Present at the meeting were generations of leaders, reporters and workers of the PAN in different periods.
On behalf of the current leadership of the PAN, Editor in Chief of the PAN Senior Colonel Doan Xuan Bo congratulated all delegates to the meeting on the 70th anniversary of the PAN’s first issue. He also took the chance to wish good health and happiness to all generations of the PAN’s leaders, reporters and workers.
The Editor in Chief recalled the rich tradition of the PAN built up by generations of its reporters over the past 70 years.
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Delegates attending the event |
According to the Editor in Chief, the PAN is special among nearly 1,000 press and medial agencies in the country as the name “The People’s Army Newspaper” was given by President Ho Chi Minh when it was founded in 1950 in the front where the army was fighting against French colonialists. Its reporters acted as a soldier and a journalist at the same time. They normally worked as journalists but when the enemy attacked, they became combat soldiers.
Over the past 70 years, generations of the PAN’s reporters have always accompanied the nation in the fight against foreign invaders as well as the national development and defense cause. During the war, the PAN’s reporters went along combat soldiers to the front. During fighting, they took photos and recorded the heroic moments of our soldiers and great victories of our army as well as the brutality of enemies. Their photos and articles from the front encouraged soldiers to fight the enemy on battlefields and people to work hard in the home front. In the wars, a number of the PAN’s reporters laid down their lives on battlefields. Today, the current generation of the PAN’s reporters continue fostering the heroic tradition of the newspaper by going remote, mountainous, border areas, offshore islands to reflect lives and work of local people and soldiers. They also contribute ideas to the Party, State and Ministry of National Defense, give suggestions to policies, cover hot issues, issues of public concern and write down wrongdoings, corruption and social problems.
The PAN’s Editor in Chief became touched when he talked about the generation of PAN’s predecessors who laid a firm foundation for today’s development of the newspaper. He promised that today’s generation of the PAN’s reporters will preserve and foster the glorious tradition of the newspaper, and try their best to cement its position as a leading newspaper in the country and develop it as a multi-media newspaper.
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Senior Colonel Doan Xuan Bo speaking at the event |
Senior Colonel Doan Xuan Bo revealed that the PAN has developed a number of publications and editions over the past few years in line with the Government’s project to rearrange and develop the press and media agencies nationwide.
At present, the PAN has a print daily, a weekly publication named “the PAN Weekend,” a monthly publication named “Evidence and Witnesses,” PANO online with Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Lao and Khmer editions as well as video and audio programs. In the coming time, the PAN will renovate the contents of its daily, weekly and monthly while focusing on developing its online editions, video and audio programs, to meet the increasing need for information of readers at home and overseas.
On behalf of the previous generation of the PANO’s leaders and reporters, former Editor in Chief of the PAN Lieutenant General Le Phuc Nguyen congratulated the current generation of PAN’s leaders and reporters on their great achievements over the past years. He said that he was so happy to meet all generations of the PAN’s leaders, reporters and workers at the meeting. According to him, the PAN is always his home so he always watches after each step of the newspaper and is delighted at each achievement of the newspaper. He stressed that the newspaper is going on the right track in the current boom of information and technology. He expressed his hope that the PAN will always deserve to be an organ of the Central Military Commission and Ministry of National Defense, and the voice of the armed forces and people.
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Over the past 70 years, the PAN has been rewarded by the Party and State a “Golden Star” order, a “Ho Chi Minh” order, a “Military Exploit” order, a “Fatherland Protection” order and the title “Hero of the Armed Forces” and the title “Hero of Labor.” It has been also been presented with a large numbers of medals and awards by the Ministry of National Defense, other ministries, Central agencies and localities. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the PAN’s first issue, the newspaper has just been awarded by the State an “Independence” order. |
Translated by Thu Nguyen