Thinking about current ideological and propaganda work

(Baonghean)Immediately after the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam on February 3, 1930, the Central Committee of our Party established the Propaganda and Agitation Committee, considering it the leading front to propagate and enlighten the masses about Marxism-Leninism, the Party's brief platform, brief strategy and revolutionary line.

The reason why agitation and propaganda work is so important is because "If the ideology is incorrect, the work will be wrong". Uncle Ho emphasized this issue many times. At the 6th Central Party Conference, Session II (1954), among the 10 tasks identified, ideological leadership work was the most important (1). Uncle Ho explained further: "Inside and outside the Party, only when we clearly understand the situation and understand the new tasks can our ideology be unified" (2).

The current complex situation and new tasks require that ideological leadership be strengthened from the central to local levels. Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong - General Secretary of the Party, in a talk with the Central Propaganda Department earlier this year, clearly stated: "It is necessary to have a more complete and profound understanding of the position and role of propaganda work in general, and of Party building work in terms of politics and ideology in particular in the current situation... I would like to mention this with a higher level of awareness due to the complicated developments and higher demands of the current situation."



Provincial leaders visit the PQ1 tangerine model at Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center. Photo: Huu Nghia

Ideological work is of utmost importance, but the difficulty lies in the fact that ideology is very abstract. And about this, Uncle Ho also had some useful teachings. He said: “Pay attention to the way ideas are disseminated. We must be extremely popular, try to go deep into the masses, use common examples that are visible to the eyes to speak, avoid difficult-to-understand terms” and “in propaganda, you should also pay attention to one more thing: we must always respect the truth. If we speak the truth, our propaganda will have many listeners.”

The method is correct, but to do good ideological work, it is necessary to have a team to do propaganda work in general, and the work of building the Party in political ideology in particular, strong enough, highly specialized and closely coordinated. The team of cadres who do propaganda work is not only comrades who directly work in the propaganda sector but also includes those who work in journalism, radio, television, literature and art, education, science, party schools, etc. This team is up to thousands in our province. The requirements of propaganda work today require political courage, steadfastness, absolute loyalty, courage to fight and good professional qualifications. The nature and requirements of propaganda work are increasingly high while the situation is complicated, requiring the ability to speak, write and persuade. The important thing is that in terms of quality, absolutely not be tempted by money or material things, not fall into the traps of hostile forces. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized: "Those who educate must also be educated, those who do ideological work must also be nurtured ideologically."

The tasks of ideological work and propaganda work now and in the coming years are very heavy and extremely glorious. Comrade Dinh The Huynh - Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Propaganda Department also identified the difficulties and challenges for the sector and clearly stated them at the National Conference on January 14, 2012 in Da Nang City.

Here I would like to add a few more ideas for the propaganda sector of the province. The 17th Resolution of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee has clear goals such as: Developing the socio-economic situation of the western region, key economic zones, building Vinh City into the economic and cultural center of the North Central region. In short, the propaganda work must clarify and thoroughly grasp the 7 topics and 5 programs and projects stated in the congress resolution. Not only in the Party Committee but also all the people. From awareness to action, the resolution will become reality by the end of the 2014-2015 term.

Currently, our Party Central Committee and provincial Party Committees are focusing on directing propaganda work, orienting public opinion on "hot", prominent and pressing issues in society. Organizing the struggle on viewpoints to correct distorted perceptions and especially to refute the wrong viewpoints of hostile forces, protecting the Party's and State's guidelines, in which the most prominent is the struggle against the exploitation of democracy, human rights, religion, the plot of peaceful evolution - violent overthrow, denying the Party's leadership role on the path to socialism. The struggle and clarification of the Party's correct viewpoint must be a struggle to protect the entire Party and the entire people, first of all the team of people doing propaganda work, the main team of the Party's ideological work.

On the other hand, public opinion across the country is turning to two major movements: Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh and building and rectifying the Party in the spirit of the Resolution of the 4th Central Conference (11th tenure). For the second major movement, it is not only to solve "Some urgent issues on Party building at present" but also to strengthen trust in the Party. Therefore, the task of the Propaganda sector must be to be a shock soldier on the ideological and cultural front. The Propaganda sector not only encourages and guides the struggle for quality self-criticism and criticism but also organizes, summarizes, and advises Party committees at all levels on the work of Party building in terms of politics, ideology, policies and viewpoints of the Party in the field of propaganda. At the same time, as a professional agency in that field, the Propaganda Department at all levels has a very wide scope of activities, very rich and important content in two major areas: propaganda and education. Propaganda committees at all levels guide propaganda for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the fields of culture, arts and education in general, ideological issues in each period, and specific tasks of the Party Committee.

Over the past years, propagandists nationwide as well as in Nghe An have followed Uncle Ho's teachings to select typical, objective, and beneficial facts for the people, ensuring Party character for propaganda; have proactively done a good job of providing information, orienting ideology and public opinion, especially on major, important, and sensitive issues.

In the first 6 months of 2012 alone, the Propaganda Department of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee organized 6 conferences for reporters for nearly 1,000 propaganda officers and reporters at the provincial and district levels; promptly oriented information and provided current news in the province, domestically and internationally in the fields of economy, culture, society, national defense - security, and Party building; issued regulations for conferences of reporters at the provincial level; many propaganda departments of districts, cities, town committees, affiliated party committees, the Fatherland Front and provincial-level organizations organized monthly conferences of reporters for thousands of listeners.

The Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department has also focused on advising on the completion of the provincial-level reporting team in 2012 according to the new regulations of the Central Committee with 53 comrades. The Propaganda Department at all levels has completed its reporting team with 619 comrades; At the monthly reporting conference, in addition to the content of current information, the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws, it also incorporates topics on population work - family planning, security and order, environmental protection, etc. Every month, it grasps the outstanding ideological situation and public opinion in the area to report to all levels and sectors for monitoring and handling; effectively implements information and public opinion work, etc. Thanks to that, the political situation in our province has been stable, creating trust among all classes of people in the Party, contributing to the successful implementation of economic, cultural and social development goals; maintain national defense and security, ensure social order and safety.

On the occasion of the traditional day of the Propaganda sector, review the teachings of Uncle Ho, recall the main principles and viewpoints of propaganda ideological work and the most recent directives of the General Secretary, the Head of the Central Propaganda Department... to help the propaganda sector of the province develop more quickly and firmly, meeting the increasing demands of the new situation and tasks.

(1), (2): Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, National Political Publishing House, 2000, volume 7, page 319.

To Hong Hai - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department