State President Vo Van Thuong (5th from R) and Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of its Commission for Popularisation and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (5th from L) presented the A prizes to winning authors. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Party’s aspirations and visionsfor the development of the country in a new phase set heavier responsibilities,  greater honors, and more demands on the revolutionary press of Vietnam,President Vo Van Thuong has said.

The President said he was delighted that the awards, the noblest honouring outstanding press works and journalists each year, is receiving moreattention and participation from a wide range of journalists and the public.

He also spoke highly of the award-winning works for their reflectionof journalists’ revolutionary nature, scientific approach, sensitivity,creativity, professional ideals, and tireless dedication.

In the face of the rapid sci-tech development, fierce competition from otherinformation platforms, and the changing behaviour of the public in receivinginformation, the State leader recommended every journalist continuouslyself-educate, conduct independent research, actively join internationalintegration, innovate strongly, maintain a high level of professionalism, andprovide quality, reliable, and persuasive information on both traditional and digitalplatforms. These are necessary to attract and retain the trust and respect ofthe public, as well as to captivate and dominate their attention, he noted.

As many as 123 outstanding works were honoured at a ceremony. A group of authors from VietnamPlus – an online newspaper of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) – won an A prize, whilethree others from the VNA claimed a B prize – the highest in the category ofpress photo.

State President Vo Van Thuong with VNA leaders and award-winning authors (Photo: VNA)

Also at the ceremony, Le Quoc Minh, President of the VietnamJournalists’ Association (VJA), said the 17th edition of the awards attracted 1,894entries in total, demonstrating its significant appeal and theactive participation of VJA members and branches throughout the country.

The National Press Awards showed that in 2022, the pressprovided fast, accurate, timely, and comprehensive information on developments acrosspolitical, economic, and social aspects, both domestically and inteꦅrnationally,he said, adding that it also serves as a broad and reliable social forum forthe people./.