Reiterating the words of General Secretary To Lam : "The new era also sets new and higher requirements for revolutionary journalism, requiring the press to develop accordingly, grow together with the nation, and be worthy of professional, humane, and modern journalism", the Minister shared the vision and solutions for the Vietnamese press to develop strongly in the digital era.
In the presence of General Secretary To Lam and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung and Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Adil Karimli exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding on cultural cooperation (May 8, 2025). Photo: THONG NHAT
Pioneering pen through all stages of history
Reporter: The Vietnamese press has gone through a 100-year journey. So how does the Minister evaluate the role, position and outstanding contributions of the country's press in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland?
- Minister Nguyen Van Hung: First of all, it must be affirmed that throughout the journey of the past century, the Party and State have always paid special attention to the field of journalism. At the National Scientific Conference "100 years of Vietnamese Revolutionary Press accompanying the glorious cause of the Party and the nation", Party and State leaders, veteran journalists, scientists... highly appreciated the great contributions of the country's revolutionary press in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland, and developing the country.
Right from the beginning, under the leadership of leader Nguyen Ai Quoc, newspapers such as Thanh Nien, Tranh Dau, Doc Lap, Cuu Quoc ... carried out many propaganda and educational activities and directly organized revolutionary movements, contributing significantly to the dissemination of Marxism-Leninism in Vietnam, laying the foundation for building the political ideology, theory and revolutionary action of our entire Party, people and army.
During the renovation period, the press has always been the vanguard, guiding and paving the way for innovations and breakthroughs in institutional reform, mobilizing resources, contributing to building a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people and for the people. Not only the political and ideological voice of the Party, the press has gradually become an important part of the cultural industries, developing increasingly healthy, professional, humane and modern.
In the glorious 100-year journey of Vietnam’s revolutionary press, we cannot forget the sacrifices of journalists who have fallen for the independence and freedom of the nation. We respect and are grateful for those contributions as an unforgettable part of the history of our country’s press.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day - a particularly important milestone in a journey accompanying the nation, I would like to send my best wishes to journalists across the country. I especially appreciate the writers who are quietly devoting themselves to cultural, sports and tourism life - where each story not only reflects reality, but also cherishes the national soul, shining the intelligence and personality of each Vietnamese person.
Journalists in the fields of culture, sports and tourism are not only reporting news, not only on a journey to find beauty, awakening cultural sources, but also quietly touching invisible but unchanging values. Every step, every stop of journalists will be beautiful stories, memoirs, discoveries, reflections, policy criticisms, and can also be a piece of homeland music, a heritage space, a festival or in the cheers of a sports match, the emotional eyes of tourists when enjoying cultural spaces, folk art, cuisine imbued with Vietnamese identity... - delicate slices to contribute to cherishing and preserving the national cultural identity.
(Minister NGUYEN VAN HUNG)
In the role of state management of the press, can the Minister give a general assessment of the achievements of state management of the press in recent times and the challenges and difficulties that the press is facing ahead?
- First of all, it must be affirmed that since the Press Law was promulgated by the National Assembly in 2016, it has created an important turning point in institutionalizing press freedom along with state management. New contents such as the rights and obligations of press agencies and journalists; licensing, revocation, specialized inspection, press planning, etc. are clearly defined, creating a solid legal foundation for press management and development. Since then, the Government and ministries have issued more than 31 legal documents guiding and regulating press activities, ensuring political orientation, mobilizing resources and improving the quality of press products.
In the process of development, the press is currently facing great challenges, especially in the context of digital transformation and global integration. The explosion of cyberspace and digital media makes the control and orientation of information more complicated. Fake news, distorted and provocative information spreads rapidly while the mainstream press loses market share and leadership advantage...
The skills and professional ethics of a number of journalists have not kept up with the development of digital technology and social standards, thereby posing serious requirements for ethical standards and social responsibility of journalists. The lack of authentication mechanisms and digital labels for mainstream journalism makes it easy for the public to misunderstand between mainstream sources and fake news, undermining the guiding role of revolutionary journalism. These issues need to be recognized and evaluated comprehensively and thoroughly so that we can find new directions for the development of our country's journalism.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Minister Nguyen Van Hung with their brothers and sisters. Photo: DUONG GIANG
Three pillars of modern journalism development: Institutions - Infrastructure - Human resources
One of the biggest challenges that the Minister just emphasized is the unprecedented development in human history of digital technology, digital media and artificial intelligence (AI), which will have a huge impact on journalism, but also open up great opportunities and potentials ahead. Can the Minister elaborate on this statement?
- The digital age has posed both great challenges and opened up many new opportunities for Vietnamese journalism. Regarding challenges, first of all, we must mention the shift of readers from traditional media to digital platforms. That requires a change in journalism thinking, shifting from old-fashioned production processes to digital, multimedia processes. Journalists in the present era not only write for print newspapers, but also have to write for online newspapers, produce videos, livestreams, podcasts, etc. to attract readers, especially the younger generation.
On the positive side, digital technology also brings huge opportunities for journalists.
It can be affirmed that in the new era of the country, the press holds a particularly important mission - that is the role of a "Knowledge Conduit - Connecting Trust" between the Party, the State and the people. The press not only conveys information, but also contributes to forming thinking, orienting perception, building social consensus, creating a combined strength to successfully carry out tasks in the cause of innovation and development of the country. Faced with the above challenges, first of all, we need to raise awareness, change thinking to adapt to the new situation.
Digital technology can be used to create multimedia journalism, infographics, sharp video reports; readers can even interact directly, provide information or data to reporters... This is the driving force for us to expand opportunities for interaction, multi-dimensional storytelling and increase community for journalism. Moreover, the development of artificial intelligence and big data is opening up great potential for journalism: from automating the editing process, personalizing content for readers, to the ability to analyze public opinion trends. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also encourages press agencies to invest in research and application of modern technology (for example, AI news synthesis, chatbot interaction, virtual reality for online newspapers). If exploited well, technology will help journalism make breakthroughs in both form and content without losing its identity.
It can be affirmed that in the new era of the country, the press holds a particularly important mission - that is the role of a "Knowledge Conduit - Connecting Trust" between the Party, the State and the people. The press not only conveys information, but also contributes to forming thinking, orienting perception, building social consensus, creating a combined strength to successfully carry out tasks in the cause of innovation and development of the country. Faced with the above challenges, first of all, we need to raise awareness, change thinking to adapt to the new situation.
Looking back at the country's development over the past time, since the 11th National Congress, our Party has identified three breakthroughs in the Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the 2011-2020 period: perfecting institutions, developing human resources and building a synchronous infrastructure system. Applied to the press industry, these three strategic breakthroughs still retain their value and can be considered a guideline and a solution to help the Vietnamese revolutionary press develop. In the draft documents of the 14th Party Congress, these three pillars continue to be mentioned and quantified in a more detailed manner in the context of our country preparing to enter an era of rising up, developing richly and prosperously.
In that context, continuing to affirm the role of the press as a solid bridge between the Party, the State and the people, as a flow of knowledge that nurtures the national spirit is an urgent requirement and also a constant reminder of the sacred mission of writers today.
Minister Nguyen Van Hung attended the meeting between National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and press agencies on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day. Photo: DUY NINH
Keeping the passion for the profession alive, contributing to creating a sustainable flow of Vietnamese identity
The Minister has just mentioned three breakthroughs for the development of Vietnamese revolutionary press in the new era. So can the Minister share more about these solutions?
- Vietnam's revolutionary press is entering a special development phase, where opportunities go hand in hand with challenges. After nearly 40 years of innovation, the country's foundation, potential, position and international prestige have been raised. The revolution of streamlining the organizational apparatus, the political system to be efficient, effective and effective; developing science and technology, innovation and digital transformation; promoting international integration; developing the private economy are key levers to create new opportunities for the strong development of the country in general, including the field of media and journalism, requiring us to have a breakthrough in thinking, decisive action, especially comprehensive innovation in management methods, modern press administration associated with digital media and data connection.
To do that, the first issue is the institution. The institution must be truly synchronous, without gaps, ensuring both state management and opening up and creating space for the press to develop. The upcoming revision of the Press Law will focus on the following major orientations: (1) Fully institutionalize the Party's leadership role in the press; ensure citizens' freedom of speech and freedom of the press according to the 2013 Constitution. The revised Law must clarify the boundary between freedom of the press and social responsibility and civic duty, ensuring transparency but not loosening management. (2) Perfecting regulations related to press activities in cyberspace. (3) Strengthening management of press activities; The revised Law aims to build an effective monitoring and inspection mechanism to prevent the situation of "media disguised as press" or "journalization of corporate communication activities"; (4) Improve the quality of journalists and leaders of press agencies to build a team of skilled professionals with professional ethics. (5) Promote the development of the press economy to create an open legal corridor so that the press has space to generate legal revenue to ensure sustainable development.
In the coming time, the Ministry will continue to advise the Party and the State to have appropriate institutions to develop digital journalism, especially in the spirit of Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation. But first of all, change must start from within each press agency - from the thinking of the editorial board's leaders to the implementation capacity of each journalist. We need to proactively strengthen domestic and international connections, mobilize socialized resources, especially from the private sector - which is being identified as an important driving force of the economy according to Resolution 68 of the Politburo - to invest in journalism not only with finance but also with technology, ideas and high-quality human resources.
The second issue, I think, is that there must be more strategic and innovative thinking in building the infrastructure for Vietnam's revolutionary press in the direction of expanding the synchronous and dual-use digital infrastructure space. Because clearly the dual-use workspace will contribute to accumulating the endless source of knowledge and culture of the country and humanity. The press workspace is no longer just a "place to sit and write", but must become a convergent newsroom - where data, images, sounds, texts, and artificial intelligence blend into accurate, attractive, and reliable information streams. It is a place that operates with synchronous digital infrastructure, connects big data, integrates AI technology, and optimizes the process from production to publishing multi-platform content. Modern press infrastructure must also know how to integrate the thinking of a "dual-use space", which is both a professional center and a multimedia knowledge transit station.
This is a strategic content. In the coming time, the Ministry will continue to advise the Party and the State to have appropriate institutions to develop digital journalism, especially in the spirit of Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation. But first of all, change must start from within each press agency - from the thinking of the editorial board leaders to the implementation capacity of each journalist. We need to proactively strengthen domestic and international connections, mobilize social resources, especially from the private sector - which is being identified as an important driving force of the economy according to Resolution 68 of the Politburo - to invest in journalism not only with finance but also with technology, ideas and high-quality human resources.
We hope that in the upcoming master planning process of ministries, branches and localities, press infrastructure will no longer be a "working office" in the narrow sense, but will be seen as a place to nurture knowledge and spread culture. It is necessary to clearly quantify this content in resolutions of party congresses at all levels, so that future newsrooms can truly become centers connecting and leading public opinion. That infrastructure must be able to connect between press agencies, synchronize with the national database, and be linked to regional digital centers, contributing to improving forecasting capacity, policy communication and building trust among the people.
Along with infrastructure and institutions, the human factor - the team of journalists - remains the center of every development strategy. Journalists in the new era must not only be good at their profession, but also have the ability to master technology, quickly adapt to the digital environment, have a global mindset, multidisciplinary knowledge and always keep within themselves the flame of service spirit. Therefore, investing in training high-quality journalism human resources is investing in the future of the nation; it is necessary to innovate training programs, foster journalism teams in the direction of increasing practice - increasing criticism - increasing political quality - and increasing cultural depth, especially behavioral culture. President Ho Chi Minh advised: "Revolutionary journalists need to be close to the people, understand the people, learn from the people, speak the voice of the people and write to serve the people". Uncle Ho's advice is still relevant when the press is facing challenges amid chaotic, polarized information flows and many manifestations of deviation and commercialization.
In short, if we want the press to fulfill its mission of “leading the way, accompanying the implementation, and following the summary” , we must act together from institutions - human resources - to infrastructure. These are three inseparable pillars, intertwined and complementary to each other to move towards the strategic goal of establishing a national press ecosystem with high governance, ensuring the principle of “unity in diversity”, while protecting the political ideology, historical traditions, and national culture; while creating room for creativity, innovation, humanity and modernity. And in the near future, I hope that each newsroom will truly be a conduit connecting knowledge and readers' trust, where information is not only shared, but also elevated to knowledge, inspiration and life values.
Minister Nguyen Van Hung visited, worked with and congratulated Van Hoa Newspaper on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2023). Photo: TR.HUAN
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, what message does the Minister want to send to journalists in general and journalists working in the field of culture, sports and tourism in particular?
- On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day - a particularly important milestone in a journey accompanying the nation, I would like to send my best wishes to journalists across the country. I especially appreciate the writers who are quietly devoting themselves to cultural, sports and tourism life - where each story not only reflects reality, but also cherishes the national soul, shining the intelligence and personality of each Vietnamese person.
Journalists in the fields of culture, sports and tourism are not only reporting news, not only on a journey to find beauty, awakening cultural sources, but also quietly touching invisible but unchanging values. Every step, every stop of journalists will be beautiful stories, memoirs, discoveries, reflections, policy criticisms, and can also be a piece of homeland music, a heritage space, a festival or in the cheers of a sports match, the emotional eyes of tourists when enjoying cultural spaces, folk art, cuisine imbued with Vietnamese identity... delicate slices to contribute to cherishing and preserving the national cultural identity. Each of us journalists is a "cultural ambassador, tourism ambassador, sports ambassador" , possessing the qualities of a soldier on the ideological and cultural front, contributing to bringing Vietnamese culture, love of land and people closer and deeper to friends around the world.
I hope that journalists in general and journalists writing about culture, family, sports, tourism, journalism and publishing in particular will continue to preserve the “golden material”, which is empathy and unceasing dedication. Write with a heart moved by beauty, with eyes that can see deeply into identity and with the pioneering spirit of revolutionary journalism. You, the ones who light the fire, sow more faith in the midst of a vibrant life - will contribute to brightening the portrait of a modern Vietnam that is still imbued with cultural identity, reaching out every day towards prosperity, wealth, prosperity, civilization and happiness.
Thank you very much Minister!
Baovanhoa.vn
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/chinh-tri/bao-chi-cach-mang-viet-nam-mach-nguon-tri-thuc-ket-noi-niem-tin-144198.html
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