Your readers have already moved on. Does your newsroom?

THE HANOI TIMES — Audiences are changing faster than newsrooms with mobile-first platforms, short-form video, and AI-powered content over the past few years, redefining how information is consumed.

While social media, messaging apps, and algorithm-driven feeds offer dynamic and personalized experiences, many media organizations continue to operate with outdated workflows, aging infrastructure, and rigid editorial hierarchies.

The question is no longer whether journalism in Vietnam needs to transform but what will happen if it does not, and who will fill the vacuum left behind.

More young people are getting their news from social media, YouTube, and online personalities, not because they care less, but because traditional journalism has not kept up with the way they consume information. Audiences expect news to find them, fast and tailored. If a headline fails to grab their attention within seconds, or if a story lacks visual and emotional cues, it will simply be skipped.

"I still read news in the traditional way from time to time. But I feel more drawn to TikTok and YouTube, especially for current events, thanks to short content and different reactions. This makes it more engaging and less one-sided," said Thao Chi, a 22-year-old university student in Hanoi.

Journalists may feel uncomfortable being compared to content creators, but these creators do what legacy media often struggle to do. They connect quickly, evoke emotion, and deliver content in real time. They understand their audience not as passive recipients, but as their target demographic. Meanwhile, many newsrooms still rely on a one-way publishing model, pushing out articles without measuring how they land, analyzing audience response, or adapting content based on feedback.

This is not simply a failure in content, it is a systemic problem rooted in structure, mindset, and management.

"I didn't study journalism," said Duong Lo, a 29-year-old content creator with more than 260,000 followers on TikTok who specializes in business and finance content. "But I know how to make my audience watch. Algorithms don't care if I'm right or wrong. They care if people stay. My audience has to see me every day, or they'll forget I exist."

This kind of content creation is fast, personal, and algorithm-driven. It values consistency over credentials, engagement over editorial structure. And while creators like Duong Lo may not follow journalistic codes, they are redefining how the public consumes information especially younger audiences.

In contrast, many newsrooms have been slow to adapt. Young journalists who want to experiment with short-form video, explainer formats or platform-specific storytelling often face resistance from senior editors who prioritize long-form articles and legacy workflows. "We're told to be creative to reach new readers. But when we try something different, the first reaction is usually, 'That's not how we do it here,'" said one junior reporter.

These tensions are not just generational they reflect deeper questions about identity and power within journalism. While veteran editors work to preserve professional values, they also face real challenges in keeping up with new tools, new audiences, and a new pace of change.

Digital transformation is not about launching websites or creating TikTok accounts. It requires deep organizational reform, from how newsrooms collaborate to how stories are planned, designed, and delivered. It requires new roles within the newsroom, new metrics for success, and most importantly, a willingness to let go of old assumptions about how journalism "should" work.

Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, and Deputy Head of the Central Commission for Propaganda and Mass Mobilization, put it plainly: "AI is not only an irreversible trend. It is also an opportunity for newsrooms to upgrade their journalistic practices." His message is not just about automation, it's about capacity, about whether Vietnamese journalism can meet the demands of a more fragmented, fast-moving, and digitally native audience.

Some Vietnamese newsrooms have begun adopting AI tools to streamline content production and reduce costs. While these technologies can improve efficiency, they are not a solution in themselves. Without skilled journalists, reliable audience insights, and a clear editorial vision, automation risks becoming a shortcut to irrelevance, reinforcing outdated methods rather than transforming them.

A major challenge facing Vietnamese newsrooms is the persistent digital skills gap. According to the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development, a member of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association, only a small proportion of journalists currently use audience analytics in their daily reporting. This is not just a training issue, but a structural one. In many organizations, digital strategy remains isolated from the newsroom, with limited collaboration across editors, reporters, and audience development teams. Such fragmentation undermines both coherence and competitiveness in a media environment defined by speed and integration.

A story can be accurate, timely, and well-written, but still fail to reach readers if it is poorly distributed or visually unappealing. Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels are constantly refining their algorithms to capture users' attention. These systems are competitors. They determine who sees what, when, and why.

To stay relevant, newsrooms need to understand how their work fits into a fast-changing media ecosystem. Competing with TikTok on speed or reach is futile, but journalism still has a distinct advantage in credibility, depth, and public accountability. That advantage only matters if it is delivered with precision and intention. Reform must go beyond tools to stronger editorial identities, cross-functional collaboration, and content strategies that focus on accuracy and impact. Above all, journalism must invest in what technology cannot replicate: investigation, empathy, and insight.

Journalism should not compete by trying to be faster or louder than everything else online. It should compete by being more meaningful. A piece of content may go viral in minutes, but a story that changes someone's understanding lasts much longer.

The risk is not that journalism is supplanted by platforms or influencers. The risk is that it will become irrelevant through inaction. In an age of algorithmic content and creator-driven news, professional journalism must prove that it is trustworthy and worth the reader's time.

If journalism does not evolve, it will quietly lose its audience. But if it changes with conviction, Vietnamese journalism can reclaim its place as a trusted source of facts and meaning.