Multimedia news products are available on Tin Tức (The News) e-newspaper. VNA/VNS Photo Thuần Như

HÀ NỘI – For the past 40 years, with many remarkable achievements, the Tin Tức (The News) newspaper has made breakthrough efforts to meet the readers' demands, assert the newspaper's position as the leading political and social newspaper of the Vietnam News Agency, and serve as the top information channel of the Government.

Tin Tức newspaper has implemented numerous changes to adapt to the development trends and meet the increasing demands of its readers. The year 2017 marked a significant milestone in the newspaper's transformation when it carried out a comprehensive restructuring of its information products and human resources.

Leading newspaper against negativity

On May 14, 1983, Tuần Tin Tức (The Weekly) newspaper, the predecessor of today's Tin Tức e-newspaper, released its first issue, marking a turning point for the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in providing readers' information and helping the press gradually break away from the subsidy mechanism.

Tuần Tin Tức promptly served the Party's "Đổi mới" (Renewal), becoming a pioneering newspaper in fighting against negativity with articles that stirred public opinion despite facing fierce reactions at times.

"The working atmosphere and news release at the editorial headquarters was very lively and enthusiastic. The issues of Tuần Tin Tức with articles against negativity sold out early," recalled journalist Nguyễn Văn Trường, the newspaper’s former Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

With the aim of filling the "information gap" by updating news that occurred in the morning and news abroad that happened in the afternoon and evening the day before, on June 7, 1991, the then VNA General Director decided to establish Tin tức buổi chiều (the Afternoon News). The first issue of Tin tức buổi chiều officially debuted to readers on June 17, 1991.

This wise decision proved to be correct. When a political upheaval occurred in August 1991 in the former Soviet Union, Tin tức buổi chiều proactively obtained the latest information sent by the VNA correspondents in Moscow, which was a competitive advantage that no morning newspaper could have.

The newspaper's popularity surged. At distribution points, people lined up to buy copies. The number of newspapers issued continuously increased.

On November 13, 1998, the then VNA General Director made a decision to merge Tuần Tin tức and Tin tức buổi chiều into a newspaper called Tin tức (The News), which includes a daily and a weekend edition. Both editions were first published at the beginning of 1999.

In 2001, the terrorist attacks on September 11 in the United States and the US war in Afghanistan occurred, and the advantage of covering afternoon news continued to keep Tin tức ahead of the game.

Nguyễn Văn Ninh, the former head of the Tin tức newspaper branch in HCM City, said: "The editorial board of Tin tức had to mobilise three to four printing houses to support printing in order to serve readers on time."

However, the afternoon edition faced difficulties as information on the Internet exploded. In 2008, the newspaper switched to a morning publication, closing the nearly 17-year history of afternoon publication.

Government's information channel

An important milestone of Tin tức was on September 14, 2009 when the then Prime Minister issued Directive 1441/CT-TTg on enhancing the role of VNA in the new situation, emphasising the widespread publication of Tin tức as a Government information channel.

In August 2010, Tin tức officially provided newspapers to extremely difficult areas under the Government’s Decision 975/QD-TTg.

Up to now, the newspaper has always been an effective two-way information bridge between the Party, the Government and ethnic minorities, and those in especially difficult areas, border areas, and islands.

Officers and soldiers of the ship CSB 4039 of the Coast Guard Region 4 Command under Vietnam Coast Guard Command read Tuần Tin Tức (Weekly newspaper). VNA/VNS Viết Tôn

Discussing the quality of Tin Tức newspaper, especially the topics of Northwest - Central Highlands - Southwest and the Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions, Hầu A Lềnh, member of the Central Party Committee and Minister-Chairman of Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs said: "Tin Tức newspaper has had a series of in-depth articles. Based on this, authorised agencies have adjusted policies or addressed issues that showed shortcomings.

"News on Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Regions is regularly published in beautiful form and rich content, reflecting the diverse activities in the areas of ethnic minorities, conveying the Party and State's policies to the people in a timely manner."

Digital transformation

At the beginning of 2017, Tin Tức made a bold move. The daily newspaper stopped its daily print edition and went electronic version on www.baotintuc.vn besides the weekly edition and a special bulletin on ethnic people and moutainous areas

This decision was the determination of the entire editorial board for a successful transition, bringing higher informative and economic efficiency in the era of online newspapers.

Reporters discuss hot topics in the Tin Tức newsroom. VNA/VNS Photo

Tin Tức newspaper editor-in-chief Ninh Hồng Nga said: "After receiving the support of the VNA leaders, we immediately started a series of tasks to develop the electronic and multimedia newspaper."

Many new-brand sections, multimedia genres such as mega-stories, 360-degree photos, infographics, and video clips, and innovative formats have been creatively implemented, attracting readers and keeping up with media trends.

This transformation has demonstrated its rationality and effectiveness. After only two years, the number of page visits of the online newspaper increased by over 60 per cent compared to 2018, a 160 per cent increase compared to the beginning of 2017. The online newspaper maintains the second largest traffic website of VNA.

In particular, in 2022, the newspaper's editorial board directed the implementation of a new product, Tin Tức TV (video news), focusing on talk shows and documentaries covering major socio-economic issues.

A year later, dozens of in-depth programmes have been produced, contributing to the improvement of the effectiveness of multimedia information and quickly delivering accurate information to readers.

The quality of traditional print products has also been improved. Tuần Tin Tức provides readers with stories of specialised knowledge while News on Ethnic People and Mountainous Regions bulletin features stories and portraits of Việt Nam's ethnic groups.

The highlights of the online newspaper, including investigative reports and documentaries, have won many prestigious press awards.

In particular, the Op-Ed section, where the editorial board nurtures and develops talented writers, consistently producing insightful journalistic works with in-depth analysis and rigorous arguments, directing coverage of current events in Việt Nam and around the world. It has demonstrated the role of a reliable information channel and contributed to strengthening the position of a national news agency.

Assessing the innovation of Tin Tức, Lê Quốc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhân Dân (People) newspaper and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association said: "In the context of the media being swept up in the technological revolution and amidst a wealth of information, the newsroom's initiative to renew itself while maintaining its position as a reliable source, and competing with many diverse sources is a major challenge. But it can be said that the newspaper has fulfilled its mission well."

Maintaining the mainstream information flow

The efforts of Tin Tức online newspaper have brought fruitful results. It has been awarded the Third-Class Labour Medal, Second-Class Labour Medal, and in 2023, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the publication of its first issue, the newspaper was honoured to receive the First-Class Labour Medal.

Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà and Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang presented the Golden Hammer and Sickle Award to Tin Tức reporters. VNA/VNS Photo Lê Phú

“For the past four decades, Tin Tức has always been a newspaper that constantly innovates and adapts to the development of the revolutionary press with a consistent goal of serving the increasing demands and desires of its readers," the newspaper Editor-in-Chief said.

VNA General Director Vũ Việt Trang added: "The information in Tin Tức newspaper always ensures high orientation, quick responsiveness, attractiveness, worthy of its position as a political information channel, serving the leadership and guidance of the Party, State, and the interests of the people."

Trang suggested the newspaper focus on improving the quality of its information products, creating new information products with high technological user-friendly content, and serving the demands of the Party and State leadership, as well as the diverse needs of the public.

The newspaper should enhance digital transformation in all activities, focusing on innovation in organisation and operational methods, forms of communication, and developing diverse multimedia news to increase competitiveness.

In discussing the newspaper's development direction, Nga shared that Tin Tức will always be committed to being a leading and reliable source of information, striving for innovation while staying true to the essence of mainstream journalism.

Tin Tức will also focus on becoming a strong multimedia unit, continuing to improve its online newspaper and weekly newsletter. The newspaper will invest in technology and move towards appropriate artificial intelligence application. It will also develop data journalism to fully exploit the diverse and reliable information sources of VNA, she said. – VNS