Vietnam Press Museum features more than 20,000 exhibits and documents covering from 1865 through to the present day.

It depicts coverage by journalists from the resistance time through to modern times.

“Vietnam Press Museum was born late compared to many other museums,” said Tran Thi Kim Hoa, the museum’s director.

“Putting the collection together has been very difficult.”

In 2014, some of 500 exhibits were donated by veteran journalists to Vietnam Journalist Association where the museum is based, according to the director.

“To collect more exhibits we called on and encouraged journalists to donate their work to paint a picture of the history of journalism.”

Almost 20,000 original exhibits are on display at the museum, including 700 rare and unique objects.

“We asked a technician to recreate a dark room with historic equipment which was used by Vietnam News Agency’s photographers before 1975,” said veteran journalist Le Quoc Trung, the museum’s consultant.

The museum also has 26 videos to introduce to visitors the history of Vietnam journalism and the outstanding journalists who have worked in the industry.

Vietnam News Agency (VNA) is one organisation to donate to the museum. On June 4, VNA presented objects and photos including a Morse code machine and a national flag. 

The machine was used by the Liberation News Agency's reporters and technicians to broadcast news from the battlefields during the war against America. 

The national flag has the signature of the captain of the KN22 ship presented to the Vietnam News Agency reporters in June 2014. 

The ship is one of Vietnamese fisheries surveillance boats that observed China withdraw the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 from Vietnam's waters. 

Among the objects is a photo featuring Uncle Ho and VNA officials and reporters together with their children at a ceremony celebrating the President’s 60th birthday at the Viet Bac Safety Zone.

"VNA is willing to share valuable artefacts and photos with the museum to introduce our work to people at home and abroad," VNA's Deputy-General Director Le Quoc Minh said at the ceremony. 

Minh added that he hopes in the future, besides traditional exhibits, the Museum will focus on displaying modern media products from the digital era.

With this content, the VNA will contribute many of its innovative and pioneering information products, he said.

Vietnam Press Museum's opening coincides with the 95th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Journalism Day. 

The museum will open from 8am to 5pm at E2 Duong Dinh Nghe Road, Cau Giay District. 

The inauguration of the Vietnam Press Museum will celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day on June 21.

Tran Kim Hoa, director of the Vietnam Press Museum, says the museum has been able to collect 20,000 items and documents that reflect significant events happening throughout the history of the country’s press.

The museum spans a total area of 1,500 square metres and has been divided into five areas in an attempt to display items and documents that originate from different historical periods.

Each area representing a different era possesses its own highlight items. The area that shows history from the 1945 to 1954 period features an image of President Ho Chi Minh making the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi on September 2, 1945.

The museum has been launched by the Vietnam Journalists Association to preserve valuable items and documents that have been published through the Vietnamese press in previous years and decades.

The project to initiate the Vietnam Press Museum was first granted approval by the Prime Minister back on August 21, 2014, and was due to feature three major components, including a museum display component, an exhibition and material collection component, along with a recruitment and training component.

A ceremony aimed at announcing the Prime Minister’s decision to establish the Vietnam Press Museum was first held on August 16, 2017.

Between August 2014 and July 2017, the management board of the museum have been making concerted efforts to collect a rich variety of resources and materials.

At present, over 20,000 exhibits and materials have been successfully gathered and put into the museum. Of the total, around 700 are rare items and materials which reflect some of the significant events that have occurred during the nation’s press history.

The digital technology used by the Vietnamese press throughout the years is also being exhibited.

As many as 26 movies which serve to introduce viewers to the history of the Vietnamese press and a number of outstanding journalists are going to be screened for members of the public.

Visitors have the chance to search for information in various documents and photos by using modern equipment.

VOV/VNS