The Press Authority under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has released the 2024 results of its digital transformation maturity index for Vietnam’s press agencies.

The index serves as a benchmark for monitoring and evaluating annual digital transformation efforts across press agencies. It also facilitates comparisons between agencies and tracks progress over the years, helping organizations identify strengths to build upon and weaknesses to address. This aligns with the goals of the "Digital Transformation Strategy for the Press until 2025, with orientation to 2030."

Comprehensive evaluation criteria

The index comprises five pillars, ten components, and 43 criteria, with a total score of 100. The scoring breakdown is as follows: strategy (18 points), digital infrastructure, platforms, and cybersecurity (24 points), organizational and professional alignment (20 points), audience engagement (23 points), and digital technology adoption (15 points).

Evaluations are conducted for each criterion and then aggregated for component and pillar scores. If a press agency fails to provide data for a criterion, a score of zero may be assigned. To ensure objectivity, the MIC established an appraisal council to verify and adjust scores based on provided information.

In 2024, 282 agencies participated in the evaluation, including:

40 central newspapers
62 local newspapers
48 central and local magazines
67 scientific journals
65 radio and television stations
Of these, 28 press agencies achieved an "excellent" digital transformation maturity rating, a 6.27% increase from 2023.

Additionally:

65 agencies were rated as "good"
55 as "fair"
25 as "average"
109 as "poor"

The "excellent" category included ten central newspapers, eight local newspapers, and ten radio and television stations. However, no central or local magazines or scientific journals attained this level.

Highlights and challenges

Although only 32.3% of Vietnam’s press agencies participated in the survey, they represent over 90% of the readership and advertising market share nationwide. Notably, the percentage of "poor" ratings decreased by 24.35% compared to 2023.

The scientific journal category and central/local magazines accounted for the majority of "poor" ratings, at 47.71% and 22.02%, respectively. However, awareness among leadership about the importance of digital transformation improved significantly, with nearly half of press agencies establishing annual digital transformation action plans.

The survey also highlighted other positive trends:

A 10.92% increase in agencies implementing paid content models.

A 36.17% increase in agencies reporting revenue growth compared to the previous year.

A 24.66% rise in agencies focusing on improving audience experiences.

Larger audiences, both loyal and new, were observed across platforms, with agencies paying greater attention to cybersecurity and copyright protection.

The Press Authority emphasized that digital transformation in 2024 exceeded expectations. The target for 2025 is to reduce the proportion of "poor" and "average" ratings to 40%, increase "fair" and "good" ratings to 50%, and raise the "excellent" rating to 10%.

Hoai Thanh - Tran Tuyen