After more than a century of accompanying the nation, Vietnamese revolutionary journalism is entering a very new and very different development period in most aspects. Digital space has become an essential component of daily real life. Digital technology, big data, artificial intelligence, social networks and cross-border communication platforms have fundamentally changed the way information is created, distributed, received and verified.
Today, people study, work, communicate, trade, entertain, express opinions and participate in social issues through online platforms. Fast and diverse information flow brings great opportunities for knowledge dissemination, social democracy and innovation. Major Party policies, new State policies, and positive information can reach tens of millions of people simultaneously in many different forms and means. Technology helps the press get closer to the people and receive feedback faster.
However, the network environment also makes information life more complex, easily influenced by momentary emotions, misinformation, algorithm manipulation and intentional information dissemination activities. Fake news, half-right, half-wrong, ambiguous news, fake images and sounds, content created by artificial intelligence, copyright infringement, cyber attacks and data theft are becoming increasingly sophisticated. False information can spread far before the truth is verified. The situation of cut and pasted statements can damage personal and organizational prestige, and even affect the people's trust in the Party and State's policies.
In the new media order, the press no longer holds the almost exclusive position of publishing news. By the end of 2025, Vietnam has about 85.6 million Internet users, equivalent to 84.2% of the population, and about 79 million social network users. According to the latest statistics, the total number of Vietnamese accounts using domestic social networks is about 110 million, while accounts on foreign social networks are about 203 million. Such a digital environment helps the press both have the opportunity to reach the public wider than ever, and have to directly compete with the huge content stream created by platforms and users every hour, every minute. In the digital space, almost every individual can report. Social network accounts can have an influence in a certain community.
However, that change does not reduce the role of revolutionary journalism. On the contrary, when there is too much information, society needs more reliable addresses to determine what is right, what needs to be verified, what is just crowd emotion or intentional arrangement. This requires professionalism, serious professional work attitude and bravery in the face of all pressures. Journalism must be a place people come to when they need reliable confirmation, not a place to follow trends. Society needs a reliable place to understand the truth. People need to know what has happened, why it happened, who it affects, where the responsibility lies and what solutions are grounded.
Digital space also needs journalistic works rich in data, diverse in content, rich in expressions, and deep in policy analysis. Many current issues, from digital transformation, green transformation, administrative reform, social security policies to international economic fluctuations, are difficult to grasp if only reading disjointed news pieces. Therefore, the responsibility of journalism is not only to be faster, but first of all to be more accurate, deeper, and more useful.
From that requirement, digital transformation of journalism cannot be simply understood as adding an electronic page, opening a social network account or equipping modern equipment. It must be a comprehensive innovation in leadership thinking, editorial model, production process, data management, content distribution, public measurement, journalism economy and professional culture. Digital journalism is not old journalism placed on a new foundation, but a new way of organization in the new context.
In the editorial office, each work needs to be seen as an information product with a clear goal. All forms of expression must comply with one standard: accurate, humane, verified, and responsible. It is necessary to avoid the situation of being serious on the main page but lenient on the secondary platform. The more platform-based the press, the more standards must be unified.
In the digital age, data is a pillar of journalism. Data is not just numbers; it is the foundation of verification and a means to build and convey journalistic works more convincingly and comprehensively. Major and reputable news agencies and newspapers around the world are currently investing heavily in building data and devoting significant human resources to data work. When data is built and managed well, journalism will increase persuasiveness and be able to detect problems early.
Another major issue is the right to initiative against cross-border platforms. The press needs to access where the public is present through all platforms, but cannot be dependent on external algorithms. If it only runs after views and proposing mechanisms, the press agency can easily lose reader data, lose distribution rights, lose identity and take risks when algorithms change. Mastering digital space means knowing how to exploit global platforms, while building its own channels, its own reader community, its own data and its own trusted brand.
Therefore, national information sovereignty needs to be fully understood. Revolutionary journalism must be the main force in protecting that sovereignty. Protecting information sovereignty does not mean being closed. Vietnam needs a strong digital foreign affairs journalism, multilingual, multi-media, capable of conveying Vietnam's messages to the world in modern language and Vietnamese identity. Innovation achievements, national culture, independent, self-reliant, self-strengthening, peaceful, friendly, cooperative, and development foreign policy guidelines need to be presented with attractive products and convincing data.
To fulfill that mission, the press needs resources for sustainable development. The digital journalism economy is not in contrast to the goals and orientations of revolutionary journalism. A press without resources will find it difficult to invest in technology, protect copyright, train human resources and retain talent. However, the journalism economy must serve the press's mission, not lead the press into sensationalism, attracting readers, exploiting privacy, commercializing socio-political information. The press needs new revenue from digital subscribers, copyright, data and in-depth products. If a healthy digital journalism economic model is not built, it will be difficult for the press to maintain its capacity to invest in high-quality content, investigation, analysis, verification and copyright protection.
Press copyright in the digital and AI environment must also be strictly protected. Press content is the result of creative labor, operation, verification, editing, financial investment and legal responsibility. Copying, editing, extraction, synthesis, and commercialization will weaken the economic foundation of journalism. Copyright protection is protecting genuine labor and information quality in society.
The ultimate issue is still people. All orientations and strategies depend on people. Journalists in the digital age must know how to work with data, digital tools, social networks, open information sources and information security standards. The more tools, the more courage journalists need. It is necessary to avoid the situation of publishing first and verifying later or letting social networks lead. Journalists are not allowed to trade their prestige to increase views. Before publishing a journalistic work, journalists need to answer three questions: is it right, is it necessary, is it beneficial for society?
Leaders of press agencies must also change. Editors-in-chief in the digital editorial office are not only the content reviewer, but also must build product, data, public, technology and human resources strategies. Press agencies need a new working culture: professional, disciplined in verification, quick-witted in response, open to innovation, ready to experiment but not easy-going with standards. Retraining the team must become a regular task, focusing on digital verification, data security, multi-platform journalism, AI ethics and compliance with intellectual property laws.
In the context that Press Law No. 126/2025/QH15 will take effect from July 1, 2026, perfecting the digital press institution is extremely necessary. The institution must protect the right to operate in accordance with the law, encourage innovation, create corridors for digital editorial offices, digital press economy, data press, protect copyright and use AI responsibly. At the same time, press discipline must be strictly maintained; violations of information, professional ethics, and taking advantage of the press for profit must be handled promptly.
An urgent task is to form information verification capacity on a national scale. There needs to be a close connection between management agencies, key press agencies, technology experts, training institutions, platform businesses and the community to detect, verify, warn, and refute fake news, fake statements, fake images of state agencies and dissemination activities that cause information jamming. That network must operate quickly, have clear procedures, and use data and evidence to convince the public.
In the entire process of innovating the press, the public must be placed at the center. The digital public today not only receives information but also regularly responds, asks questions, back-checks, contributes opinions, provides data and demands that the press be more transparent. The press must know how to listen but not chase after all immediate emotions, respect debate but absolutely do not tolerate harmful information. For young people, the press can innovate to access better with language, format, and appropriate platforms but must not lower standards.
Revolutionary Vietnamese journalism in the digital age, therefore, must harmoniously combine political bravery and technological capacity, revolutionary ideals and innovative thinking, combativeness and humanity, national responsibility and integration capacity. Mastering the digital space cannot only be with slogans but must start from each editorial office, each verification process, each data warehouse, each journalistic product, each training class and each journalist's behavior in front of the public.
On the occasion of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press Day, I hope that press agencies and each journalist will turn revolutionary tradition into a driving force for innovation. Press agencies need to become a modern digital editorial office, a data and knowledge center, a reliable address for the people. Journalists continue to be soldiers on the ideological - cultural - digital information front, steadfast, morally pure, deeply humane, and proficient in technology. With that orientation, I believe that Vietnamese revolutionary journalism will continue to make worthy contributions to the cause of serving the Fatherland and serving the people in the digital age.
