Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on the mainstream press to strive to observe its basic tenets of accuracy, verification and speed in this era of growing social media presence and rampant toxic information.

He made the remarks during his opening speech at the National Press Awards
held in Hanoi on June 21 on the 94th Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21).

Speaking of the difficulties facing the mainstream press from the intense competition of social media, the PM 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.

The mainstream press has become a robust and trusted force of the State and the Party on the forefront of information and communication, he stated.

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, the PM 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 Ho Chi 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 Phuc and Politburo member Tran Quoc Vuong 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 Vietnam brand-name goods by Nhan Dan (People) newspaper, a collection of articles on boosting linkages in agriculture and an emotional TV series entitled “A lifetime wish” by the Voice of Vietnam on Vietnamese war veterans’ desire to locate the remains of their fallen comrades.

People’s Public Security TV channel and Hung Yen 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.