Head of the Commission for Information and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (second from left), Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (third from left) and other delegates at the 2023 National Press Festival

Embracing technology trends

In 2022, Vietnam had 797 press agencies, and 72 radio and television agencies. About 41,000 people are working in journalism, including approximately 16,500 people in the radio and television sector.

In 2022, press information was well-led, active, timely and effective to propagandize important issues and events of the country and establish social consensus. At the same time, press agencies actively reformed methods, and improved the quality and depth of programs, news, and articles, especially those about Party policies and State laws; about the protection of Party ideological foundation; about the fight against wrong and hostile views; about the protection of territorial waters and sovereignty, and about economic and social development activities.

To meet the increasing and diverse information requirements of readers, press agencies need to gradually shift to multimedia, adopt various types of journalism, and provide a variety of media services. Besides, cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide content across borders continues to be major technological trends of global integrating journalism. Mobile journalism is changing the public habits of the press. In the flat information world, the transnational content provision trend is realized through many forms and new technologies, through the internet and 4G and 5G network connection on mobile devices.

Mutual relationship with businesses

The press is an information bridge for businesses and the government. It helps governmental agencies learn about the opinions of businesses on policy enforcement for better administration.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the press provides businesses with diverse and multidimensional domestic and international information, market demands and consumer tastes but rises to respond most promptly and effectively to them. With the explosion of information technology and modern media, business information is conveyed not only in the country but also in the world, giving businesses the opportunity to access and expand their domestic and international markets.

Nowadays, a communication crisis may happen to any business. In that context, the press plays a very important role in handling the crisis to provide independent information to reassure the public.

The press propagates Party and State guidelines, policies, and laws to help businesses to implement them fully and effectively. The press gathers opinions and aspirations of the business community and sends proposals to State agencies so as to make policies and laws closer to reality and more effective in implementation. Difficulties faced by the business community are reported very vividly by the press, thus joining forces with the business sector to give another voice to the Party and the State to have policies and measures to gradually remove difficulties and provide favorable conditions and create a fair environment for the business community. Through the press, business opinions have positively helped State agencies reform policies on businesses and entrepreneurs.

Particularly, the press shares with businesses about difficulties, encourages creativity, criticizes what hinders production and business processes. Additionally, the press helps change social awareness, build social consensus, sympathy and sharing for businesses and entrepreneurs. Specialized economic research journals or in-depth economic research articles published in many journals provide bases and arguments for businesses to refer to, select, and adjust their business plans.

However, according to the Vietnam Journalists Association, fake, slanted, biased, cliché, superficial, uncareful and uncensored news still exist to confuse and scare readers.

Many businesses tend to use the press to "help" them spread good information and hide bad information. It is quite complicated to verify internal business information, so journalists need to be careful while approaching, reviewing, and reflecting on business activities.

On the contrary, it is worrying that many companies do not want to work with the press and try to avoid it because many journalists fall into the wrong side of companies, even less some groups of reporters or press agencies join to harass businesses. Even some press agencies publish investigations and inspections without official conclusions, thus causing public skepticism and confusion, sowing internal disunity, and staining the prestige of enterprises.

According to the Vietnam Journalists Association, there is a solution: Strengthening the relationship between the press and the business. Responsible agencies need to intensify inspection and supervision to make the information in the press in line with Party and State guidelines, policies, and laws. Regarding communications on business development, it is necessary to have specific directions to avoid one-sided propaganda, absolutize one side or the other and cause misunderstandings that hinder overall development. In addition, it is necessary to promote roles and responsibilities of press agencies, governing bodies, and the Vietnam Journalists Association; and improve the capacity and quality of journalists.

Specially, it is important to foster the role of magazines, particularly economic journals. Economic journals have actively contributed to the country's socioeconomic achievements, innovations, and business development. However, it is required that economic journals continue to have stronger innovations to improve the quality of propaganda such as sticking to what is happening to analyze and explain hot issues posed by practice; focusing on practical research and surveys to have profound, vivid and persuasive topics and articles; enhancing the attractiveness, expressed by realistic topics, pressing matters and the structure of categories and special columns that both show fundamental issues within the scope of the magazine's principles and purposes and analyze and explain issues of social concern; promoting magazine socialization; and building up quality collaborators.