On June 21, the online exhibition "Press in Vietnam before 1945" took place.

Early 20th century typewriter. Photo: archives.org.vn

The exhibition introduces about 100 newspapers, documents, and typical images about the policies of the government, the press, and press activities during the colonial period, selected from the documents preserved at the National Archives Center I as well as collected from libraries and research facilities at home and abroad. In particular, the exhibition recognizes the contributions of the National Museum of History and book and newspaper collector Nguyen Phi Dung with newspapers published in Vietnam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The exhibition consists of 2 parts, part I "Milestones of the press" introduces some important milestones in the history of Vietnamese journalism from the time the French invaded Cochinchina to before 1945, associated with the promulgation and implementation of typical legal documents as well as prominent newspapers of each period.

Part II "Printing and circulation", documents and images about some issues related to the publication and circulation of newspapers will appear in this part, typically including printing paper, printing houses, depository, newspaper sales and advertising.

The Press Law defines the press as "information products about events and issues in social life expressed in writing, images, and sounds, created, published periodically, distributed, and transmitted to the public through printed newspapers, radio, television, and electronic newspapers". In this sense, it can be said that the press only really came into being in Vietnam after the French invaded Cochinchina and originated from the intention of using the press to serve the conquest and exploitation of colonies.

Due to historical circumstances, Cochinchina became the cradle of modern Vietnamese journalism. Newspapers were published in Cochinchina from the 1860s. Meanwhile, it was not until the 1880s that the first newspapers appeared in Bac Ky. From then until 1945, hundreds of newspapers in French, Chinese and Quoc Ngu were published in all three regions. The introduction of journalism to Vietnam led to the development of many industries related to this field such as paper production, printing, circulation, newspaper distribution and advertising.

Initially, newspapers mainly published legal documents of the colonial government. Over time, the content and genres of newspapers became increasingly diverse. In addition to daily newspapers providing the latest information on current events at home and abroad, there were also weekly, semi-weekly, monthly, semi-monthly, research magazines, specialized magazines, newspapers dedicated to children, women, etc.

At that time, the French colonialists continuously used the press to serve the purpose of ruling and exploiting the colony, while implementing many measures to limit the freedom of speech of progressive groups and those with anti-oppression and anti-injustice ideologies. On the contrary, Vietnamese patriotic individuals and organizations also actively turned the press into a tool of struggle to speak out and demand legitimate rights for the nation and compatriots.

According to VNA