Chairman of the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province Pham Anh Tuan speaking at the Press Economic Forum. (Photo: NDO)

The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province and the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk).

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province Pham Anh Tuan said, that promoting revenue for press agencies is an urgent issue for the development of Vietnam journalism while helping local newspapers to gradually become financially self-sufficient.

The delegates discussed the current economic state of the press, revenue sources and economic activities in the press agencies, as well as the difficulties of press agencies in the implementation of policies related to the financial mechanism and the autonomy mechanism. They also shared some press economic models and suggestions for journalism economic activities in Vietnam.

Journalist Ngo Viet Anh from Nhan Dan Newspaper said that with the development of 4G and 5G technologies, as well as smartphones, the needs of readers have gradually shifted from paper newspapers to digital versions, with the shift in revenue from print to electronic newspapers.

He noted that the three main sources of revenue of press agencies in the world include advertising, policy or brand communication, from readers through fee collection on electronic newspapers and also from association and cooperation activities to create new values, such as event organisation, data brokerage, e-commerce, and exploitation of published content.

These are also necessary suggestions for Vietnamese press agencies to study and implement, Viet Anh added.

Many other delegates also emphasised the importance of press digital transformation and digital economy, as a way to promote the press economy in the future.