Continuing the glorious mission of the revolutionary press

Thanh Nien (Youth) Newspaper, founded by Nguyen Ai Quoc (later known as President Ho Chi Minh) 95 years ago on June 21, 1925, marking the start of Vietnam’s revolutionary press.

Politburo member Tran Quoc Vuong presents flowers to veteran journalists at conference held in Hanoi on June 13 as part of activities to mark the 95th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.
Politburo member Tran Quoc Vuong presents flowers to veteran journalists at conference held in Hanoi on June 13 as part of activities to mark the 95th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.

Vietnam’s revolutionary press has undergone a glorious and arduous journey to grow while implementing its noble mission and great responsibility of serving the revolution and the people.

As beloved President Ho Chi Minh said, journalists should be soldiers, with their pens and paper being their sharp weapons, making a worthy contribution to the struggle for national independence, unification and defence.

Under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, revolutionary journalists have always been loyal to the interests of the Fatherland and the people, making important contributions to the country's renewal process while constantly improving itself and maturing. We have never had so many forms of media or powerful writers as today.

After 35 years of renewal, the national press has made great progress in terms of personnel, technology and professional qualifications. The press has held an increasingly major and indispensable role in the social life of the country.

With their dedication, devotion, high responsibility and sacrifice, journalists have created a lot of press works in the spirit of innovation and support for new factors and good deeds in society. Press works have reflected the achievements of economic, cultural and social development as well as the work of Party building, State building and the promotion of people's ownership rights.

The press not only serves as a bridge between the Party and State and the people but also contributes to improving people's intellectual standards and expanding the nation’s external relations amid extensive integration.

The world and regional situations are currently volatile and unpredictable with the unprecedented effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has created great challenges and profound impacts on our country. In addition, the achievements of modern science and technology have had a great impact on the activities of traditional press, resulting in non-traditional "competition" in terms of readers, advertising, and so on. This complicated practice is the “test” for press agencies and for each journalist regarding their development strategy, skill and morality.

This year, the implementation of the national planning on press development and management by 2025 also faces many challenges, requiring great effort and determination. More attention should be paid to developing the press towards modernisation in the context of the market economy, international integration and the boom in information technology and communication. The Party's views and policies on the press must be concretised and institutionalised while human resource training in this area should be promoted.

Party congresses at all levels for the 2020-2025 term are being held across the country to prepare for the 13th National Party Congress, an extensive political activity of the entire Party, people and army. The congress is organised in the context that the country has undergone 35 years of renewal, 30 years of implementing the Platform on building the country in the transitional period to socialism, and 10 years of implementing the 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy with great achievements.

As such, the press needs to continue promoting the glorious tradition, fulfilling its responsibility as a vanguard force on the cultural-ideological front, and intensifying the fight against wrong and hostile allegations and false, fake, fabricated or distorted information on social networks and the internet in order to safeguard the ideology, Platform, and policies of the Party.

The press should continue to renew and improve the quality of information and communication activities, thus contributing to consolidating the people's confidence in the Party and the State, creating social consensus, and building a national great unity bloc.

In addition, the press needs to boost propaganda movements so that people from all walks of life will contribute their ideas to the draft documents of the 13th National Party Congress, from which appropriate supplements to the Party's guidelines and State's policies will be made, contributing to the cause of national construction and defence in the new situation.

To celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, the journalist circle will constantly strive to improve their political integrity, professional ethics, social responsibility, and professional qualifications to steadily overcome all difficulties to build and defend the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The current revolutionary journalist circle will make every effort to deserve to be the “soldiers” on the cultural and ideological front, as per Uncle Ho’s instruction, and will strive for a revolutionary, professional, modern and humane press.