The two sides discussed the digital media landscape, opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation strategies in journalism, and preparations for media coverage of APEC Year 2027.
The US delegation was led by Camille Dawson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, and included Carly Harp, Dawson’s assistant.
Representing the US Embassy in Viet Nam were Mary Beth Polley, Counselor for Public Affairs; Jamie Dragon, Embassy Spokesperson; and Ngo Thi Ngoc Chau, Public Affairs Officer.
At the meeting, Camille Dawson said this was her first official visit to Viet Nam in her capacity as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. The main purpose of the visit was to coordinate the implementation of a joint training programme to prepare for communications surrounding the international APEC 2027 event, which Viet Nam will host. She expressed her interest in gaining first-hand insights into Viet Nam’s media landscape and the impact of emerging technologies.
Le Quoc Minh, who is also Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Publicity and President of the Viet Nam Journalists Association, stressed that APEC 2027 was a particularly important diplomatic event. Nhan Dan Newspaper is actively preparing to launch a dedicated APEC 2027 online portal by the end of this year. The portal will provide diverse information and promote Viet Nam as a safe, peaceful and friendly country with rapid growth, as well as an ideal destination for investment and tourism.
Discussing the state of the journalism industry, the two sides shared their views on challenges in the age of AI. Le Quoc Minh said that as readers increasingly turned to AI assistants to compile news, mainstream news outlets had seen a decline in their reach. He also highlighted the growing risk of intellectual property infringement, as digital platforms freely collected and commercialised content from mainstream news organisations without sharing the benefits with them.
Sharing common views on the issue, Camille Dawson noted that protecting content copyright and media brands was also a challenge for the US Government and media organisations, which were currently seeking solutions.
Le Quoc Minh also affirmed that technology offered significant opportunities for innovation. The newspaper was accelerating its digital transformation strategy, with the goal of completing its digital transformation by 2030. The application of AI had helped optimise workflows and develop data journalism and interactive journalism products in various formats, tailored to different audience groups.
However, Nhan Dan Newspaper maintains a strict principle of ensuring human oversight in the application of technology. AI is used only to support information gathering and processing, and must never be used to write complete articles or generate misleading content or fabricated images.
To expand its international readership and adapt to the changing landscape, Nhan Dan Newspaper has applied AI-powered optimisation algorithms and expanded its language editions to include Korean, Japanese, Khmer and Lao. Its Korean edition currently attracts as much as 60% of its direct traffic from the Republic of Korea (RoK).
In addition, Nhan Dan Newspaper has been a pioneer in diversifying journalistic activities, including training programmes to enhance journalists’ capacity to apply AI and large-scale music festivals attracting tens of thousands of spectators. These events help promote the newspaper’s image while supporting local economic development.
Camille Dawson was particularly impressed by Nhan Dan Newspaper’s innovation after learning about the nationwide “Viet Nam moves forward together” walking event in 2026, which attracted nearly 1.8 million participants and set a Guinness World Record with more than 10 billion steps recorded. She described it as an outstanding brand promotion strategy, adding that modern readers increasingly expected highly interactive media experiences such as these.
The working session between Nhan Dan Newspaper and the delegation from the US Department of State and the US Embassy reaffirmed the irreplaceable role of mainstream journalism amid the rapid development of AI.
Camille Dawson expressed her hope that media organisations in the two countries would continue to expand cooperation programmes and professional exchanges in the coming time, helping promote mutual understanding and lay a solid foundation for taking their national brands to the world.
