Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (fourth from right) and Politburo member Trần Quốc Vượng (third from left) handed out the top prizes for six best journalistic works at the National Press Awards that took place yesterday on the 94th Việt Nam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21). — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — More than ever, the mainstream press must strive to observe its basic tenets of accuracy, verification and speed in this era of growing social media presence and rampant toxic information.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc made the remarks as he spoke of the difficulties facing the mainstream press from the intense competition of social media, during his opening speech at the National Press Awards held yesterday in Hà Nội on the 94^th Việt Nam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21).

PM Phúc said that while social media has shown its positive impacts, it has also aided in the spreading of disinformation, unverified and fake news that are threatening to overtake mainstream media.

PM Phúc said the mainstream press has become a robust and trusted force of the State and the Party on the forefront of information and communication.

Discovering and combating corruption, wastefulness, bureaucracy, political perversion and moral decline, especially among Party members and Government officials also need to be among the press’ highest priorities, he said.

However, the Vietnamese Government leader also urged members of the press to keep positive information in the public consciousness.

Fighting against negative phenomena must be done in a constructive manner and the press has the responsibility to highlight exemplary models to spread the positive, promote consensus in the public, nurture the ambition of a strong and thriving country, PM Phúc noted.

He conveyed his best gratitude and regards to the contributions made by generations of members of the press around the country and congratulated all the prize holders this year.

With 18,000 accredited press members who boast high degrees of professionalism, knowledge, skills and can keep up with modern trends, Vietnamese reporters and journalists have lived up to the late President Hồ Chí Minh’s teachings, who said “your pens are the sharpest weapons in the combat against evils and the sustenance of the good.”

At the ceremony, PM Phúc and Politburo member Trần Quốc Vượng handed the top prizes to six of the best journalistic works.

They included an investigative piece on deforestation crimes by the VietnamPlus online newspaper under the Vietnam News Agency, a series on Việt Nam brand-name goods by Nhân Dân (People) newspaper, a collection of articles on boosting linkages in agriculture and an emotional TV series entitled “A lifetime wish” by the Voice of Việt Nam on Vietnamese war veterans’ desire to locate the remains of their fallen comrades.

People’s Public Security TV channel and Hưng Yên Province TV and radio also earned the highest praise for their investigation into the health benefits of gold nanoparticles and a documentary on the efforts to reduce the harm of chemical pesticides in the province’s famous lychee orchards, respectively.

This year’s national press awards honoured a total of 106 journalistic works, with 24 winning second prizes, 42 third prizes and 34 runner-up prizes, which are deemed to have displayed great quality in both form and ideology. — VNS