Homepage of Việt Nam News Newspaper. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Three printed and electronic newspapers of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) will continue to be developed as national newspapers for foreign service in the 2022-30 period, under a new decision approved by the Prime Minister.

The three newspapers named under Decision 1976/QĐ-TTg are the English-language daily Việt Nam News, the multi-language magazine Việt Nam Pictorial and the multi-language electronic newspaper VietnamPlus, all run by the State-own VNA.

The decision details the targets, tasks and solutions for the development of those newspapers.

Việt Nam News, first published in 1991, will increase the number and improve the quality of in-depth news, articles, and feature stories, as well as special columns and pages, while increasing the readership of its online publication (including both the e-paper and website).

The goal of this change is to reach more key areas and major nations in the world. 

Frontpage of Việt Nam News print Newspaper. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

 Meanwhile, the number of countries where the printed version of Việt Nam Pictorial is distributed free of charge will be increased from 140 at present to 160, with priority given to areas along the border between Việt Nam, Laos and China, and Latin American countries. After 2025, the number of printed copies will be reduced by about 10 per cent each year, though the electronic version will be developed into 10 languages.

VietnamPlus will become the electronic newspaper with the most integrated forms of information. From the current five languages of publication (Vietnamese, English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian) the newspaper will develop a Korean version in 2023, a Japanese version in 2026 and a German version by 2029. The paper aims to be one of the top five Vietnamese electronic newspapers by views from abroad.

Raising both the quantity and quality of articles is an important part of further developing the national newspapers by 2030, to meet the demand of foreign readership. Multi-media products will be developed based on digital technology, along with the latest trends in modern journalism. Social media will be utilised to popularise the information published by the newspapers.

The distribution channels of print newspapers will also be diversified, making use of diplomatic, tourism and investment channels, as well as cooperation and information exchanges with international news agencies and press. Plans will be built to popularise the national newspapers for foreign services based on specific targets of each period.

The decision also mentions the promotion of modern journalism technology and multi-media, along with international cooperations on information and personnel training, for the development of the newspapers. — VNS