Present at the meeting were Ha Dang, former member of the Party Central Committee and former Head of the Central Culture and Thought (predecessor of the Central Commission for Information and Education); Hong Vinh, former member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Commission for Information and Education; Lieutenant General Do Can, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics; representatives of the Central Commission for Information and Education, Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam Journalists’ Association, military units and editors, reporters of the People’s Army Newspaper (PAN).

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Lieutenant General Do Can addresses the event.

Speaking at the event, Major General Pham Van Huan, Editor-in-Chief of the PAN, recalled the newspaper’s 69-year history starting from its inception on October 20th, 1950 in the "An toan khu" (Safety Zone) - Revolutionary Base, Thai Nguyen province. According to General Huan, over the past 69 years, the PAN has always served as a leading newspaper in the country and contributed significantly to the country’s resistance wars against foreign invaders for national independence in the past and national development and defense at present.

For its great achievements in the past 69 years, PAN has received a number of noble honors from the Party, State and Defense Ministry, including titles “Hero of People’s Armed Forces” and “Hero of Labor.”

Early in the second millennium, PAN’s leadership started investing in developing the newspaper as a multimedia journalism agency by launching electronic newspaper editions in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Lao and Khmer as well as making video and audio products.

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Major General Pham Van Huan speaks at the event.

These steps of the PAN have helped it catch up with the world press development trend and agreed with the government’s project to reorganize the system of press and media agencies across the country, and prioritize investment in the six largest press and media agencies, including the PAN.  

Under the decision signed by the Defense Minister on March 6, 2019, the PAN will form a video-audio section to make video and audio journalism products and mobilize resources to develop it toward a multimedia journalism model by 2025.

Along with the formation of the video-audio section, the PAN also establish a communications section, which is responsible for holding cultural, art and sport events as well as social activities.

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Delegates launch the video-audio section of the PAN.

Regarding the significance of the decision, General Huan said that the decision showed that the Central Military Commission and Defense Ministry had highly valued the position and role of the newspaper, and encouraged all editors, reporters and workers of the PAN to work harder in the time to come to deserve the trust and care of the Party, State, military and people for the newspaper.

Speaking at the event, General Can said that the staff of the PAN should all perceive their responsibilities and try their best to improve their political stance and professional expertise to meet the task requirements in the new context. He also hoped that the PAN will vary publications and editions and improve the quality of every journalism product so as to continuously raise its status in the national revolutionary journalism, and win the heart and mind of readers at home and overseas.

Translated by Thu Nguyen