Mutual Relations between Press and Business

Not only in Vietnam but also in all countries, the relationship between the press and the business is very close. The development of the journalism significantly depends on the cooperation of businesses. The Fourth Estate wants to live better, have higher loyalty rates and pays higher to reporters and editors; it must have a better financial source and rely heavily on advertising sources and business sponsorships. Although some press agencies have expanded their scopes to real estate business or established media companies, they still have to rely on enterprises and business environment. This is not only true for Vietnamese news agencies but also for world-leading newswire corporations.

 

With access to the press, enterprises will have more information. Where political situations are stable enough to invest in and where political uncertainty forces an adjustment in business strategy. For example, the press repeatedly runs the information about political stability in Vietnam in recent years; more investors will shift their interest into the country. In addition to limited media vehicles like panels, the press is considered the main channel for companies to popularise their brands and products because the press is an orthodox and popular means. Therefore, the relationship between the business and the press is, simply speaking, a reciprocally organic relationship, but strictly speaking, this is a vital relationship. The good ties will benefit both but the bad affairs may harm both or at least one side.

In the Vietnamese press circle in recent years, many news agencies have thrived thanks to close ties with the businesses on two aspects. Firstly, information about economy, business and entrepreneurs is the most interesting column. Business-specialised publications run information about business aspects in every issue and even every page. This is actually a public interested column and a fertile source of information for the press to mine and live on. Secondly, advertisements on products and trademarks of enterprises are usually inserted in the middle or at the end of a publication or even a separate insertion. TV and radio also have programmes on economy, housing, market, price, external economic relations and international integration among many others. Businesses also have to read newspapers to know about policymaking, business models or investment fields that they care.

 

In fact, many businesses reflect on the lack of positivity of the press, mainly due to inaccurate information which harm their business operations. This is a "technical error" in respect to insufficient awareness or knowledge shortfall of reporters and these weaknesses lead to unwanted results. However, there is another reason that some journalists want to take some benefits from the business writing and they usually raise difficulties for businesses. In recent years, the Press and Publication Department has also received information on bad conducts of journalists and collaborators. For example, a real estate trading company claimed that a reporter came to work with the company and asked for soft prices to buy an apartment or a land plot. If the company agreed, he would write good things on the company on his own newspapers and other ones where he collaborated but if the company turned him down, he would find problems to report on or insinuate the company’s problems on his newswire and on other publications. He could also ask his friends and colleagues to echo his actions. These actions spoil the code of conducts for reporters and journalists because although a company has shortcomings, mistakes and weaknesses, they should not work in such a bad attitude like that.

 

At present, this is not only a few cases but is a very worrying trend. Press authorities, news agencies, editors-in-chief and managers need to take action to eliminate this dangerous trend. Although the Party and the State have issued regulations and legal documents on conducts of journalists and reporters, lax management of some news agencies should lead to this situation. The Vietnamese press is celebrating its 85^th founding anniversary and its history is glorified by heroic newsmen. However, the market mechanism has generated practical figures who need to be re-corrected.

 

To beat their rivals, some enterprises use reporters as a tool and a force to serve individual or collective interest. For example, a beverage company in Ho Chi Minh City suffered two or three incidents in the past two years due to the action of the press. Maybe, the nature was not as bad as it was but it might be caused by their competitors through the arm of the press. This was possible resulted from limited information for reporters, or lack of knowledge or ethnical matters. For such problems, news agencies and journalists must be conscious to avoid becoming a weapon of some enterprises to attack their competitors. Indeed, there are many journalists with thorough understanding of the case but still wrote in a different way to support some enterprises to harm their competitors while uplifting others. Then, personal interests of journalists will be satisfied.

 

This problem still exists in some parts of news agencies and some journalists who are willing to sell cheap their name and the ethnics of true journalists and dirty the general journalism environment but most of the press circle is good in profession, political stuff and code of conduct. In reality, the press right is provided by the laws and it is granted by the public through the State. I want to emphasise that when people have mild disease, they will get well very soon if they get right treatments. If they do not know their disease or pretend to not know, they will get realised by the arm of the laws. Of course, the law is important to shape the conduct but the management of a news agency is more important. Journalists must be recommended of their wrongdoings by their leaders before applying any sanctions. If such cases are properly handled, bad deeds will not appear again. Besides, authorities need to supervise operations of news agencies and journalists to inform and tackle wrongdoings timely. However, objectively, many businesses do not do business property and want to win on the market at all costs, destroy living environment and produce contaminated foods. Journalists must stand against such bad deeds.

 

Journalist ethics in relation to the company is built on mutual respect, support and development. All businesses and journalists are oriented to honesty, perfection and beauty and the relation will not exist with one-sided benefits. A company of course produces a product for profit but its price, quality and utility must be accepted by the society. But, it is unacceptable if the product is not good for the society. Take the glutamate for example, it tastes sweet with soup but it is unacceptable if its producer contaminates the environment. Thus, both businesses and journalists must follow their own codes of conduct.

 

Indeed, several news agencies were set up very long ago and they have very senior journalists but not all of them are professional in their thinking, work and behaviour. Actually, there are still rooms for such unprofessional behaviours like bargaining with companies or joining hands with associates to weigh up their threats on enterprises as the laws, the State and social conventions have now not fully regulated these behaviours. It takes much time and effort to take this problem.

 

On June 19, the Central Propaganda Bureau, the Vietnam Journalist Association, the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda opened a workshop with the aim of promoting the 85-year tradition of the Vietnamese press world and making the Vietnamese press revolutionary and professional. Revolution means continuous innovations to attain better things in an orthodox, professional way.

 

Unlike conventional social relationships, the relationship between the press and the business in general and with businesspeople in particular is sensitive and specific. In the process of international economic integration, the press functions as a bridge to link businesses and their customers. Enterprises and entrepreneurs are the main source of information for reporters and journalists to write. In other words, press publications help boost the image and popularity of businesses. At the same time, enterprises and entrepreneurs also have relationships with reporters and journalists, and sometimes become sponsors of the news agencies through their advertising contracts and special publication issues. Moreover, through the press, businesses can faithfully reflect and influence social consumer tastes, even cause pressures to change policies of state management agencies at both micro and macro levels. In return, the businesses will get positive effects.

 

In fact, it is very hard to measure quantitative benefits from the symbiotic relationship between reporters and journalists with the enterprises and businesspeople. But clearly, some newspaper articles make enterprise known to customers and partners, thus giving more possibility of success. On the reverse side, improper or wrong information, driven by certain purposes, will adversely affect the reputation and image of enterprises, even send them to bankruptcy. Sensitivity and specificity of the two-way relationship are reflected by the journalists’ ways to transmit information as well as the enterprises’ process and purpose of providing information.

 

In the tourism industry, many tourism companies spend up to 30 percent of profit each year on popularity because they sell intangible products like travel programmes and services. The relationship in this industry is higher than other economic sectors because the choice of customers largely depends on the name of service providers. However, many tourism companies have not built firm relationships with news agencies and reporters because of many reasons.

 

The press not only provides multidirectional, plentiful and accurate information to the community but also warns and argues with contents related to business activities of enterprises. Many newspapers and journalists always go along with economic experts to monitor and analyse economic situations to make timely forecasts to help businesses choose right business directions. In some cases, newspapers help businesses realise their weaknesses and deficiencies to address to be more competitive.

 

In reality, the relationship between the press and the business has revealed several shortcomings, even headaches resulting from bad impacts of imprecise information on business activities of enterprises. The main cause of this reality is many businesses have not actively provided information about problems or advantages to the press, or some bad journalists take their career advantage to threaten or blackmail companies for their personal benefits. However, this segment is only minor.

 

Since our establishment, we has carried a mission, a vision and a clear business philosophy and we always make all information of our activities clear on the media to let customers, the community and staff understand what is going on. On the media, we share our new management model, our new strategy as well as our experience in making our strategy and our business model successful. In return, we will receive right assessments from our partners. We understand the press and create all conditions for the press to understand us.