President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese revolutionary press

The fact that Nguyen Ai Quoc organized Thanh Nien Newspaper - the mouthpiece of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association (June 21, 1925) and directly directed, edited, presented, and wrote many sharp political articles in the first 88 issues of this newspaper not only showed Uncle Ho's thoughts on the meaning and importance of the press in the process of Vietnam's revolutionary movement but also affirmed his stature - the founder and leader of Vietnam's revolutionary press.

Uncle Ho reads Nhan Dan newspaper in Viet Bac resistance base. Photo: NDO

In the early period of the revolutionary process, through his thinking and way of conveying, Marxism-Leninism penetrated Vietnamese society, both scientific and revolutionary and humane and simple, thereby enlightening and awakening generations of Vietnamese people to gather around the Party, together establishing glorious feats in the 20th century. Ho Chi Minh's articles were very rich, from political commentary, commentary, memoirs, reports, notes to short news, even illustrated by newspapers and poems... His orientation and guidance brought a completely new way of journalism in Vietnam - journalism according to the style and goal: "The press is a sharp tool to support the righteous and eliminate evil. That is, to protect and develop the righteous, the honest, the correct and to fight against acts of robbery, colonialism and exploitation, to fight against degradation, immorality and inhumanity".

When becoming the ruling Party, along with prioritizing the building of an effective and efficient government from the central to local levels to gradually realize the goal: "Everyone has food to eat, clothes to wear, everyone can study and progress...", He had many articles and newspapers promptly warning about the "diseases" appearing in the power apparatus. He reminded: If we do not cultivate morality, do not promptly correct bad habits, it will cause unpredictable harm and the people will suffer the consequences. To prevent and overcome that disease, Uncle Ho requested: "Reform the Party's working style", "Improve revolutionary morality, wipe out individualism". "Each cadre and party member must self-correct, self-correct his or her shortcomings, preserve the nature and persevere in the Party's goals and ideals, cultivate moral qualities, awareness, and style to be close to and close to the people". He clearly stated: The Party and Government must strengthen personnel work, focus on training and developing the qualities and capacities in all aspects for the contingent of cadres and party members.

As the founder of the Vietnamese revolutionary press, Ho Chi Minh always considered the press and journalists as a part of the Party's revolutionary cause. Therefore, for journalists, "the pen is a sharp weapon, the article is a revolutionary proclamation to mobilize the masses to unite and fight against old and new colonialism, against imperialism, headed by American imperialism, for national independence, social progress and world peace". And, in order to attract, propagate, and enlighten the masses, journalists need to thoroughly understand and practice: Writing must be practical, "speaking with evidence, reporting with proof", that is, talking about where, how, when, how it was born, how it developed, what the results were, do not write haphazardly... By doing so, revolutionary journalism is truly a sharp weapon in the cause of fighting for independence and freedom for the nation and discovering and encouraging new factors, humanistic values, effectively serving the cause of resistance and nation building; creating a Vietnam that is "more and more dignified and beautiful".

President Ho Chi Minh - The great teacher of Vietnamese revolutionary journalists. Photo: VNA archive

With the position and strength created in nearly 40 years of innovation, our country is entering a new era, an era of striving, creating breakthroughs, accelerating development to realize the goal and aspiration of "Rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization". To achieve that goal, the decisive factor is still promoting internal strength: from the people to leaders and managers; mobilizing and rationally using available means, tools, and resources. In which, the press is a tool, a means that plays an important role in informing and propagating about the orientation of acceleration and development.

To continue promoting the role and responsibility of the Vietnamese revolutionary press in the era of national development, it is necessary to continue and promote the traditions of previous generations, uphold the spirit of patriotism, the press contributes to consolidating and arousing national pride and self-esteem; the people's trust in themselves, in the leadership of the Party and the State... There needs to be many sharp and timely articles reflecting the achievements in theory and practice of the renovation and sustainable development; capable of detecting and having the courage and responsibility to point out shortcomings, even possible mistakes in the perception and management of the country at all levels. There needs to be many articles, information reports, and propaganda about Party congresses at all levels, towards the 14th National Party Congress. Actively propagate the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, creating unity in the perception and action of the whole society; creating the necessary environment and conditions for a breakthrough in development.

Second, to contribute to creating breakthroughs in building models and methods of national and local governance, meeting the requirements of rapid and extensive change and development, the press needs to have in-depth articles reflecting the necessity and content, requirements in perfecting the development system, arranging and streamlining the organizational apparatus; on the other hand, setting an example in building a streamlined and effective organizational apparatus associated with improving the capacity and quality of the team of journalists.

Each press agency and journalist needs to learn and follow the ideology, morality and style of Ho Chi Minh: “Democracy, initiative, enthusiasm, those three things are very related to each other. Only with democracy can cadres and the masses come up with initiatives. When those initiatives are praised, those people will become more enthusiastic and others will follow suit”. Through and in that environment, a team of journalists, especially leaders, will be formed with steadfast character, clear morality, and outstanding abilities: “dare to think, dare to speak, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, dare to innovate, dare to face difficulties and challenges, dare to act for the common good”. In that way, the press not only provides information but also provides knowledge to inspire and guide society. From that environment, effective measures can be implemented to prevent and repel the degradation of political ideology and morality, the manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the organization; actively, effectively and efficiently participate in the fight against corruption, waste and bureaucracy.

The Vietnamese revolutionary press cannot fail to mention the particularly important role of President Ho Chi Minh. Photo: PV

Third, the press has many forms to contribute to encouraging social actors at all levels to invest in digital transformation, green transformation, and new industries and fields, high technology to create breakthroughs in the advantageous fields of the country, each locality, industry, and unit. Develop strongly on digital platforms, take advantage of social networks as an effective communication channel to quickly and promptly reach all readers, especially young people. Press agencies need to develop publications and information channels in many languages to convey messages and reach international friends; strengthen cooperation with international media agencies to spread official information, fight against false and distorted information about Vietnam.

Doing well the above tasks is to contribute to "building a professional, humane and modern press and media, contributing to the fight against and elimination of toxic, distorted, reactionary products and information that negatively affect political and social stability and good customs", creating an environment and conditions for each individual, each community and the whole nation to strive and move steadily towards the future.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/chu-tich-ho-chi-minh-voi-bao-chi-cach-mang-viet-nam-post328916.html