Quang Ninh (VNS/VNA) - While news agencies are facing decreasingrevenues from readership, advertisement and the State budget, digitaltransformation is required to help media survive, develop and catch up with thedevelopments of the region and the world, said Hoang Vinh Bao, Deputy Ministerof Information and Communications.

He wasspeaking at a seminar in Ha Long city, the northern Quang Ninh province on July22 during which more than 200 representatives of news and advertising agenciesdiscussed new models of media in the digital era.

He saidin the era of technology, the habits of readers and audiences have changed,making traditional methods of reporting no longer attractive to readers.

Accordingto experts, during the post-COVID-19 recovery period, digital transformationwill help Vietnamese agencies and businesses find a flexible business modelwhile cutting costs and optimising resources to overcome difficulties. Forpress agencies, digital transformation means using technology as the foundationto create a new business model, and from a new business model create businessopportunities, generate revenues and create new values.

Tosurvive, develop and catch up with developments of the region and the world,media agencies must focus on technology and need support from managementagencies as well as telecommunications providers. Collaboration among mediaagencies will fight the domination of cross-border platforms like Facebook andGoogle, he said.

Do Cong Anh,deputy head of the Authority of Information Technology Application, said due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, news agencies have faced 50 to 70 percent revenuelosses. The revenue decline results in worsening content quality.

Manynews agencies have tried to seek other solutions such as organising events and makingcontent for Google and Facebook. Many have used shocking headlines to increaseviews and lost the trust of readers.

In thedigital era, news agencies face competitiveness with big technologycorporations. In Vietnam, only less than 20 percent of readers access newssites directly, while about 50 percent get access to news sources throughGoogle search. The others access through Facebook, he said.

“Newsagencies own diversified sources of data, but how to effectively exploit thosesources? It requires technology and digital transformation,” he told theseminar.

Le Quoc Minh,Deputy Director-General of the Vietnam News Agency, said paywalls are one ofthe new sources that help increase revenues.

In 2018,Vietnamplus online newspaper of the Vietnam News Agency became the first andonly news agency in Vietnam to charge fees for articles. Readers pay the feesthrough mobile phone bills.

“Paidnews is the future of media,” he said.

Le Xuan Trung,deputy editor-in-chief of Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper, said paywalls for onlinenewspapers are only feasible when the Vietnam Journalists’ Association supportjournalists in copyright protection./.