Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc presents Medal of Labour, First Class, to the Vietnam News Agency leaders on the occasion of its 75th founding anniversary. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Sunday acknowledged the efforts and achievements of  the Vietnam News Agency over the past 75 years and urged it to continue to pioneer in communication and publicity work.

The Prime Minister attended a ceremony to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the Vietnam News Agency (September 15, 1945 - September 15, 2020) at its headquarters in Hà Nội.

He also expressed his gratitude to nearly 260 martyr journalists from the news agency (accounting for two-thirds of the country's martyr journalists) for their heroic sacrifices.

The Prime Minister said the VNA was established right after the country gained independence and had matured during the nation’s wars. The agency’s staff not only reported events as historical witnesses, but journalists of the VNA were also soldiers, carrying not only their pens to the frontline but also guns in their hands, directly participating in historical events.

Present on most battlefields and fronts, the VNA's reporters and photographers overcame many difficulties and hardships and delivered information quickly and accurately about the struggle of the army and people. The information from the fronts contributed to arousing determination to fight, defeat the invaders, win national independence, unify the country and create a driving force for the country’s movements, he said.

"The historic moments of the nation, whether painful or heroic, are known to readers, known and supported by the world, thanks to information told by journalists and soldiers of the VNA,” the Prime Minister said.

Phúc recalled the sacrifice of young VNA reporter Đinh Hữu Dư, who was swept away by a flood while working in 2017, saying his story would be retold forever to show the relentless commitment of journalists.

“I feel a responsibility to repeat, so that you, the next generation, must continue writing the history of the agency so that it can live up to the history of the previous generations, " he said.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said the VNA should continue to pioneer in communication and publicity work by providing information to readers quickly and accurately, especially reports on the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws, contributing to the rapid delivery of the Party's resolutions, the resolutions of the National Assembly, programmes and plans.

The VNA also needed to reflect the will and aspirations of the people while speaking against false allegations and keeping the public alert to them; firmly defending the ideological foundation of the Party, defending the policies of the Party and the State, defending territorial sovereignty,  and contributing to the maintenance of socio-political stability; consolidating the people's confidence in the leadership of the Party and State.

Prime Minister Phúc said that as the main national multimedia news agency, the VNA had its own path as a provider of official information to the press system and for the public both in and out of the country. That is the identity and fundamental value the VNA needed to continue to promote and maintain as the journalism industry develops, he said.

Addressing the ceremony, Vietnam News Agency director-general Nguyễn Đức Lợi said the agency’s development goals were to apply information technology in journalism, diversify broadcasting platforms and expand international co-operation.

“The VNA's external information units are constantly innovating both content and reporting methods to strongly spread the image of Việt Nam – an active and responsible member of the international community – in order to fulfil the task of the main external information agency of the country,” he said.

The hard work of VNA journalists and the use of information technology in journalism helped the VNA create high-quality products, with many receiving top awards of the National Press Awards, National External Information Awards, and other domestic and global awards. A project on fighting fake news of VNA Vietnam News Agency this week won a prize within the framework of the Asian Digital Media 2020 Awards presented by WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers, he said.

Honourable awards and orders presented to the VNA encouraged staff to make efforts to continue to make achievements, he said. — VNS