The role of journalism is to create consensus and momentum.

Politburo member, Central Committee Secretary, and Head of the Central Propaganda Department Vo Van Thuong instructed the press not to indulge in trivial pleasures but to play a role in guiding public opinion in accordance with the revolutionary requirements of the Party, the State, and the people.

Vo Van Thuong, member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, and Head of the Central Propaganda Department, delivered a speech at the conference.

On the morning of April 22nd, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Journalists Association held a national conference to summarize the association's work and emulation and reward activities in 2015, and to outline the direction and tasks for 2016.

Attending the event were Politburo member, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, Head of the Central Propaganda Department Vo Van Thuong; Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang; Central Committee member, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan newspaper, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association Thuan Huu; Central Committee member, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan, along with leaders of press agencies, central and local journalists' associations and branches.

In his address to the conference, Mr. Vo Van Thuong highly appreciated the role and comprehensive results in terms of organization, professional work, foreign relations, social and charitable activities of the Vietnam Journalists Association in 2015, especially the successful organization of the 10th National Congress. He also pointed out the limitations, shortcomings, and weaknesses in the Association's activities in the past period. These include the fact that the Association's role in providing political guidance for journalistic information has not been fully utilized.

The role of journalism is to create consensus and momentum.

The monitoring of the ideological trends and developments among members, the timely defense of journalists who are threatened or assaulted, and the criticism of journalists who abuse their positions for negative purposes have, in some cases, led to regrettable consequences and complicated issues. The quality of staff working for the association also does not meet the requirements of current journalistic development.

Mr. Thuong suggested that in the future, the Association's activities should focus on gathering, uniting, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of its members, and encouraging the creativity and dedication of journalists. The goal is to build the association into a truly warm home for colleagues, a place for connection, interaction, trust, and sharing among its members.

According to Mr. Vo Van Thuong, political training and moral character development for journalists need to be given more attention and strengthened in the context of media and social life, which, although rich, diverse, and vibrant, gives rise to many new and complex issues, such as exploiting freedom and democracy to engage in illegal activities and go against the values ​​and goals of revolutionary journalism.

Some writers exhibit professional inadequacy and detachment from reality. Many journalists not only remain detached but sometimes even presume to be above life to judge and criticize. Some writers show signs of ideological and political decline and moral decay. If journalists' associations at all levels, branches, and media organizations frankly acknowledge, discuss, and seek out the decline of writers in each piece of information, article, and feature, then it is possible to detect, correct, and prevent this decline.

“The Vietnam Journalists Association is a socio-political and professional organization, but in some places it only emphasizes its socio-professional nature. Our goal and mission is to guide public opinion to serve the revolution and the people. Many of us often say that we base our designs on the needs of readers, relying on the enjoyment needs of a certain segment of readers to decide which articles to put on the front page or inside pages… We must agree that content serving the needs and revolutionary cause of the Party, the State, and the people in the current period must be presented prominently, while issues within the responsibilities and duties stipulated by regulations should be handled with maximum autonomy by the newspapers,” Mr. Vo Van Thuong emphasized.

The Head of the Central Propaganda Department requested the Vietnam Journalists Association to actively participate in the implementation of the press planning project. The press should strengthen its propaganda efforts to create unity of will within the Party, consensus in society, and momentum to resolutely implement the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress, study and follow the ideology, ethics, and style of Ho Chi Minh, and contribute to combating ideological, political, moral, and lifestyle degradation among cadres and Party members…

The delegates attending the conference presented 13 papers, engaging in lively discussions on practical issues in association work and professional practice. The association also conducted a summary and awarded prizes for outstanding performance in 2015.

According to Tien Phong