The Party and State vow to create all possible conditions to help the Vietnamese revolutionary press grow vigorously, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asserted in a meeting with journalists at the Ministry of Information and Communications in Ha Noi yesterday.

From the right: PM Nguyen Tan Dung and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son.

The PM said the Party and State were fully aware of the vital role and significant contributions the Vietnamese revolutionary press made to the cause of national independence, reunification, construction and development.

Many journalists braved dangers during the war to fulfill their noble missions assigned to them by the Party, State and the people, he said, adding that in the cause of socio-economic development, the press had helped create social consensus in implementing the Party and State's policies, while conveying the public's feedback to the Party and State in a timely manner.

The press had also made significant contributions to the protection of the nation's sea and island sovereignty, the PM said.

On whether traditional newspapers can compete with social media in the multimedia age, the PM told journalists that the answer to how they would survive the present conditions of fierce competition and limited State financial assistance by struggling forward.

He said that old-fashioned management could not hold in the new media age.

The editors-in-chief of the Tien Phong (Vanguard) and Thanh Nien (Young People) newspapers asked for improvement in the way the ministry and agency spokesmen responded to the media, as most of the time this was late and inadequate.

Pham Anh Tuan, editor-in-chief on the online newspaper Vietnamnet.vn, warned against newspapers being influenced by social media.

This temptation, he said, necessitated that official responses come quicker.

Irreplaceable role

Pham Van Huan, editor-in-chief of Quan doi Nhan dan (People's Army) newspaper, highlighted the important role the printing press plays in modern times.

He said that though more people now had access to the Internet, television and radio services, the printed news was still needed.

"In many remote areas without Internet, television or radio, soldiers and members of the public still need newspapers," he said.

In response to concerns over the Government's media restructuring scheme, PM Dung instructed the Ministry of Information and Communications to work with news organisations and their publishers to ensure reasonable implementation.

Development over 90 years

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son read a report at the meeting, delving into the history of journalism since the first edition of Thanh nien was published. In the last century, newspapers have moved from working in secrecy to semi-secretly and finally today's openness.

The country now has 849 newspaper agencies with 111,000 publications; 98 online newspapers; and 66 broadcasting stations with more than 100 television channels and 70 radio channels.