Journalism needs creativity

As journalist Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association said: “Journalism is inherently a creative form, and must always be at the forefront in many fields. Therefore, innovation and creativity in journalism have always existed.”

Nowadays, the public can be said to be “overfed” with information. In addition to news from mainstream newspapers, there is also news on social networks, from text news to news with sound and images... In that context, journalistic creativity is not only about providing valuable, authentic information but also creating products that can be considered “specialties” to attract users.

To be able to create "specialties" in today's press, first of all, it requires the sharp thinking of the head of the press agency. The head must dare to innovate, be brave, even accept risks, and build modern technological infrastructure to create an environment for journalists to create modern press works, and at the same time promote the development of the press agency.

Nowadays, the concept of small newspapers and large newspapers is no longer clearly defined as before in cyberspace. Some provincial and municipal newspapers have also made strong progress in the digital transformation of journalism, such as Ha Tinh Newspaper, Nghe An Newspaper, Hai Duong Newspaper, or the remarkable development of Dak Nong Newspaper. This newspaper with a modest staff size and in a not-so-developed locality has achieved surprising results thanks to digital transformation, leading the number of visits in the national local Party newspaper system for many weeks. In May 2024, Hai Duong Newspaper published an article "The truth is revealed through the phenomenon of Thich Minh Tue" with the number of shares and reads that many major newspapers had to respect.

Recently, Nhan Dan Newspaper has created a big buzz with its special publication commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory. From the first publication to the reprint, the newspaper has printed a total of nearly 300,000 copies and the reach on social networks is estimated to be up to tens of millions of views.

In addition to the role of the head of the press agency, creativity also depends on each journalist himself. Journalists are the ones who create special products. Journalists must skillfully use technological skills combined with choosing appropriate information content to create "specialties". Journalists must constantly innovate, study, and improve their capacity to be able to create modern, high-quality journalistic works in both content and form in today's information technology era. Journalists must even know how to distribute their journalistic products, so that they can spread to more readers.

The creativity of journalists lies in constantly "renewing themselves". New in quick information, new in form, new in style of expression and, importantly, constantly renewing the thinking of journalism. Journalists need to be proactive in finding out, raising issues, and criticizing unreasonable policies, not just passively waiting for instructions from superiors and purely following one-way directions.

Press activities in Hai Duong in recent times, like the whole country, have had to face fierce competition with information on social networks. However, Hai Duong press has still achieved many positive results, affirming its role in guiding and leading official information in the locality.

Recently, when visiting and congratulating press agencies on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, Comrade Trieu The Hung, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed that Hai Duong always pays attention and allocates appropriate investment resources for the province's press agencies. This is a great and favorable resource for press agencies and journalists in the East to have conditions for innovation and creativity.