production.

Besides, news agencies are not racing with platforms. For a long time, newspapers have relied too much on platforms to distribute information and generate revenue, now there is a worldwide trend that newspapers shake hands, to have a large enough user base, and then sell content. In addition, attention should be paid to loyal readers, instead of just following the number of readers.

“Statistically, loyal viewers usually make up 20% and we need to give them good content to keep them. Passers-by make up 80% but bring no value. Therefore, news agencies need to devote energy, material, and time to keep loyal readers, important readers and benefit us.” Mr. Minh shared.

Presenting to the Prime Minister a Strategy for Digital Transformation of Newspapers

At the seminar, the leader of the Press Department (Ministry of Information and Communications) said that the Strategy for digital transformation of newspapers to 2025 with a vision to 2030 is being submitted to the Prime Minister. From the perspective of the management agency, this position said that without digital transformation, it is definitely dead, but the difficulty is how to invest and how to start.

“Currently, it is very difficult for many press agencies to balance their own budgets, let alone the story of investment and development. Therefore, the state can also have resources to invest from the budget. But the state has a more important role than pulling domestic businesses with digital infrastructure that can accompany the digital transformation of the press. According to share, here is not a business helping the press but a symbiosis in the digital ecosystem. In which, content is the most important commodity of digital infrastructure.

The State will also have orientations, instructing press agencies what to do first, so that they can fit, there are ways to change the argument, say less and do more, go in an effective way.

Duy Vu