A survey conducted by AOP of 158 print and online press agencies found that the revenue of all had decreased over the last two years of the pandemic. 

The total revenue of newspapers in 2021 dropped by 30.6 percent compared with 2020 (it was VND2.855 trillion in 2020 and VND1.952 trillion in 2021).

The total revenue of journals dropped from VND307 billion in 2019 to VND259 billion in 2020, and fell further to VND170 billion in 2021. The revenue of radio and television stations in 2021 fell by 10 percent compared with 2020.

Statistics show that as of July 2022, or post Covid-19, page views of online newspapers had regained an upward trend compared with June 2021.  

The page views of Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper increased by 16.23 percent, Thanh Nien 11.2 percent, VietNamNet 5.81 percent, VnExpress 3.22 percent, Dan Tri 2.34 percent, Tuoi Tre 1.97 percent and Tri Thuc online journal 0.53 percent.

According to AOP, all publications, including print newspapers, online newspapers and broadcast publications, depend on revenue from ads. The ad revenue accounts for 60 percent on average, or 90 percent, in some cases. However, revenue from ads has dropped dramatically recently, especially for print newspapers.

The revenue of online newspapers has increased but the publications need more time to become stable. VietnamPlus under the Vietnam News Agency is the first newswire service to collect fees from readers. However, the fees are expected to account for a small proportion of its total revenue.

A representative of the press management agency pointed out that if newspapers only rely on ads, they will have to face the risk of continued reduced revenue. This has happened because enterprises and advertisers have decided to place ads on social media such as Facebook and Google.

A technology expert said enterprises spend 80 percent of their marketing budget on Facebook and Google, and budget only small amounts of money to run ads in the mainstream press.

Also, news websites and social networks uploading newspapers’ content has led to reduced revenue for mainstream press. 

Press agencies provide information and carry out campaigns to serve political duties, but they face difficulties because of the lack of budget for implementation, especially for units that have to fund themselves or ones that depend on revenue from services. 

According to AOP, the pandemic increased economic pressure on press agencies. The crisis has raised questions about the sustainability of revenue sources for press agencies.

Sources of income

A representative of AOP said at the forum that press agencies are facing unprecedented challenges, especially as they have to compete with sources of information on the internet.

The other challenge is attracting readers amid behavioral changes caused by new journalism technologies. Meanwhile, press agencies need to fulfill their obligations of orienting public opinion and playing the mainstream role amid a lack of resources.

According to AOP, there should be a new approach in the press economy, because this is a resource of development, which helps improve the quality of professional activities of journalists.

The mechanism of placing orders by state agencies is an effective solution that help press agencies increase revenue and implement the State and Party’s guidelines and policies.

Collecting fees from online newspaper readers is a global trend. A Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice’s (FIPP) Global Digital Subscription report showed that the number of subscribers reading e- newspapers increased by two folds in 2018-2019.

A survey by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that 50 percent of leaders of press agencies in 32 countries hope that fee collections from online readers would be the major source of income in the future.

In Vietnam, five press agencies have collected fees for certain services, namely VietnamPlus (from 2018), VietNamNet, Ngay Nay e-journal (2021), Nguoi Lao Dong (The Laborer) and Tuoi Tre (Youth) (2022). 

Trong Dat