This was the emphasis of Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan regarding the direction of media development in the coming period.

In 2015, the Ministry of Information and Communications continued to strengthen state management in all areas such as journalism, publishing, postal services, telecommunications, information technology, and information security… At the same time, it finalized the plan for the development and management of journalism until 2025 and submitted it to the Politburo.

VOV reporters interviewed Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan about the direction of media development in the coming period.

PV: Sir, one of the issues currently attracting attention in the information and communication sector is the media development plan until 2025. Could you elaborate on the content of this plan?

Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan: The plan for the development and management of the press until 2025 was presented by the Party Committee and the Government to the 10th Central Committee Conference. Currently, the Ministry of Information and Communications is advising on finalizing it for submission to the Politburo in the near future. This is a very important issue that the Central Committee Conference is focusing on to guide the healthy and properly oriented development of the press.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan - (Photo: Phuong Thuy)

The plan for the development and management of the press until 2025 emphasizes that development must go hand in hand with good management. Many people simply think the plan is just a restructuring of the press. While it's true that there is restructuring, it's done on the basis of enabling the press to develop more strongly and in the right direction, providing the people with more complete and accurate information. Our press is a revolutionary press. The press must be the mouthpiece and forum of the people, raising issues of public concern and conveying the Party's guidelines and the State's policies to the people. Therefore, the press must be objective, truthful, and timely in its reporting.

PV: Currently, there are over 800 media outlets nationwide. According to the plan for the development and management of the press until 2025, how will the restructuring be implemented, sir?

Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan: In the context of the strong global development of social media, journalism must keep pace with this trend. Therefore, it is necessary to build multimedia news organizations. Currently, we already have multimedia news organizations. For example, the Voice of Vietnam Radio has all four types of media: radio, television, print, and online. Many other news organizations also have 2-3 types. Journalism needs to develop in line with the progress of science and technology.

In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications is also reorganizing its structure by eliminating unnecessary elements. Currently, there is a situation where a media organization has one main publication but too many supplementary publications. These supplementary publications are further divided into many more. The main publication adheres to its principles and objectives, but the supplementary publications deviate from them. If any supplementary publication deviates from the principles and objectives and is no longer necessary, we must shut it down.

Furthermore, many media outlets duplicate or overlap content. Many media outlets excessively plagiarize information from colleagues, violating copyright and requiring appropriate action. In some localities or agencies, there are too many media outlets, leading to misdirection and duplication of information.

PV: The explosive development of information technology has created new forms of media and news. So, in your opinion, what opportunities and challenges do these new forms create for journalism today?

Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan: The internet and social media are developing rapidly. This is a global trend, and Vietnam is no exception. We can see that the internet and social media are developing very strongly in Vietnam. This is an opportunity to access information quickly, effectively, and comprehensively. People can grasp information instantly after an event occurs, even in a very distant location, or even anywhere in the world.

With the development of the internet and social media, the world has become a flat world. However, this also poses challenges for management. This is also one of the important tasks set by the information and communication sector in 2015: How to manage to prevent harmful information from infiltrating the system. For harmful and toxic information, we must have measures such as providing more accurate information, ensuring information is disseminated proactively… only then can we prevent harmful information. In the field of information, information disseminated proactively is more beneficial. Therefore, press agencies must proactively provide accurate information to the entire population as quickly as possible. State agencies and Party organizations must also proactively provide information, especially in areas closely related to and practical for the people, so that people understand better.

PV: Yes, thank you, Mr. Deputy Minister.

According to Vov.vn