President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) hands over the special prize to winner from Nhân Dân newspaper. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Winners of the 15th National Press Awards in 2020, the noblest award for journalists in Việt Nam, were announced at a ceremony on October 24 in Hà Nội.

Addressing the event, President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc praised the great contributions that journalists have made to the country, and congratulated the winning journalists.

He underlined that the press is a sharp tool to fight corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena as well as the degradation in morality and lifestyle, and at the same time provide the public with timely information and directions from the Party and State, contributing to creating social consensus, and promoting joint efforts in dealing with difficulties and challenges facing the country in the development path as well as the protection of national independence, sovereignty and sacred territorial integrity, and enhancing the position of Việt Nam on the world stage.

At the same time, the press has proactively rejected distorted and wrongful information against the Party, State and the national construction and defence cause of Vietnamese people, he stated.

The State leader stressed that the Party and State always wants and requires journalists to maintain their political mettle and constantly improve professional capacity and ethics.

This year, 112 outstanding works were honoured, with one Special Prize, nine A prizes, 25 B prizes, 45 C prizes, and 32 consolation prizes presented.

The Special Prize was awarded for the first time ever. It was presented to the makers of a documentary entitled Việt Nam thời đại Hồ Chí Minh - Biên niên sử truyền hình (Việt Nam in the Hồ Chí Minh era - Television Chronicles) by journalists Nguyễn Lê Anh, Lê Thi, Nguyễn Thành Trung, Ngô Đình Khoát and Nguyễn Thanh Tùng from Nhân Dân (People) newspaper.

Journalists from Vietnam News Agency (VNA) collected four awards in three categories of photo, e-newspaper and printed newspaper.

Along with honouring outstanding journalists, the National Press Awards also affirms important contributions that the press makes to national development and the values of the Vietnamese revolutionary press. — VNS