60th Anniversary of Nghe An Newspaper's Establishment (1961 - 2021): We are still young

In 1961, I graduated from the Vocational College at the Nghe An Transport Department. At that time, Nghe An Newspaper had just been established. At that time, a young man in his 20s who had just graduated from school, accumulating more knowledge to grow up was something I really wanted. I read newspapers a lot, first of all, Nghe An Newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Provincial Party Committee. Then, as I matured in the Youth Union, I also read Tien Phong Newspaper of the Central Youth Union. I consider these two newspapers as my teachers because they helped me accumulate a lot of practical knowledge, knowledge about culture and politics. Since 1965, I started writing articles for Nghe An Newspaper and was cared for, trained, and guided by the Newspaper, especially by the help of comrade Nguyen Huong - the first Editor-in-Chief. In 1987, I was assigned by the Provincial Party Standing Committee to work as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper. Then, from 1994 to 2000, I was assigned as Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper.

During its glorious development, Nghe An Newspaper has gone through countless difficulties. And in any period, no matter how difficult or arduous, the newspaper of the provincial Party Committee still maintains its political orientation, truly being a tool of the Party, the government and a forum for the People. The collective is united, dedicated, closely following the grassroots, always working creatively to produce good works to serve the general public and readers. Although it is a local newspaper, the writing skills, skills and talents of the reporters of Nghe An Newspaper are what make us extremely proud.

A newspaper that wants to stand firm and develop must have a large, quality team of contributors. I am very happy that we have a large, dedicated team of contributors, many of whom have left their mark on readers.

The current information explosion is very fierce, I hope Nghe An Newspaper will continue to innovate strongly and decisively; master modern technology. We are proud of our talented young reporters, but we must not be complacent but must look thoroughly, objectively and modestly to constantly nurture, train and hone them to better meet the requirements of reality. We must strive so that the newspaper will forever be worthy of the tradition of a Party Committee rich in culture, rich in patriotism, rich in revolutionary spirit with hardworking and brave people./.

To be exact, Nghe An Newspaper dates its establishment to 1930, since our province had the publication “Nghe An Do”. I joined the newspaper when I was 40 years old, at that time I thought about how I could inherit and promote the glorious tradition of Nghe An Newspaper. My colleagues and I built a development strategy for Nghe An Newspaper. The printed newspaper increased from 3 to 4 issues/week; opened the Nghe An Weekend publication, then the Ethnic - Mountainous Region special page; then implemented the project to build Nghe An Electronic Newspaper and the project to build a new headquarters for Nghe An Newspaper. We also focused on building the Nghe An Newspaper Regulations. These regulations are considered the “laws” of the Newspaper in which members must comply. I remember very clearly, when Nghe An Newspaper had a set of regulations, many other newspapers such as Thai Nguyen Newspaper, Quang Ninh Newspaper, Thanh Hoa Newspaper and some others asked for the regulations for reference. And they said that the Nghe An Newspaper Regulations were very easy to apply and scientific.

Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Nghe An Newspaper. According to the old people, sixty is considered old, but I think we are still very young, and this youth combined with the glorious tradition and experience of journalism will certainly make our Nghe An Newspaper enter a new period of development. I even think we are entering a renewal. And this renewal will surpass itself, overcome difficulties and challenges.

This is the period we call digital society, digital media, digital government and multimedia communication competing with social networks and Internet media. This requires Nghe An Newspaper not only to innovate its thinking but also to further improve its professional capacity and modern journalism skills; to work quickly, accurately and sharply. Party journalism must not only be correct but also good, attractive, widespread, and attract readers to its side.

I would like to express my gratitude to our predecessors, those who are old as well as those who have passed away, martyrs and generations of cadres, reporters, editors and staff through the ages. I hope Nghe An Newspaper will always be like its twenties.

I came to work at Nghe An Newspaper when the editorial office had already been shaped in terms of facilities, personnel as well as the journalism style of a strong newspaper among the top local Party newspapers. At that time, Nghe An Newspaper had published daily newspapers, had an electronic newspaper and had a team of well-trained editors, reporters and staff who were very good at their profession. I realized that working with dedicated people, in a good environment with the brand of a prestigious Party newspaper was a great opportunity for me to complete my tasks well. It can be said that those were extremely rewarding years, leaving unforgettable marks in my journalism career.

After moving to a new assignment, I have always accompanied and followed the development of Nghe An Newspaper and I am very impressed with the fact that initially the newspaper only published 3 to 4 issues a week and had only 4 pages, but now Nghe An Newspaper has published 8 issues/week and each issue has 8 pages (in addition to the Weekend issue and the Mountainous - Ethnic special page).

It can be said that this is a great development in experience, practice and journalistic capacity. That capacity cannot be achieved everywhere because it requires potential, strength and intellectual power to be able to do so.

My colleagues in many localities highly appreciate the Nghe An electronic newspaper. And consider it a diverse information channel, reflecting well all aspects not only in Nghe An but also in the whole country. Occasionally, I still receive phone calls from friends and colleagues praising the way Nghe An electronic newspaper works. Some people even say: "Your Nghe An newspaper does a pretty good job, we regularly follow and learn from it."

In 2010 and 2011, digital media and social media developed rapidly, and this reality required us to innovate our journalism style. Our salvation at that time was the convergent newsroom model. We explored, learned, and wrote the Multimedia Convergence Newsroom Project. Reality showed that the condition for making a "revolution" at that time in the Newspaper was to change thinking and awareness. From the trust of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, and the trust of the staff and reporters of the unit, we boldly implemented all ideas; integrating all ideas of the elderly, young people, and even those who were just starting out in the profession. By 2013, the convergent newsroom model of Nghe An Newspaper was operating smoothly. The staff and reporters who once thought they could not meet the new journalism process did very well.

In 2015, Nghe An Newspaper was honored to be awarded the title of Labor Hero in the Renovation Period by the Party and State. This is a pride and honor not of a single period but of a 60-year journey.

I am very proud that I have spent 30 years working with Nghe An Newspaper, accompanying the journalists of the provincial Party Committee. Now that I have moved to a new field, a new job, I see that my life experiences in journalism have given me a rich background for me to develop and be steadfast in my work. I am grateful for the years I have spent at Nghe An Newspaper./.