VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Nguyen Duc Loi, General Director of the Vietnam NewsAgency (VNA), speaks about the agency's transition process on the occasion ofthe 95th anniversary of Vietnamese Revolutionary Press Day (June 21).
Can you talk about the process to turn the Vietnam News Agency into a majornational multimedia agency in recent years?
Developing multimedia and multi-platform journalism is a common trend in theworld today. The Vietnam News Agency has taken concrete steps in recent years,and in fact has become a multimedia agency, developing all types: print, radio,television, online newspaper and books. With all kinds of information on moderntechnical platforms, the Vietnam News Agency constantly strengthens theposition of a news agency to provide original/source information to domesticand international press agencies and provides information directly to thepublic.
The VNA operates under the consortium model with 16 news units for domestic andforeign service (consisting of five editorial departments including domesticnews, world news, news for foreign service, economic news and pressphotography, two news centres including a television centre and adatabase-documentation and infographic centre and eight editorial officesincluding Tin Tuc (The News) newspaper, VietnamPlus e-newspaper, The thao &Van hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper, Ethnic Minority and MountainousRegion Pictorial, Vietnam Pictorial, Viet Nam News, Le Courier du Vietnam, andVietnam Law & Legal Forum), along with five news support centres, apublishing house, two printing companies, the VNA representative office in thesouth, the VNA representative office in the central – Central Highlands region;and functional units to support the VNA General Director.
With representative offices in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide and 30overseas bureaus across the five continents, the VNA has a strong contingent ofreporters working across the country and in most of the key areas around the world.This is a unique advantage that no other press agency in Vietnam has.
The launch of VietnamPlus online newspaper in 2008 and the official broadcastof Vietnam News Channel (Vnews) in 2010 were steps towards the aforementionedtarget, reflecting the vision of the Vietnam News Agency Board at that time.Later, to adapt to changes in information needs, in 2017, Vietnam News Agencyestablished the Database-Documentation and Infographic Centre, which provides awide range of materials systematically summarised from official sourcesregarding major current events at home and abroad on the portal vnanet.vn, andproduces a number of TV shows. On September 15, 2015, VNA brought VNA'sinformation and news to social networks, starting with promoting Vietnamese information,then developing in other languages such as English, French, Chinese andSpanish.
In the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how has the Vietnam NewsAgency invested in developing multimedia information products?
In March 2012, I had a business trip to Japan. This trip left a strongimpression on me about the quick adaptation of a news agency in the context ofconstantly developing digital media, in which I paid special attention to theinformation centre in the convergence model of Kyodo News. In my followingbusiness trips in many other countries, such as China, the Republic of Koreaand Russia or when attending the annual conference of the Asia-Pacific NewsAgency (OANA), I witnessed the dramatic transformation of leading regional newsagencies, such as Xinhua News Agency, Yonhap, and TASS. These companies arefast-paced with the advances of modern communication technology, they userobots as television programme instructors, apply artificial intelligence toproduce sports news, develop cloud computing to transmit information directly.From such experience, we are more determined to speed up and concretise thesteps to bring Vietnam News Agency to become the nation's primary multimediaagency.
The Vietnam News Agency is well prepared to catch the trend of the FourthIndustrial Revolution, and we have many products of this revolution.VietnamPlus Chatbot application is an example. Along with that, there are datajournal products using Big Data and Voice to Text system. As for how much weinvest in information products, it depends on each stage of the development ofcommunication technology and the ever-changing needs of the audience.
With agility and focus on investment, up to now, the Vietnam News Agency hashad many newspapers and websites successfully applying modern technologies forthe production of press products like VietnamPlus, Tin Tuc newspaper, The thao Vanhoa (Sport and Culture) newspaper and Vnews. We have mega stories, Rap News,live, podcasts, infographics, timelines, 360 photos, Audio. The creativity andinvestment in professionals, as well as technology, is well received andappreciated by readers.
In addition, in recent years, Vnews has created a breakthrough in theapplication of new technologies and techniques for production to ensure stableround the clock broadcasting. At the end of 2019, Vnews invested in a newmodern newsroom system, deploying the 10Gb network infrastructure system. Atthe same time, it successfully built an information storage system and put intooperation the MAM online TV operating system, which is a professional workingsupport system that ensures transparent workflow, quick and accurateinformation.
What measures will VNA take to strengthen its strengths and its extremelyimportant role?
The project 'Developing Vietnam News Agency into a major multimedia agency ofthe national media system' is a name that we have considered both on a legaland practical basis. In the era of digital media thriving under the impact ofthe Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with the increasing and diverserequirements from the public, the Vietnam News Agency‘s development in themodel of multimedia, on the basis of multi-platform to promote the strengths ofvarious types of journalism is an inevitable trend.
Regarding solutions, I think every solution must ensure effectiveimplementation of the following specific functions and tasks:
- VNA is the only Vietnamese news agency that provides information for thedomestic and foreign press system.
- VNA is the only press agency to provide reference information on thesituation in the country and the world, serving the leadership of the Party andthe Government, research and policymaking agencies.
- The Vietnam News Agency is the only press agency tasked by the Secretariat topublish press publications in the languages of all ethnic minority groups inVietnam.
- The Vietnam News Agency is the only press agency tasked with announcing theofficial opinion of the State on topical issues, adjusting information that isnot in line with national interests when it is necessary to issue a statementto reject information that is intentionally misrepresented.
- VNA is the national key foreign information agency.
- VNA is the only press agency with a network of permanent correspondentsspread across 63 provinces and cities and is also the press agency with themost resident agencies abroad (30).
- VNA manages the largest national image archive in Vietnam.
To always perform well the above functions and tasks, the human factor isdecisive. Therefore, the development of the Vietnam News Agency's humanresources must ensure a sufficient quantity and attach importance to improvingthe quality through strengthening training and retraining so that Vietnam NewsAgency journalists have enough political quality and modern journalismcapacity./.
Can you talk about the process to turn the Vietnam News Agency into a majornational multimedia agency in recent years?
Developing multimedia and multi-platform journalism is a common trend in theworld today. The Vietnam News Agency has taken concrete steps in recent years,and in fact has become a multimedia agency, developing all types: print, radio,television, online newspaper and books. With all kinds of information on moderntechnical platforms, the Vietnam News Agency constantly strengthens theposition of a news agency to provide original/source information to domesticand international press agencies and provides information directly to thepublic.
The VNA operates under the consortium model with 16 news units for domestic andforeign service (consisting of five editorial departments including domesticnews, world news, news for foreign service, economic news and pressphotography, two news centres including a television centre and adatabase-documentation and infographic centre and eight editorial officesincluding Tin Tuc (The News) newspaper, VietnamPlus e-newspaper, The thao &Van hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper, Ethnic Minority and MountainousRegion Pictorial, Vietnam Pictorial, Viet Nam News, Le Courier du Vietnam, andVietnam Law & Legal Forum), along with five news support centres, apublishing house, two printing companies, the VNA representative office in thesouth, the VNA representative office in the central – Central Highlands region;and functional units to support the VNA General Director.
With representative offices in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide and 30overseas bureaus across the five continents, the VNA has a strong contingent ofreporters working across the country and in most of the key areas around the world.This is a unique advantage that no other press agency in Vietnam has.
The launch of VietnamPlus online newspaper in 2008 and the official broadcastof Vietnam News Channel (Vnews) in 2010 were steps towards the aforementionedtarget, reflecting the vision of the Vietnam News Agency Board at that time.Later, to adapt to changes in information needs, in 2017, Vietnam News Agencyestablished the Database-Documentation and Infographic Centre, which provides awide range of materials systematically summarised from official sourcesregarding major current events at home and abroad on the portal vnanet.vn, andproduces a number of TV shows. On September 15, 2015, VNA brought VNA'sinformation and news to social networks, starting with promoting Vietnamese information,then developing in other languages such as English, French, Chinese andSpanish.
In the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how has the Vietnam NewsAgency invested in developing multimedia information products?
In March 2012, I had a business trip to Japan. This trip left a strongimpression on me about the quick adaptation of a news agency in the context ofconstantly developing digital media, in which I paid special attention to theinformation centre in the convergence model of Kyodo News. In my followingbusiness trips in many other countries, such as China, the Republic of Koreaand Russia or when attending the annual conference of the Asia-Pacific NewsAgency (OANA), I witnessed the dramatic transformation of leading regional newsagencies, such as Xinhua News Agency, Yonhap, and TASS. These companies arefast-paced with the advances of modern communication technology, they userobots as television programme instructors, apply artificial intelligence toproduce sports news, develop cloud computing to transmit information directly.From such experience, we are more determined to speed up and concretise thesteps to bring Vietnam News Agency to become the nation's primary multimediaagency.
The Vietnam News Agency is well prepared to catch the trend of the FourthIndustrial Revolution, and we have many products of this revolution.VietnamPlus Chatbot application is an example. Along with that, there are datajournal products using Big Data and Voice to Text system. As for how much weinvest in information products, it depends on each stage of the development ofcommunication technology and the ever-changing needs of the audience.
With agility and focus on investment, up to now, the Vietnam News Agency hashad many newspapers and websites successfully applying modern technologies forthe production of press products like VietnamPlus, Tin Tuc newspaper, The thao Vanhoa (Sport and Culture) newspaper and Vnews. We have mega stories, Rap News,live, podcasts, infographics, timelines, 360 photos, Audio. The creativity andinvestment in professionals, as well as technology, is well received andappreciated by readers.
In addition, in recent years, Vnews has created a breakthrough in theapplication of new technologies and techniques for production to ensure stableround the clock broadcasting. At the end of 2019, Vnews invested in a newmodern newsroom system, deploying the 10Gb network infrastructure system. Atthe same time, it successfully built an information storage system and put intooperation the MAM online TV operating system, which is a professional workingsupport system that ensures transparent workflow, quick and accurateinformation.
What measures will VNA take to strengthen its strengths and its extremelyimportant role?
The project 'Developing Vietnam News Agency into a major multimedia agency ofthe national media system' is a name that we have considered both on a legaland practical basis. In the era of digital media thriving under the impact ofthe Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with the increasing and diverserequirements from the public, the Vietnam News Agency‘s development in themodel of multimedia, on the basis of multi-platform to promote the strengths ofvarious types of journalism is an inevitable trend.
Regarding solutions, I think every solution must ensure effectiveimplementation of the following specific functions and tasks:
- VNA is the only Vietnamese news agency that provides information for thedomestic and foreign press system.
- VNA is the only press agency to provide reference information on thesituation in the country and the world, serving the leadership of the Party andthe Government, research and policymaking agencies.
- The Vietnam News Agency is the only press agency tasked by the Secretariat topublish press publications in the languages of all ethnic minority groups inVietnam.
- The Vietnam News Agency is the only press agency tasked with announcing theofficial opinion of the State on topical issues, adjusting information that isnot in line with national interests when it is necessary to issue a statementto reject information that is intentionally misrepresented.
- VNA is the national key foreign information agency.
- VNA is the only press agency with a network of permanent correspondentsspread across 63 provinces and cities and is also the press agency with themost resident agencies abroad (30).
- VNA manages the largest national image archive in Vietnam.
To always perform well the above functions and tasks, the human factor isdecisive. Therefore, the development of the Vietnam News Agency's humanresources must ensure a sufficient quantity and attach importance to improvingthe quality through strengthening training and retraining so that Vietnam NewsAgency journalists have enough political quality and modern journalismcapacity./.
VNA
