The press is at a crossroads because of the influences of new technology trends. A survey by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that 63 percent of 300 polled press leaders expressed worries about the sharp fall in number of views from social media.

Chartbeat showed that traffic to news sites from Facebook decreased by 48 percent, while the figure was 27 percent for X (Twitter) in 2023. To adapt to the new circumstances, 77 percent of newsrooms will focus on develop information channels to bring content directly to readers.

There are three major trends which will impact mass media in 2024, including new devices such as AR and VR glasses; digital platforms, audio and video social networks; and AI. 

More and more newsrooms are digitized, are using AI, and are developing data analysis tools. VnEconomy is pioneering AI and carrying out digital distribution.

Previously, distribution work cost half of the revenue from newspaper sales. But VnEconomy has decided that newspaper content needs to be brought to readers via digital platforms.

The journal is selling a service package which provides the content of 52 journal issues under the ‘.pdg’ form, on PostEnp, a fee-based press platform owned by the Central Press Distribution Company. 

As VnEconomy distributes electronic editions, it does not have to spend money on printing newspapers, but can access global readers without having to pay additional money.

To attract readers, the service package is associated with Askonomy, a chatbot that gives answers to questions about economic news. Askonomy is an added value and a nucleus in the press model that VnEconomy strives for.

Making its debut in March 2023, Askonomy is a chatbot system built on a large language model (LLM). The Askonomy 2024 version is a product of Vietnamese, with source code and data located entirely on domestic servers.

The users of Askonomy can be officials, assistants, businesspeople, policymakers and students.

Askonomy is running on a web platform. Users pay money to access VnEconomy’s chatbot. 

Tran Hoai Van, COO of Actable AI, the developer of Askonomy, said the chatbot can graph the data in the form of charts and tables. This is the basic difference between Askonomy and ChatGPT.

Trong Dat