"People ask, Minister answers" criticized, VTV General Director speaks up

Regarding the program "People ask, Ministers answer" broadcast weekly on VTV1 channel, Vietnam Television (VTV), many voters in Quang Nam province and Hanoi city said that the program has not fully reflected the pressing issues that voters are concerned about. In addition, some ministers participating in the program answered in general terms, sometimes even avoided answering questions directly, not showing the true role and responsibility of a Minister and not meeting the people's expectations.

Voters suggest that Vietnam Television needs to improve the quality of the program "People ask, Minister answers"

Voters suggested that VTV should improve the quality, increase the program's broadcasting time, choose practical and pressing issues that the public is interested in, and thoroughly investigate so that the Ministers can satisfactorily answer the program's questions and those raised by the people.

Responding to voters' comments and suggestions, General Director of Vietnam Television Tran Binh Minh said that after more than 2 years of broadcasting, the program "People ask, Minister answers" has contributed to orienting public opinion and has received public attention by focusing on "hot" issues.

However, Mr. Tran Binh Minh also acknowledged the opinions of voters, because besides many Ministers who answered well, with quality, and correctly addressed the issues that people were concerned about, there were still Ministers who answered but did not meet the people's requirements. The most important reason for this is that the program depends on the level of frankness of the Minister on the issues that people are concerned about.

“Vietnam Television has also recognized this issue and has made efforts to improve the quality of the program through reporters' questioning skills, thereby helping the Ministers express the issues mentioned in the best and most understandable way,” said Mr. Tran Binh Minh.

According to Mr. Minh, according to statistics, more than 70% of questions sent to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs are related to the implementation of policies for people with meritorious services, the rest focus mostly on land disputes sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries.

Faced with overly specific and atypical reflections, in order to fit the program's direction, VTV had to synthesize the most relevant, "hottest" and most effective issues for society to interview the Ministers. Regarding the broadcast duration, upon request, the program was extended from 7-8 minutes, then increased to 10 minutes.

Regarding the idea of ​​increasing the program's duration, Mr. Minh said: "Because this is a political discussion program, 10 minutes per program is enough for the Minister to talk about the orientation of a policy and for people to fully absorb the information. In addition, this is a program broadcast in the 7 p.m. news program, so 10 minutes is a lot."

Receiving voters' comments, VTV General Director Tran Binh Minh affirmed that he will continue to improve the quality of the program, choosing hot and key issues of public interest as topics for interviews and dialogues.

According to Infonet