Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. Photo: MIC.GOV

The "pie" of the press economy is getting smaller and smaller. Data from the Press Department (Ministry of Information and Communications - TTTT) shows that, regardless of the type of newspaper, electronic newspaper or radio and television, press agencies are still relying heavily on advertising revenue. If in the past, advertising revenue always accounted for over 60%, even 90% of total revenue for some press agencies, a serious decline is taking place in many press agencies, especially in the print press. Many people have high hopes for electronic journalism, but although revenue from electronic journalism has increased, it still takes time to have a more sustainable source of revenue. However, the reality is that if they only rely on and depend heavily on advertising, press agencies will always face the risk of declining revenue, in the context of businesses increasingly looking to advertise on social networking platforms such as Facebook or Google. Meanwhile, figures from the Ministry of Information and Communications also show that social networking platforms such as Facebook and Google are taking away about 70% of advertising revenue from mainstream newspapers. Many newspapers are advertising for products and services provided by cross-border advertising networks (such as Google, Facebook, etc.), causing businesses' advertising costs to continue pouring into these platforms, making newspaper revenue increasingly scarce. In addition, news sites and social networking sites intentionally taking back selective content from press agencies also attract advertising revenue, making the economic "pie" for press agencies increasingly smaller. In the current context of transitioning to digital space, newspapers that want to maintain their revolutionary journalism mission, develop in the right direction, and fulfill their political tasks well are facing unprecedented challenges: competing with huge sources of information on cyberspace; attracting readers in the face of changes in reader behavior due to new journalism technology; orienting public opinion, promoting the role of "mainstream" in the context of lack of resources. Therefore, in addition to exploiting the ordering mechanism of state agencies; to implement the collection of content fees on electronic newspapers, the press needs to transform digitally, form digital press products to implement a new business model. Digital transformation in journalism is the use of digital technologies to comprehensively change the operations of the newsroom from human resource management, production, data optimization, to the publishing process, content distribution to create a newsroom/press complex that converges multimedia, conveniently connects with readers, ensuring a pivotal role in orienting information and public opinion. Digital transformation is also associated with the development of the digital economy, diversifying revenue sources, increasing the competitiveness of press agencies with cross-border platforms. The report of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) shows that: Digital transformation is placed at the center, considered an urgent goal, but at the same time it is also a long-term process, not only to reach a larger audience, create new press products but also to increase profits. Breakthrough reform of the press mechanism Recognizing that one of the five leadership methods of our Party is propaganda, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung once again emphasized that the press is the vanguard and main propaganda force. Previously, the weapon was paper and pen, now there is also technology, mainly digital technology. Previously, press agencies wrote articles, now press agencies create digital platforms for many people to participate in writing articles. And the digital platform is technology. Also according to the Minister of Information and Communications, unlike the past when only the press wrote articles, at present, everyone writes online. Therefore, the press must have technological tools to assess information trends and people's moods on the Internet to write articles to guide public opinion. And that is also technology. A press agency that is said to have transformed digitally will have up to 30% of its costs, both investment and regular expenses, devoted to technology. Regarding human resources, up to 30% must be technology people. Recently, the budget for press investment was very modest (0.22% of total state investment expenditure), after the Press Digital Transformation Strategy was issued, this investment source has not increased. The Ministry of Information and Communications has recommended that the Government and the Prime Minister pay attention to directing press management agencies to invest in digital technology to modernize their press agencies. One of the great advantages for digital transformation of the press, modernizing digital technology for the press is that there are many strong and excellent digital technology companies, when there is an investment budget, they can be assigned the task of implementing the digital transformation of the press. According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, a press agency is both a public service unit and an enterprise. It is a public service unit because it carries out the propaganda tasks of the Party and the State, providing information services as public services, so it needs to be invested in, assigned tasks, and ordered by the Party and the State. However, press agencies now have to compete with digital platforms, must attract quality journalists and media workers in the market, and must accept market mechanisms. Therefore, press agencies must also operate like enterprises. A breakthrough reform in the mechanism for the press is to accept press agencies having two parallel operating mechanisms: both as a public service unit and as an enterprise. "Business journalism is for the sake of journalism, not for profit" - the Minister of Information and Communications emphasized.