Revocation of the publishing license for the book "Dòng đời" (Life's Journey).

The Ministry of Information and Communications has revoked the license granted to the newspaper Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Rural Today) to publish the supplement "Dong Doi" (Life's Flow). This is the first supplementary publication to be penalized since the Ministry of Information and Communications announced stricter management of supplementary publications in November 2014.

On December 12, 2014, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan signed Decision No. 1881/QD-BTTTT revoking the supplementary publishing license for the publication "Dong Doi" of the newspaper "Nong Thon Ngay Nay".

The reason for the recall is that the publication's content is inconsistent with its stated purpose and violates press laws and regulations for a long period, despite repeated warnings and requests for rectification from the state press management agency.

The newspaper "Dòng đời" (Life's Flow) contains sensational and attention-grabbing content that violates the newspaper's principles and objectives. Photo: Internet.

This is the first supplementary publication to be severely punished since the Ministry of Information and Communications officially announced stricter management of supplementary publications of media agencies in early November 2014.

According to reports, at the Ministry of Information and Communications' State Management Conference in October 2014, held on the morning of November 3, 2014, Mr. Hoang Huu Luong, Director of the Press Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications, stated that in October 2014, the Ministry of Information and Communications launched a decisive campaign to address violations by media agencies in general, which was highly appreciated by the public. This increased inspection and handling of violations aims to establish a new order in the media. In the near future, management will be tightened to include print newspapers and their supplementary publications.

Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan has also directed relevant agencies to strengthen the review and inspection of supplementary publications of print newspapers in the coming period. Some managing agencies with many supplementary publications may be subject to review and may be required to withdraw those publications.

In reality, the market is currently experiencing a boom in supplementary publications from print media outlets. For example, the Vietnam Law Newspaper has published the Law and Times and Legal Stories. The Justice Newspaper has the supplement Justice & Society. The Rural Today Newspaper has two supplements: Life's Flow and World and Integration. The Capital Women's Newspaper has a special edition titled In Love. The Football Newspaper has a supplement called Football & Life... Most of these supplementary publications feature sensational headlines to attract views, with much content related to robbery, murder, rape, superstition, and revealing images that violate moral standards...

Statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications show that as of the first quarter of 2013, there were 812 print media outlets nationwide with 1,084 publications. Thus, in addition to the 812 publications bearing the name of newspapers, there were 262 supplementary publications (some newspapers call them special issues, some call them supplementary publications, some call them journals...). Many opinions have suggested that the Ministry of Information and Communications strengthen inspections and reminders regarding the operation of supplementary publications, and even suspend some publications to maintain discipline and order. On the other hand, the Ministry of Information and Communications needs to carefully review before granting licenses to media outlets to publish supplementary publications, avoiding situations where a single newspaper publishes 4-5 supplements.

According to Infonet