The meeting saw the participation of PAN Editor-in-Chief Major General Doan Xuan Bo; Senior Colonel Le Ngoc Long, PAN Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of the project-building group; Lieutenant General Le Phuc Nguyen, former PAN Editor-in-Chief; representatives from the Military Industry-Telecoms Group (Viettel), Ministry of Information and Communications, Academy of Journalism and Communications and Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics..
In his speech, Major General Doan Xuan Bo hoped that delegates would contribute their opinions, make analysis, and give recommendations to the PAN to help it complete the project.
General Bo stressed that the project on developing the PAN into a multimedia press agency was approved by the Minister of National Defense on March 6, 2019 and developed based on the Prime Minister’s Decision No.1431 signed on October 26, 2018 on “Planning a network of public information and communications agencies by 2021 and towards 2030.”
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Maj. Gen. Doan Xuan Bo, PAN Editor-in-Chief, speaks at the event. |
Under the decision, six press agencies, including Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency, People’s Army Newspaper, and People’s Public Security Newspaper, will develop into major multimedia agencies. This manifests the thoughtfulness and appreciation of leaders of the Party, State, Ministry of National Defense for the PAN in particular, and centrally-run press agencies in general.
However, according to General Bo, leaders of the Editorial Board as well as the entire staff, reporters and editors of the People's Army Newspaper still have many concerns in the implementation process. Therefore, this conference was of great importance, laying a premise for the PAN to collect constructive opinions from experts to build the project comprehensively and in line with reality, meeting the newspaper’s future missions.
At the meeting, delegates discussed and gave suggestions on the project and its implementation.
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Luu Dinh Phuc, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information under MIC, voices his opinion. |
Nguyen Thanh Lam, Head of the Authority of Press under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), held that what the PAN must do first is to define its major field, strengths and its targeted readers. He suggested the PAN consult the models of other press agencies such as the People’s Newspaper, Vietnam Television, Vietnam News Agency to give right advice to the Central Military Commission, and leaders of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Department of Political Affairs.
Agreeing with Lam, Luu Dinh Phuc, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information under MIC, emphasized which model the PAN will follow to become a key press agency and what and which field the PAN will lead and orient.
Meanwhile, former Editor-in-Chief of the PAN, Lt. Gen. Le Phuc Nguyen stressed the inevitable trend of becoming a modern key multimedia press agency that the PAN is pursuing. Nguyen said that it demonstrates the enthusiasm of generations of the PAN’s personnel.
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Lt. Gen. Le Phuc Nguyen, former PAN Editor-in-Chief contributes his opinion. |
According to Gen. Nguyen, the most important element to realize the project is personnel because the PAN must find it difficult to develop if its personnel could not master modern equipment and take the most advantage of the investment. Nguyen advised the PAN to have a methodical strategy on personnel training so that the PAN will be ready to master cutting-edge media technologies.
Also at the event, delegates highly valued the PAN’s transformation of communication methods on digital platforms, such as Facebook, Youtube, Podcast, Spotify, and Tik Tok. Attentively, the Online People’s Army Newspaper (PANO)’s fanpage on Facebook, the PANO’s Youtube channel and PANO on Tik Tok have high numbers of followers. In addition, the website of the PANO is listed the 36th in Vietnam by Alexa. These are really good signals for the PAN and confirm its right direction in the popularization strategy.
Apart from suggestions from invited guests, representatives from the PAN’s departments ask relevant bodies under MIC and Viettel Group to closely coordinate with the newspaper to develop the project comprehensively. Viettel Group was asked to assist the PAN in building a PAN app for smart phones, applying automation technology, and cooperating in producing media content to help the PAN get closer to readers and readers be able to access the PAN’s products as quickly as possible.
Translated by Mai Huong