Lê Quốc Minh, 52, has been re-elected as chairman of the Việt Nam Journalists Association for 2020-25. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Lê Quốc Minh, 52, member of the Party Central Committee, editor-in-chief of Nhân dân (The People) newspaper, has been re-elected chairman of the Việt Nam Journalists Association for 2020-25.

The re-election for the 2020-25 tenure was made at the 11th National Congress of the Việt Nam Journalists Association (VJA) held on Friday morning in Hà Nội.

Minh, who was born in 1969 in Diễn Yên Commune in the central province of Nghệ An, began his journalism career as a world news editor at Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in 1990.

In 2008, he was appointed editor-in-chief of VNA’s VietnamPlus e-newspaper and was then appointed as deputy general director of VNA in November 2017.

On January 31, 2021, he was elected a member of the Party Central Committee for 2021-26 at the 13th National Party Congress.

He was appointed editor-in-chief of Nhân dân (People) Newspaper in May 2021.

In October 2021, he was elected chairman of the VJA by its executive committee.

Also at the VJA’s national congress, Nguyễn Đức Lợi, former general director of the Vietnam News Agency and Trần Trọng Dũng, chairman of the HCM City Journalists Association, were elected as vice chairmen of the VJA.

The VJA’s national congress with the motto "Solidarity-Discipline-Innovation-Creativity-Development" is believed to have special significance, making the direction for journalists of the country to continue promoting the glorious tradition of Việt Nam's revolutionary press, for the sake of the country and people as well as for a strong and prosperous country.

"Facing new difficulties and challenges, the country's contingent of journalists have shown solidarity, joint efforts and their common will to build a professional, humane and modern revolutionary press for the sake of the country and the people," Minh said.

Digital transformation

At the VJA’s national congress, journalist Nguyễn Ngọc Toàn, editor-in-chief of Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper, said journalism had to use the digital platform and digital transformation to develop.

“To do that, the head of the press agency needs to change their mindset,” he said.

The business model and content development strategy must also be redefined, he added.

“Technology development methods must also be appropriate because if they are outdated, we will lose,” he said.

The most important thing is investing in human resources because good journalists know how to apply technology, develop content and direct readers, he added.

Toàn said in early December of 2021, YouTube announced that Thanh Niên newspaper had received 3.5 billion views.

Currently, the newspaper's YouTube channel has more than 4.2 million subscribers, the revenue from the channel reaches billions of đồng each month, he said.

“This is a testament to the success of digital transformation in journalism,” he said.

Phạm Mạnh Hùng, deputy general director of the Voice of Việt Nam, said digital transformation of the press was not only inevitable but necessary.

In addition to the platform of electronic newspapers, the Voice of Việt Nam also took advantage of the digital space to put content on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, he said.

For example, the radio channel reading late-night stories on YouTube for the Voice of Việt Nam had reached the 'silver button,' attracting a lot of followers, he said.

Besides, journalists and staff of the Voice of Việt Nam had been trained on how to work in the digital working environment and produce digital content, he said.

Press difficulties

Many press agencies are facing difficulties while the revenue of print newspapers is shrinking due to the decrease in circulation and the decrease in online advertising in electronic newspapers.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the VJA Hồ Quang Lợi said the online advertising market share of Vietnamese newspapers only accounted for about 20 per cent while about 80 per cent of the online advertising market share was in the hand of cross-border platforms and social networks.

This meant that the revenue of the press had a problem, which had a significant impact on maintaining the normal operation of press agencies as well as ensuring the lives of journalists and reporters, he said.

The issue needed to be viewed at the national level, he added. — VNS