National Press Conference 2023: Creating positive information flow, spreading good things

Attending and chairing the Conference were: Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia; Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang; Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung; Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association; Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Tran Thanh Lam.

Attending the Conference were more than 700 delegates representing leaders of central and local departments, ministries, branches, and organizations; editors-in-chief, general directors, directors, representatives of leaders of press agencies, press management and direction agencies, press management agencies, etc.

Professional, humane and modern journalism

Speaking at the Conference, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia acknowledged, commended and highly appreciated the results and achievements of press agencies and journalists nationwide in 2023 and the first half of the 13th National Party Congress. These results and achievements have continued to affirm the role, persistent efforts, dedication and responsibility of the team of Vietnamese revolutionary journalists.

Emphasizing the key tasks of the work in 2024, the Head of the Central Propaganda Department requested the agencies directing, guiding, and managing the press; all levels of journalist associations, especially press agencies and journalists, to make more efforts to promote the results and achievements that have been achieved, determined to overcome limitations and shortcomings, resolve and handle well the challenges in press activities to achieve the requirements of "professionalism, humanity and modernity".

The Head of the Central Propaganda Department requested to focus on improving the legal system on the press, in which the most important goal is to amend and supplement the 2016 Press Law and complete the National Press Development and Management Plan until 2025, creating conditions for the press to develop healthily and in the right direction. At the same time, continue to strengthen discipline and order in complying with instructions and information orientation, in correcting and handling violations of the law and professional ethics; promote the effectiveness and more substantial activities of the Council for Handling Violations of Professional Ethics of Journalists to create deterrence and strictly handle members who violate.

In 2024, it is necessary to set a high goal of thoroughly and fundamentally handling violations by press agencies and journalists, creating positive and clear changes worthy of public trust.

The Head of the Central Propaganda Department noted that it is necessary to continue promoting the dissemination of good people, good deeds, advanced models, good practices, and new models; increase the number of articles and programs that contribute to providing readers and audiences with valuable knowledge of humanity; and constantly cultivate, consolidate, and promote the good values, ethics, and traditional culture of the nation.

In the context of strong development of science and technology, new media platforms, and social media, more than ever, the press must create a positive, mainstream, and strongly spreading information flow, leading and orienting public opinion towards good things in society; making an important contribution to building an advanced Vietnamese culture with strong national identity; building a system of national values, a system of cultural values, a system of family values, and standards for Vietnamese people in the new era.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang shared that in general, in 2023, the press has done "much better than last year" in carrying out its political tasks: faster, more timely, especially with many more emotional, profound and sharing press products. "The competitiveness of the press has made significant progress. Management work is becoming more standardized, stronger and more progressive," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Pointing out some limitations and shortcomings, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that in the context of many difficulties, challenges and unpredictable things in the world, region and country, press agencies and journalists must accompany each other better and more promptly to share difficulties with the majority of people in society, and be more responsible in orienting public opinion. Press agencies continue to reorganize their agencies according to the Digital Transformation Strategy of Press until 2025. Each press unit will reorganize its apparatus to be strong, compact and professional to make its products more attractive.

Questioning the responsibility of leaders when 63% of units are currently at a weak level in digital transformation by 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the task of enhancing the competitiveness of each press agency and competing with other media to be better, more attractive, attract advertising, and ensure operating costs.

The Deputy Prime Minister hopes that each journalist will continue to be a decent person to produce decent products; always learn from training courses, work programs... and their own colleagues, at home and abroad; from there, each journalist will be more courageous, responsible and proactive. The governing agencies will be more responsible, more profound and will strengthen inspection and supervision. The Deputy Prime Minister shared the harmony and balance between the state budget and the revenue of autonomous units with the principle of ensuring life, creating conditions for cultivating professional knowledge, and prioritizing innovation and creativity. In each press agency, there are policy mechanisms to encourage active competition among each journalist and each editorial office.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Information and Communications to pay attention to financial work for press agencies to promote, encourage and ensure that the press operates in accordance with its principles and purposes; remove mechanisms and policies on financial autonomy for public service units, regulations related to value added tax and corporate income tax for press agencies...

Increase the persuasiveness and effectiveness of direction and information orientation

The conference also spent a lot of time listening to delegates discuss, exchange and share issues of concern in journalism work as well as current journalism and media life; identifying trends and challenges; determining fundamental and comprehensive tasks and solutions for 2024 and in the coming period...

The conference unanimously agreed that 2024 is of great significance in successfully carrying out the tasks of the entire 13th National Party Congress term. This requires press management and leadership agencies; press management agencies and press agencies to further promote the results in 2023; thoroughly overcome existing shortcomings and limitations in order to "build a professional, humane and modern press and media" as set out in the spirit of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

At the Conference, the Organizing Committee awarded Certificates of Merit from the Central Propaganda Department to 33 collectives with outstanding achievements in journalism work in 2023.

In 2023, in the context of the country's common difficulties and challenges, information and propaganda work in the press on the implementation of political, economic, social, cultural, defense, security tasks... received attention, focus, and depth, creating positive spillover effects. Information on foreign affairs activities of senior Party and State leaders; information on foreign affairs events became highlights in the overall propaganda picture.

Propaganda work to protect the Party's ideological foundation and fight against and refute wrong and hostile viewpoints has clearly changed from thinking to content, form and methods of propaganda. Propaganda on preventing and combating corruption, negativity, and fighting against signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle continues to be strongly implemented, increasingly going into depth and substance, bringing high efficiency. Propaganda on building and developing Vietnamese culture and people is on par with propaganda on political and economic development in accordance with the orientation and direction of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the 2021 National Cultural Conference.

The work of directing, orienting information and propaganda in the press has increasingly promoted positive results, with many clear changes in 2023, in which, focusing on taking persuasiveness as a measure of the effectiveness of directing and orienting information. Emulation and reward work has become increasingly substantial, creating new momentum and motivation. The rectification and handling of violations in press activities have been resolutely implemented, along with a focus on building mechanisms and policies, creating conditions to support the press to develop healthily and in the right direction...

In addition, press work in 2023 still faces many difficulties and challenges, revealing a number of limitations and shortcomings. That is the risk of the press falling behind in the face of the rapid development of social media in terms of content, ability to lead, orient information to the public, master technology and attract revenue. Some press agencies have not met the requirements and tasks of information and propaganda in the current situation. A number of journalists have shown signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, "self-evolution", "self-transformation", taking advantage of, abusing the profession, violating the law and professional ethics... The work of inspection, examination, supervision and handling of violations in press activities has received attention but has not been able to fundamentally and completely handle the rather painful violations in the past time...