35-year journey

In the late 80s, newspapers were published daily, excluding weekends. Little information was available at that time, with the primary means of communication being books, newspapers, and television. The absence of a newspaper on the weekend made readers feel like something was "missing". 

In that context, to fill the gap on weekends, Nhan Dan Sunday was born with a new criterion. The newspaper has provided insights and analysis on the week's hot events and issues.

The newspaper, in addition to maintaining strict standards and reputation, also contributes to "softening" the inevitable stiffness of a socio-political newspaper in a very unique manner, through the literary quality chosen by previous generations of journalists and then maintained and developed by subsequent generations. 

And so, the first Nhan Dan Sunday newspaper was introduced to readers on February 12, 1989. A weekend publication which reflected current news and social life issues through many genres in a profound and rich way, featuring literary quality, not only in the works of poetry but in the writing style of the authors and editors. Therefore, the newspaper inspired many writers, who later became closely associated with Nhan Dan Weekend.

The newspaper, in addition to maintaining strict standards and reputation, also contributes to "softening" the inevitable stiffness of a socio-political newspaper in a very unique manner, through the literary quality chosen by previous generations of journalists and then maintained and developed by subsequent generations.

It is the literary quality in this newspaper that create the unique identity of Nhan Dan Weekend. Although the development path of Vietnamese journalism has seen several changes, many elements motivate the press to always renew itself.

In early 1995, when Nhan Dan Newspaper published its Sunday edition, Nhan Dan Sunday was renamed Nhan Dan Weekend. Over the periods, Nhan Dan Weekend has increasingly had the participation of many prestigious intellectuals, writers, and artists from many fields. The newspaper comprehensively innovated (the first phase) in 2011 and innovated to improve publication quality (the second phase) in 2014.

With the same unmistakable literary quality, Nhan Dan Weekend always features a profound and multi-dimensional perspective on the country's issues, helping readers, lawmakers, and law enforcement have more grounds to look at both reality and back at policies. 

In the 2000s, the internet era changed the way readers access information but also brought fierce competition for information. Printed newspapers are facing survival challenges as online newspapers and new forms of media take over with their large audiences and numbers of readers. In that context, Nhan Dan Weekend identified innovation as an urgent need.

With the same unmistakable literary quality, Nhan Dan Weekend always features a profound and multi-dimensional perspective on the country's issues, helping readers, lawmakers, and law enforcement have more grounds to look at both reality and policies.

The newspaper has increased the number of high-quality thematic articles covering issues of public concern; developed a team of experts who provide in-depth, accurate, and rich knowledge to readers; renovated the inside pages; and launched new columns. The front page of the newspaper is elaborately and thoroughly designed in a modern and attractive direction with the use of technology and AI applications in journalism to create a greater first impression on readers. 

In order to promote the reciprocal support between online and print newspapers and enhance its interactivity, Nhan Dan Weekend has increased the content of information, intelligence, and technology of the printed version to create an online version to reach broader readership. The newspaper has also further promoted the digital transformation process, proactively built online E-magazines, and taken advantage of online publishing.

The newspaper’s initial results after about two years of carrying drastic innovation in both form and content (2021-2023) receive high appreciation from readers and the press. Nhan Dan Weekend has won many National Press awards hosted by ministries and sectors. Its winning entries include not only in-depth articles in print newspapers but also series of articles on the online version.

Nhan Dan Weekend on the first days of its history

Nhan Dan Weekend turns 35 this year, and its 35-year journey is also associated with the career of many generations of journalists.

The newspaper was born in the context when the entire Party, people, and army were making efforts to implement the 1986 sixth Party Congress’s Resolution. At that time, the Editorial Board of Nhan Dan Newspaper held that it was necessary to publish a weekend publication, which would help to increase information channels to deliver pressing issues of public concern to readers through in-depth analysis and commentaries of veteran journalists. Nhan Dan Newspaper then sent an official dispatch asking for the approval of the Politburo and Secretariat.

Senior journalist Ha Dang, former Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper from 1987 to 1992 and former Head of the Party’s Ideology-Culture Commission, recounted the early days of preparation for the launch of Nhan Dan Weekend. 

“We did not expect that Nhan Dan Newspaper’s idea of launching a weekend newspaper was approved so quickly. Nhan Dan Newspaper sent the official letter of request on November 21, 1988, and just over a month later, on December 24, 1988, the Party Central Committee Secretariat decided to approve Nhan Dan Newspaper to publish Nhan Dan Sunday.” – veteran journalist Ha Dang recalled.

Journalist Le Quang Trang, former head of Nhan Dan Weekend, recounted that the reporters were quite young at that time, with some just coming back from the battlefield, who were enthusiastic about their careers, but they were only newcomers to journalism. Almost every aspect of life changed violently as life moved from wartime to peace. The public had new demands that were not as simple as before.

In late 1985 and early 1986, when the first signs of the Doi Moi (Renewal) period appeared, Nhan Dan Newspaper’s sharpest minds, from Editor-in-Chief Hong Ha to relevant divisions, discussed the launch of the Nhan Dan Special Magazine, which looked forward to the upcoming development. When the issue was published and favoured, perhaps it was also a basis for forming a new publication. After many discussions, when the opportunity was ripe in early 1989, Nhan Dan Editor-in-Chief Ha Dang and the Nhan Dan Editorial Board officially launched the Nhan Dan Sunday on February 12, 1989, a weekly newspaper with 16 pages and 29x42cm size.

During this period, Nhan Dan was the first newspaper to have an additional publication, with general and specific tasks, within the Nhan Dan Newspaper’s publication system. After that, some other newspapers did the same.

Journalist Le Quang Trang said that at that time, each publication of Nhan Dan Newspaper clearly defined its mission, but there are still many debates and new suggestions about article structure, content, writing style, presentation style, and the assignment of reporters’ activities of each specific publication.

Some put an emphasis on weekly news, some required a focus on analysis to help readers gain a more in-depth understanding of current events. Some asked for more magazine and entertainment content, while others proposed increasing coverage on arts and science.

After heeding feedback from experts and readers, Nhan Dan’s Editorial Board and Nhan Dan Weekend made necessary adjustments. Since the publication accepts different views and has a softer and more liberal tone, it has attracted many contributors, including leading artists, writers, and intellectuals from all over the country.

Journalist Hai Duong, former head of Nhan Dan Weekend, recalled that when the newspaper was launched, the veteran journalists advised: “You must know how to cover current affairs in a weekly publication. It is different from daily, monthly and yearly coverage.” 

“In the past 35 years, our weekly newspaper has covered hundreds and thousands of events and current affairs. And it has created its own identity, like no other weekly newspapers. I do not read regularly but I notice that the coverage is lively and diverse. If the judges are more generous, the newspaper content can be said to be good, with special reports on hot-button issues,” shared journalist Hai Duong.

In the past 35 years, our weekly newspaper has covered hundreds and thousands of events and current affairs.

Journalist Hai Duong

In its first issue, Nhan Dan Sunday boasted the distribution and circulation of 100,000 copies all over the country, featuring a clean layout and many in-depth articles on politics, the economy, culture, science, world affairs, and sports, with an elegant style of writing. With the help of many high-quality articles by experts and scientists, Nhan Dan Sunday quickly became an appealing spiritual food to readers every weekend.

Nhan Dan Weekend in the digital age

Like other newspapers, Nhan Dan Weekend is facing fierce competition in the digital age, requiring it to renovate constantly. It is what the Nhan Dan Weekend staff have always been thinking about and are making efforts to do every day, in the application of science and technology and in improving the publishing process so as to miss out in the global digital age. 

Journalist Vu Mai Hoang, head of Nhan Dan Weekend, shared about the newspaper’s way forward in the digital age: “When the public is overwhelmed by a sea of information from unverified sources, Nhan Dan Weekend is the go-to place for readers to acquire useful, accurate, and authoritative information.”

Building an approach for readers both in print and on digital platforms, with a focus on the strengths of in-depth journalism, solution journalism, and data journalism, is the direction of Nhan Dan Weekend.”

The digital transformation process has been strongly promoted by Nhan Dan Weekend over the past two years. The first step is to change the thinking of the entire apparatus through training, retraining, sending staff to attend training courses to improve modern journalism skills, and creating multimedia journalistic works.

What's special is that the staff of Nhan Dan Weekend today are of many ages and generations, some have been with the newspaper for a long time, and some are still new recruits, but they all have their own identity. They are both the oarsmen and anchors leading Nhan Dan Weekend's boat in accordance with the original principles and goals, while also providing the literary quality for the newspaper with the flightiness and calmness in covering hot current affairs. There is also modernity, discovery, and application of many interesting new technologies.

To be able to do so, each person must try many times harder than making a regular newspaper issue. If in the past, each time a newspaper was published, it was only necessary to take care of all the content and information for a newspaper, but now, the team of reporters, editors, and leaders of Nhan Dan Weekend almost have to create two issues at the same time, one in print and one online, with independent expressions.

All the hot topics and attractive content of the newspaper are “processed” again, with additional information boxes, infographics, videos, audio files, images, etc., to build into special and specialising products for the online newspaper. Just like a chef with a recipe, the author reduces or adds new ingredients to create different dishes, creating something new and attractive for readers. From here, the articles take on a new life, becoming richer, more attractive, and more accessible to readers.

This is a way to attract readers to stay longer on the online newspaper, and at the same time inspire them to read the printed newspaper for completely different experiences and information.

From mid-2022, Nhan Dan Weekend online version changed to a new interface with a version specifically for smartphones. This new interface aims to target readers’ common habit of surfing the internet with their phones, while also getting closer to young readers. Now, with Nhan Dan Weekend, readers not only “read” but also “listen” and “watch” the news with a true multimedia platform.

Along with the online version, readers who want to experience reading Nhan Dan Weekend online version can also access the address docbao.nhandan.vn, with newspaper pages uploaded in PDF format. This form of “reading newspapers online” was launched in June 2021, and the PDF version of Nhan Dan Weekend has officially been sold on the online press platform PressReader since May 15, 2022.

Not only stopping at domestic readers, Nhan Dan Weekend also coordinates with Nhan Dan Online Department under Nhan Dan Newspaper to publish specialised topics and translated in-depth articles on foreign language pages. With this approach, Nhan Dan Weekend has contributed to expanding the readership, creating a highlight in foreign affairs information, and maximising the coverage margin for the publication's content.

Currently, with strong movement in the wave of scientific and technological revolution, the press must always be innovating to fulfil its mission of providing information and propaganda while ensuring the living standards of the staff, which is indeed not easy for the head and the board of leaders of the newspaper. I consider this to be a turning point. There are still many people who like to read printed newspapers, but thinking further, it is crucial to meet more diverse needs in different areas worldwide, especially in foreign countries where Vietnamese people are living.

Journalist Le Quang Trang
Former Head of Nhan Dan Weekend Department

Notably, Nhan Dan Weekend won an award for beautiful online newspaper interface at the recent 2024 Spring Newspaper Festival. A print newspaper winning the award for beautiful online newspaper interface is a quite rare event and not all print newspapers can achieve this prize.

Editor-in-Chief Le Quoc Minh affirmed that, as a weekly publication of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Nhan Dan Weekend has created its own mark. In each development period of Nhan Dan Newspaper in general and Nhan Dan Weekend in particular, there will be strategic directions for development.

Nhan Dan Weekend has made efforts to innovate from format to contents, focusing on in-depth topics in the direction of solution journalism and bringing vitality to print newspaper via online form. Contents are selected based on readers' demands and practical requirements while still ensuring the correct orientation of the Party and State.

The weekly newspaper has brought a breath of life with its approach to readers, and it also attracts more writers to the Party newspaper.

Editor-in-Chief Le Quoc Minh said that in the coming time, Nhan Dan Weekend as well as the print daily newspaper in general need to determine the problem of decline in the number of printed copies due to the changing habits of readers in accessing information. “We accept the fact that print newspaper will gradually shrink. However, this acceptance does not mean an acceptance of failure. Instead, we need to proactively create more powerful and richer contents on digital platforms to attract readers. The press of the future is not just articles, video clips, and images, but must offer unique products based on data and tools that provide easy access to readers, audiences, and listeners,” Editor-in-chief Le Quoc Minh affirmed.

Nhan Dan Weekend is also on a journey of innovation, integration with the digital era, and proactive transformation. At the age of 35, Nhan Dan Weekend continues steadily on its journey with new steps and lots of love from readers and press workers.

Published: February 27, 2024
Content: Tuyet Loan
Design: NGOC DIEP