Ho Quang Loi, vice president of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, speaks at a press conference on the 14th National Press Awards 2019 held in Hanoi on June 15. (Photo baotainguyenmoitruong.vn)

Among the 140 submissions for the final phase, nine pieces claimed the A prize, 21 B prize, 41 C prize, and 32 were given consolation prizes.

They were shortlisted from more than 1,600 eligible submissions in 11 different categories.

All the prize winners met the criteria, such as reflecting the country’s political, economic, cultural, social, defence, security and foreign affairs aspects, as well as the implementation of the Party and State resolutions and directives in 2019; criticising and combating negative acts, corruption and wrong views of hostile forces; and informing important international events in an accurate and timely fashion.

Ho Quang Loi, vice president of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, said many of the submissions reflected hot issues which drew attention from the public.

He said most of shortlist showed good social impacts, winning high appreciation from the public, showing the role of the press in investigations, and giving praise and constructive criticism.

While acknowledging progress in term of quality, there is still room for improvement, he said.

Many of the entries lacked of creativity and there was a still shortage of deep editorial articles and photographs.

This year saw the participation of 110 journalists and 230 coordinators. The committee received entries from 59 out of 63 provincial journalists’ associations.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for June 21, marking the 95th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day. It will be live broadcast on Vietnam Television, the Voice of Vietnam and some local television stations./.VNA