Attending the workshop were Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam; Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association Nguyen Duc Loi; President of the Lao Journalists Association Savankhone Razmountry; Vice President of the Malaysian Journalists Association Low Boon Tat; President of the National Press Council of Thailand, Senior Advisor to the Federation of Thai Journalists Chavarong Limpattamapanee.

Also attending were press managers, representatives of press and media agencies, experts, scientists, and journalists from eight member countries of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ), including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In his welcoming speech at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, emphasized that media agencies and newspapers of ASEAN member countries face great opportunities and challenges to continue affirming their mission of leading official information, guiding the community, and empowering the people. To fulfill this noble mission, press agencies will not be able to do it if they do not work together and do not transform digitally in a strong way.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam, digital transformation in the field of journalism has received special attention from Vietnam with the Government issuing Decision No. 348 dated April 6, 2023 approving the Strategy "Digital transformation of journalism to 2025, with a vision to 2030".

“At the end of this year, the Ministry of Information and Communications will announce the level of maturity in digital transformation of press agencies. Many Vietnamese press agencies have boldly brought their press products to cyberspace, across borders, bringing new experiences and new lessons in the process of journalism in cyberspace. Today's workshop is a place for ASEAN journalists to exchange and share issues of common concern in digital transformation of press and media, initiatives and good practices of press agencies in the region to do well in digital transformation work,” emphasized Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam.

In his report to introduce the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Duc Loi, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, stated that in the field of journalism, digital transformation is the process of applying increasingly modern technology to information production and distribution activities, enriching the digital media ecosystem with new and superior features, helping to improve the quality and effectiveness of communication to the public.

Digital journalism promotes strong social super-interaction: interaction between newspapers, between newspapers and the public, between newspapers and social networks, between the public, between the public and authorities, between press agencies and policy-making and management agencies...

However, along with the opportunities, Mr. Nguyen Duc Loi said that digital transformation also brings significant challenges, the biggest of which is the fierce competition of social networks with the characteristics of easy access, easy sharing, fast and diverse information... Those opportunities and challenges force all press agencies in the world as well as in ASEAN countries to quickly adapt, promote and accelerate the digital transformation process.

According to the Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, digital transformation of press agencies in Vietnam is a comprehensive and overall change in terms of methods, working methods, organizational models, creative activities of press works, as well as the awareness and attitudes of leaders, reporters, and editors of press agencies. At the same time, it is also an activity to develop journalism based on a convergence model, multi-platform, multi-service, multi-media to effectively perform the function of providing updated, objective, multi-dimensional information... to the public at home and abroad.

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With two discussion sessions: “General theory on digital newsroom management” and “Digital newsroom management: Practice, experience and solutions” , the workshop is a forum to exchange and share the situation, progress, and best methods for digital transformation in the field of journalism and media of ASEAN countries. At the same time, propose initiatives and prioritize cooperation in the coming time to jointly build professional, modern, humane press agencies, effectively innovate readers' experiences, create new sources of revenue, and promote the development of the digital content industry.

At the workshop, Vietnamese and international delegates all agreed that digital transformation is a global trend that has a profound impact on all areas of the economy, politics and society of countries. For the press, digital transformation is the application of digital technology to change the model of content management, operations, production, publishing, content distribution, business, etc.; thereby optimizing editorial management; creating quality products, new and attractive experiences, utilities and effective access and reception by the public, increasing new values ​​for press agencies and the national press.

A digital newsroom model, with multi-platform, multimedia, data journalism and automated journalism, requires technical and technological conditions, human resources and innovation in newsroom organization and management methods.

Mr. WU Rui Ming, reporter of Shin Min Daily News of SPH Media (Singapore) - a speaker at the conference said that the most difficult thing in the digital transformation process of journalism is the rapid development of technology.

“We came here to share and learn experiences in developing and then managing digital journalism. With our background in print journalism, the experience at the workshop will be very useful to meet the trend of digital transformation in journalism. The most difficult thing is probably the rapid development of technology. We have to constantly update technology, keep up with and respond to this development so as not to fall behind. At the same time, we have to retain readers,” Mr. WU Rui Ming shared.

Sharing his experience in managing digital journalism in Thailand, Mr. Chavarong Limpattamapanee, Chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand, said that along with the digital development trend, there is a fierce competition between mainstream press agencies and social media. Accordingly, the press today always has to find ways to survive.

“The biggest challenge in managing press agencies is to create news platforms, how to maintain professionalism and accuracy, and at the same time compete with social media, while everything is changing very quickly. Press agencies must find ways to integrate and absorb technological achievements and apply them in their press activities,” said the Chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand.