A heartfelt message to Nghe An Newspaper.

Decades passed, and it wasn't until 1981 that I reconnected with newspapers, first the Nghe Tinh Newspaper, then the Nghe An Newspaper, and for a time also the Nghe An Police Newspaper and the Nghe An Labor Newspaper. Because of this connection, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the first issue of the Nghe An Newspaper, I'm taking a moment to share my thoughts and feelings.

From its early days, Nghe An Newspaper was published 8 times a month, now it's published daily, plus Nghe An Weekend; from 4 pages to 8 pages; from black and white to color printing; from 9 staff members to 75 staff, reporters, and technicians; and from a circulation of 2,000 copies per issue to 16,000 copies per issue.

Month after month, year after year, Nghe An Newspaper grows, matures, and innovates both in quantity and quality, in content and form, integrating with the national press in the trend of modern journalism. Nghe An Newspaper deserves to be the organ of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the voice of the Party, government, and people of Nghe An.

The author with Nghe An newspaper. Photo: Thanh Le

It is particularly noteworthy that Nghe An Newspaper has been awarded the title of "Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period" by the Party and the State. The Party Committee, the government, and the people of Nghe An have a "child" that has matured, innovated, and created on the ideological and cultural fronts, something to be very proud of.

During my time working, I had the opportunity to visit various provinces. Wherever I went, I would ask friends to let me see and read their local newspapers. I was delighted to see that our local newspaper was in no way inferior to other newspapers, if not to say that our local newspaper was among the best. I sincerely hope that the Nghe An Newspaper will inherit and build upon the lessons and achievements left by many generations of our predecessors. We must absolutely not become complacent or stop there.

The proud achievements we have today are, first and foremost, due to the unwavering attention of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee to Nghe An Newspaper, both politically, ideologically, and organizationally, as well as spiritually and materially. Thanks to this unwavering support, generations of cadres, reporters, editors, and especially the first generations, have worked and fought selflessly, overcoming all hardships and sacrifices to build a solid foundation for Nghe An Newspaper.

It is impossible not to fully acknowledge the contributions of thousands of collaborators and correspondents from all levels and sectors to the achievements of Nghe An Newspaper. And especially the support, protection, love, and care of the people of all ethnic groups in the province for Nghe An Newspaper, particularly during the years of the resistance war against the US. All of the above are the source and roots that have made Nghe An Newspaper "many branches, many leaves, and abundant fruit" today.

The sentiments above are to share joy with Nghe An Newspaper. And the sentiments expressed here are to share concerns about making our "home" newspaper more attractive and contributing more effectively, helping to make Nghe An a prosperous province in the region by 2025, as defined in the Resolution of the 19th Provincial Party Congress.

"The voice of the Party Committee and the government of Nghe An" is quite strong and effective. But the voice of the people of Nghe An needs to be further amplified. Perhaps the Nghe An Newspaper should have a section called "People's Opinions." By "people," we mean all those who work tirelessly day and night in the fields, in businesses, in agencies, and at the grassroots level. Through this section, we can create another channel for dialogue between the people and the Party and government at all levels. How to create this section, I would like to discuss directly with the Editorial Board.

Nghe An Newspaper held a meeting with its collaborators in 2018. Photo courtesy of Duc Anh.

The newspaper, together with the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, monitors and reminds at least 100% of officials and all levels, from the grassroots to the provincial level, to know and read the Nghe An newspaper, to know how to exploit and use all the information in the Nghe An newspaper, and to apply it to their work. Reading newspapers in general, and the Nghe An newspaper in particular, should be considered a form of learning. Learning to gain more knowledge, learning to act more effectively. Producing a newspaper is necessary, but how that newspaper is used correctly and effectively is even more important.

In recent years, the Nghe An newspaper has stopped transliterating Vietnamese nouns (names of places, people, events, etc.) and has primarily written them in English. Many readers cannot read them, so this should be considered. Don't be afraid of anyone saying the Nghe An newspaper doesn't know English.

We all know that "reviving the Mekong Delta" is a major and extremely difficult problem for Nghe An province. For many years, the Mekong Delta has remained a source of concern. Perhaps the Economic section of the Nghe An newspaper should have a column titled "Proposing Solutions for the Mekong Delta." With the spirit of "Three skilled craftsmen are worth one strategist," this column could mobilize and gather the knowledge and expertise of many knowledgeable people to help the districts and the province develop appropriate policies and mechanisms to enable the Mekong Delta to achieve breakthroughs.

Having a special section on mountainous and ethnic minority areas in the Nghe An Weekend edition every week is good. However, it's necessary to objectively assess the effectiveness of this section. Do the people, especially the officials from villages and hamlets to communes and districts, enjoy reading this section? To what extent do they enjoy it? Is it useful? Does it help them change their way of thinking and doing things? Perhaps the Nghe An Newspaper should conduct a thorough survey to find the answers. From there, improvements can be made, and if necessary, both the content and format of the section should be reformed with the goal of enhancing its practical effectiveness for readers.

I remember that from 1962 to 1967, our province had the newspaper "Western Nghe An," and what the "Western Nghe An" newspaper achieved was a valuable asset for us to think about and create a better, more useful, and more effective special section on mountainous and ethnic minorities.

Feelings are meant to be shared. Feelings are meant to make the bond of love even stronger, as in the poem by the poet Ho Xuan Huong: "If it is meant to be, then the bond will grow stronger."