Journalists, be ready to embrace the new, don't be afraid of the "digital wave"

Sharing with The World and Vietnam, journalist Nguyen Hoang Nhat, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of VietnamPlus e-newspaper, said that journalists will have to take on the additional role of "information verifier", reporting news more responsibly.

Journalist Nguyen Hoang Nhat expressed his opinion that journalists should not hesitate to face the coming "digital wave".

In your view, are journalists in traditional journalism able to meet the public's information needs in the digital age?

Among the seven changes in media listed by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA), there is a change in storytelling. Previously, journalists told stories with words, now we have many ways to convey messages to readers.

This is because the way readers receive information has also changed. More and more people are choosing to migrate to digital platforms, instead of receiving news through newspapers. So, if we continue to follow the old paths, of course we will lose readers.

What barriers did they face before the emergence of ChatGPT, sir?

In the book Journalism Innovation 2023, there is a remarkable quote: Never before have journalists had so many tools to tell their stories as they do today.

One of them is ChatGPT. Instead of fearing and avoiding artificial intelligence (AI), let's see it as a new tool or weapon to carry out operations.

Nowadays, there are too many “citizen journalists” reporting on social media platforms, leading to widespread fake news. Is this putting pressure on real journalists?

Anyone with a smartphone and a social media account can become a “citizen journalist”. And so, of course, this force will create pressure on professional journalists.

"Journalists should be ready to embrace the new and not hesitate to face the so-called 'digital wave' that is coming."

Therefore, journalists will have to take on the additional role of “fact checker”, reporting news in a more responsible manner. That is also the reason why more and more people are mentioning the concept of “Constructive Journalism” or “Solution Journalism”, not only to affirm the irreplaceable role of journalists, but also to contribute to building a better society.

So how must press management "catch up" and surpass to adapt to press trends in the digital age?

Of course, press management must keep up, or even be one step ahead. For example, creating legal frameworks to ensure transparency in AI operations, or whether the use of AI in the press production process violates journalistic ethics?

I also highly appreciate Decision 348 recently issued by the Government , approving the Digital Transformation Strategy for the Press to 2025, with a vision to 2030. It shows that the management agencies have had close orientations for the press in the digital age with so many challenges like today.

When sharing about the ChatGPT application in the operation of a newspaper office, you once said that this tool is very suitable for becoming an editorial assistant. What is the basis for your assertion?

A major news organization executive recently told me that, thanks to AI tools, the organization has reduced the time it takes to produce a podcast from several hours to 30 minutes, allowing the organization to shift its staff to producing high-quality products, in the direction of data journalism and visual journalism.

"In the past, journalists' weapons were the pen and the camera. Now, journalists have many weapons to tell their stories in a more attractive, intuitive way, easily touching the emotions of readers."

It is a vivid example showing the positive effects of tools similar to ChatGPT.

Or when receiving a group of interns, instead of spending a whole morning to orient and develop the topic, I can only spend 30 minutes to outline a detailed plan for them to carry out.

Besides dedication and honesty, what else does each journalist need to do to ensure that their articles are relevant and do not go against the development trend?

Journalists should be ready to embrace the new, not hesitate to face the so-called “digital wave” that is coming. Previously, a famous journalist once said that, to be a journalist, one must get involved in life and not “sit around waiting for Facebook”.

But later on, we saw that many good topics were developed thanks to this "Facebook stalking" (specifically, discovering topics through the "citizen journalists" mentioned above). Similarly, instead of avoiding new tools, let's learn to master them, turning them into weapons to serve our work.

In the past, journalists' weapons were the pen and the camera. Now, journalists have many weapons to tell their stories in a more attractive, intuitive way, easily touching the emotions of readers.

Thank you!

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