Mainstream journalistic works honoured on Revolutionary Press Day
Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on the mainstream press to strive to observe its basic tenets of accuracy, verification and speed in this era of growing social media presence and rampant toxic information.
He made the remarks during his opening speech at the
National Press Awards held in Hanoi on June 21 on the 94th Vietnam
Revolutionary Press Day (June 21).
Speaking of the difficulties facing the mainstream press from the intense
competition of social media, the PM said that while social media has shown its
positive impacts, it has also aided in the spreading of disinformation,
unverified and fake news that are threatening to overtake mainstream media.
The mainstream press has become a robust and trusted force of the State and the
Party on the forefront of information and communication, he stated.
Discovering and combating corruption, wastefulness, bureaucracy, political
perversion and moral decline, especially among Party members and
Government officials also need to be among the press’ highest priorities,
he said.
However, the Vietnamese Government leader also urged members of the press to
keep positive information in the public consciousness.
Fighting against negative phenomena must be done in a constructive manner and
the press has the responsibility to highlight exemplary models to
spread the positive, promote consensus in the public, nurture the ambition of a
strong and thriving country, the PM noted.
He conveyed his best gratitude and regards to the contributions made by
generations of members of the press around the country and congratulated all
the prize holders this year.
With 18,000 accredited press members who boast high degrees of professionalism,
knowledge, skills and can keep up with modern trends, Vietnamese reporters and
journalists have lived up to the late President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings, who
said “your pens are the sharpest weapons in the combat against evils and the
sustenance of the good.”
At the ceremony, PM Phuc and Politburo member Tran Quoc Vuong handed the top
prizes to six of the best journalistic works.
They included an investigative piece on deforestation crimes by the VietnamPlus
online newspaper under the Vietnam News Agency, a series on Vietnam brand-name
goods by Nhan Dan (People) newspaper, a collection of articles on boosting
linkages in agriculture and an emotional TV series entitled “A lifetime wish”
by the Voice of Vietnam on Vietnamese war veterans’ desire to locate the
remains of their fallen comrades.
People’s Public Security TV channel and Hung Yen Province TV and radio also
earned the highest praise for their investigation into the health benefits of
gold nanoparticles and a documentary on the efforts to reduce the harm of
chemical pesticides in the province’s famous lychee orchards, respectively.
This year’s national press awards honoured a total of 106 journalistic works,
with 24 winning second prizes, 42 third prizes and 34 runner-up prizes, which
are deemed to have displayed great quality in both form and ideology.-VNA