Publishing and using party newspapers: Towards sustainable goals

(Baonghean) - In recent years, the use of party newspapers in party organizations and bases has become a routine, and daily updates from party newspapers have become one of the official "channels" for party cell activities and public opinion orientation. To meet that requirement, Nghe An Newspaper focuses on improving the content of its publications, actively improving the presentation format, bringing the public domestic and international news in the fastest, most accurate, and most attractive way.

To date, Nghe An Newspaper is one of the three party newspapers with the largest circulation in the country, just behind Saigon Giai Phong and Hanoi Moi. Currently, the printed publication of Nghe An Newspaper has reached a circulation of 15,550 copies per day. The agency also aims to distribute more widely and promptly to many readers.

Leaders of schools in Dien Chau signed a contract to subscribe to Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: T. Huong

To ensure the right to seamless information provision for readers, the Editorial Board of Nghe An Newspaper together with the leaders of the Postal sector agreed on the form of signing a yearly newspaper subscription contract, with quarterly payment for all units and individuals, to be implemented throughout the province from January 1, 2015. After agreeing on the contract form and signing form, the professional departments of Nghe An Newspaper reported and received the coordination of the Propaganda Department and the Standing Committees of the District Party Committees.

Thanh Chuong district was chosen as the first implementation point to gain experience. In 1 day, 5 working groups including the Propaganda Department, Nghe An Newspaper and the post office came to work and sign directly with 30/40 units. The remaining number was taken care of by the post office, the leaders of these units all agreed to support and implement well. This is the first district to complete the yearly newspaper subscription in most grassroots party organizations.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Anh - Head of the District Party Committee's Propaganda Department said: "The policy of buying newspapers for the whole year and paying quarterly meets a number of practical issues. It helps the Post Office and the Propaganda Department to grasp the number of grassroots party organizations that fully perform the Party's tasks. There is no need to re-issue contracts every quarter, and there is no restriction on receiving information from party newspapers due to late orders... To implement synchronously, we have advised the Standing Committee to issue documents requesting units to implement. Most party committees at all levels highly agree with this policy. In addition, the District Party Committee's Standing Committee also issued Directive 17 on the purchase and use of party newspapers, so there are more and more effective models of using party newspapers."

After Thanh Chuong are Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Nghia Dan, Thai Hoa Town, Cua Lo Town, Nam Dan... Each unit has its own characteristics, but the common goal is to ensure the right to use Party documents promptly, fully, and save time. Nghi Loc District has 30 rural Party Committees, in 2014, some Party Committees still used the budget to buy Party newspapers for other activities. To overcome this, the District Finance Department has provided guidance on the use of the budget, detailed allocation, and at the same time, measures to recover if used for the wrong purpose. In a short time, all rural Party Committees have implemented well the year-long contract with the post office. Mr. Nguyen Van Than - Director of Nghi Loc Post Office said: "Although it is only the first year of implementation, it has shown the superiority of this method. Next year, we only need to learn from experience to issue directive documents earlier and do it in all grassroots Party organizations, it will gradually become a habit.

For the Education Sector, there is a characteristic that during the Summer holidays, many school Party cells do not subscribe to newspapers. In the past two years, due to the full implementation of the policies of the Standing Committees of districts and towns and the high awareness of the leaders of the departments, many units still achieved 100% of school Party cells subscribing to newspapers for the whole year such as: Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, Tan Ky, Quy Chau, Thanh Chuong... Units: Vinh City, Do Luong, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen... still have many schools cutting newspapers during the Summer holidays. If a contract is signed for the whole year in all school Party cells in the province, the strong coordination of the leaders of the Department of Education is needed. Some units have implemented it, such as Thanh Chuong and Dien Chau Education Departments... Nghia Dan Education Department also issued Official Dispatch No. 19/PGD&DT – VP with a proposal section... "Request Nghe An Newspaper to directly work with the publishing agency and Nghe An Post Office to register for each school unit 1 issue of newspaper/day for the entire year of 2015...".

To form the habit of subscribing to newspapers for the whole year and paying quarterly in all units and individuals in the province, a roadmap is still needed. In which, the most important thing is the awareness of the leaders. It is necessary to clearly identify the source of funding allocated according to Decision 99 to spend on Party activities. This source of funding must not be used for other expenses, and the reason of not having money must not be used to not buy party newspapers as materials for activities. The financial sector at all levels, in addition to allocating sufficient budget resources, needs to strengthen the work of guiding, checking and supervising the use. The post office must guide and explain to units the benefits of subscribing to newspapers for the whole year, regularly update reporting data to the Propaganda Department to promptly advise the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to issue written reminders to units that have not done well.

For Party Committees and Party Cells of enterprises that are not operating effectively, there should be solutions to report to superiors for handling to ensure the right to information for Party members and staff. The Nghe An Newspaper Department needs to regularly perform inspection and supervision functions to promptly detect which units use budget sources to buy Party newspapers to spend on other areas to propose to the district finance department to take measures to remind and recover; at the same time, reward units that do well, encourage and remind units that do not implement seriously.

Currently, the signing of annual newspaper subscription contracts is still not implemented in some units such as: Vinh City, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, Quy Chau, Con Cuong... However, with the goal of bringing Party information to readers in the fastest and most sustainable way, this policy will continue to be implemented in the coming time. In addition to the efforts of Nghe An Newspaper, the Post Office also needs more responsible participation of the entire political system, in which the issuance of directive documents such as in Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc districts and the serious implementation of Party committees at all levels have contributed to bringing Party newspapers to the grassroots more continuously and sustainably...

Dam Phuong