2024 National Press Festival opens in HCM City

The 2024 National Press Festival kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on March 15 as a significant preparation step towards the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Revolutionary Press Day.

In his opening speech, Nguyen Trong Nghia, head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information and Education, underlined the role of the revolutionary press of Vietnam as a bridge between the Party and people from all walks of life, and a means for the people to express their feelings and trust in the Party and the State. 

He urged media agencies and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA)’s chapters nationwide to continue researching and creatively applying the Party's relevant guidelines, policies, and laws of the State effectively.

The official said that the continuous development of multi-platform and multimedia journalism and data journalism with digital tools such as artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, has created both opportunities and challenges for media agencies and journalists, so press agencies need to proactively seek solutions to improve competitiveness, protect copyrights, fight misinformation and fake news.

With the theme "Vietnamese Press - Pioneering, Innovation for the Revolutionary Cause of the Party and the People", the festival is a highlight of the Vietnamese press' professionalism and modernity.

The event this year is the biggest of its kind so far, bringing together representatives from three journalists’ associations of cities and provinces and over 600 central and local press agencies nationwide, with 112 booths displaying outstanding publications covering all aspects of economic, political, cultural, social, defence, security, and foreign affairs.

In the framework of the event, a national press forum will be held for the first time, gathering over 60 speakers, including experienced journalists, representatives of leading media agencies in Vietnam, and reputable international communications experts. It will include 10 sessions, debating on topics of interest to the press, such as enhancing the Party's leadership and orientation in journalistic activities, building a media cultural environment, data journalism and superior content strategy, and effective investment and application of technology in editorial offices.

The festival offers a chance for journalists to gain a better understanding of the information demand and preferences of readers and audiences, thus producing media products that closely reflect life, and widely popularising policies of the Party and the State, said Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (People) newspaper, head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information and Education and VJA chairman.