Promoting the pioneering role of the press in the fight against corruption and negativity

Attending the conference were comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Comrades: Le Ba Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Information and Communications; Kha Van Tam - Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Tran Duy Ngoan - Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association of Nghe An province chaired the conference.

The comrades chairing the conference. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to the assessment, in 2017, in general, press agencies closely followed the propaganda orientation of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department; increasingly effectively performed the function of social supervision and criticism, contributing to strengthening people's trust in the Party and State.

However, the conference also frankly acknowledged the shortcomings and limitations that need to be corrected, mainly issues such as: many newspapers do not operate in accordance with their principles, purposes, and do not serve the right target audience as specified in their licenses...

Currently, Nghe An province has 48 press agencies operating, including 7 provincial press agencies, 41 representative and resident agencies licensed to operate in the area, including 33 press agencies belonging to ministries, branches, and central associations, 8 local press agencies, 7 magazine agencies, etc.

There are also violations of advertising, intellectual property, and copyright in the press sector; violations of professional ethics, harassment, and extortion from businesses tend to increase; and there are cases of "ganging up" on a case...

In 2018, the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department requested that press agencies focus on promoting political and ideological education and propaganda, creating a unified will and social consensus to successfully implement the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress and the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress for the 2015-2020 term.

Press agencies also need to promote their pioneering role in the fight to prevent and repel the degradation of political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the organization; fight against corruption, waste, and negativity; prevent and refute distorted, incorrect, and hostile information and viewpoints, etc.

Press agencies must improve the quality of information and propaganda; overcome the tendency to deviate from principles and purposes, and lack political responsibility; and build a team of journalists with strong political will, strong ethics, professional skills, and dedication.

Comrade Le Ba Hung - Director of the Department of Information and Communications concluded the conference. Photo: Hoai Thu

The conference also evaluated press work in February 2017 and oriented work for March 2018.

Concluding the conference, comrade Le Ba Hung acknowledged the positive contributions of press agencies in disseminating the results and activities of all aspects of the province in recent times; at the same time, he said that he would continue to maintain and improve the quality of press conferences to improve the quality of information and propaganda; and promote the role of journalists in building and developing the province.