Formation and development of Long An journalism

In the flow of 100 years of Vietnamese revolutionary journalism, Long An journalism was also born early and has continuously grown and developed, increasingly affirming its important position on the ideological front, demonstrating its role as a "bridge" between the Party Committee, government and people of the province.

No matter what stage, Long An's journalism team is always dedicated to their profession, contributing to providing timely and accurate information to the public (Photo: Archive)

Long An Newspaper with the journey of serving the revolution and the people

Long An Province today includes most of Cho Lon Province and the old Tan An Province combined. Due to its strategic location close to the former Saigon - Cho Lon City and the later Ho Chi Minh City, the revolutionary press in Long An is also very rich and vibrant. Under these conditions, Long An Newspaper is recognized as one of the local Party newspapers with a long tradition and has made significant contributions through each revolutionary period.

During the resistance war against French colonialism, in Tan An, June 1946, Nhat Tri Newspaper was born, initially printed in lithography, then changed to mimeograph. It can be said that Nhat Tri Newspaper was the first official revolutionary newspaper of Long An province. It has been 79 years, a "bright mark" in the 100-year tradition of Vietnam's revolutionary press.

The 9-year resistance war against French colonialism was an extremely difficult period in many aspects. Journalists during this period were both Party leaders and pioneering revolutionary soldiers, steadfastly fighting the enemy. During the 21-year resistance war against the US to save the country , the revolutionary press of Long An and Kien Tuong made a significant contribution to the resistance war.

During this period, to suit the tasks and revolutionary struggle, Long An province at that time was divided and established into provinces with the names: Tan An, Cho Lon, Long An, Kien Tuong. Accordingly, each province published magazines/newspapers: Hoa Binh Thong Nhut, Co Do, Quyet Tien and Thap Muoi Anh Dung. The team of journalists during this period focused on propagating to the people in the province from political to armed struggle, conducting uprisings, carrying out the all-people, comprehensive resistance against the invading American imperialists.

In May 1976, Long An and Kien Tuong provinces merged into Long An province. The News - Press Departments of the two provinces were also merged into one. The birth of Long An Newspaper was a new milestone in the development of Long An Party Newspaper, continuing the glorious revolutionary tradition of Quyet Tien Newspaper and Thap Muoi Anh Dung.

By July 1976, Long An Newspaper was published every 7 days. Since then, Long An Newspaper has continuously improved its form, enhanced its content, and its circulation has increased from 3,000 copies per issue to 5,000, then 7,000 copies per issue. The newspaper's former reporters were trained in vocational schools, Party schools, and new reporters were recruited.

Long An Newspaper is growing stronger thanks to the legacy of the Quyet Tien newspaper team, who grew up in the bombs and bullets of war, and those who grew up in the peaceful atmosphere of the country.

Before merging with Radio and Television Station, Long An Newspaper had the following publications: Long An Regular (12 pages, published 5 times/week); Long An End of Month (published 11 times/year); Annual Spring issue and Long An Electronic Newspaper with Vietnamese version, English page operating 24/7;...

Long An Newspaper and Radio and Television Station currently has the following formats: Printed newspaper published 5 times/week; end-of-month publication published 11 times/year and annual Spring edition. The electronic newspaper operates 24/7 at https://baolongan.vn. On the radio, programs continue to be introduced to the audience via FM frequency 96.9MHz. LA34 TV channel continues to broadcast on the current infrastructure, including: Vinasat, My TV, Net Hub, FPT , SDTV, HTV, SCTV, VTV Cab, TV 360, VTV Go,... In addition, the audience can follow and update information quickly via digital platforms such as YouTube, Fanpage, Zalo, TikTok at Long An TV.

Long An Radio and Television Station: 47 years of "waves" reaching far and wide

Along with consolidating and developing Long An Newspaper, the Provincial Party Committee also focused on radio broadcasting, an important channel to bring the Party and State's policies to the people in the fastest way. Immediately after taking over Tan An town on April 30, 1975, the revolutionary government took advantage of the facilities of the old regime's Information Department to immediately establish the Long An radio station. The task at that time was to focus on disseminating the policies and guidelines of the Military Management Board, calling on puppet soldiers and authorities to present themselves and mobilizing people to return to their hometowns to stabilize their lives.

To meet the new task, in December 1977, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee decided to build a Radio Station. On January 13, 1978, the Provincial People's Committee signed a decision to establish Long An Radio Station. After a period of preparation in terms of human resources, materials,... at exactly 5:00 a.m. on February 3, 1978, on the AM 760kHz medium-wave frequency, the theme song of the song Vam Co Dong sounded.

The first program broadcast included 15 minutes of news and 15 minutes of music. The first news program included an important speech by Long An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Chinh on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam. That was the first foundation of Long An Radio and Television Station later.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Southern Resistance Day, September 23, 1995, Long An Radio officially started broadcasting on television. Since then, along with radio broadcasting, the Radio has had a new form of information transmission to promptly propagate the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws to the people and reflect the people's thoughts and aspirations to the Party and the State.

Long An Radio and Television Station produces daily news bulletins and radio specials and columns. The application of information technology towards the formation of a multimedia communication model is also focused on. Currently, the Long An TV YouTube channel attracts more than 340 thousand subscribers and reaches a total of more than 170 million viewers,... and many other digital platforms of the Station have millions of viewers every month. From there, there are important and timely contributions bringing many valuable information and ideas,... to audiences and listeners near and far.

Continue the journey of pride

The months of June are a particularly meaningful time for the Vietnamese press in general and for journalists in Long An in particular because 100 years ago, on June 21, 1925, Leader Nguyen Ai Quoc published the first issue of Thanh Nien Newspaper, laying the foundation for the "birth" of Vietnam's revolutionary press.

Always accompanying the nation, Long An journalists during the war years fought side by side with soldiers and laborers on all fronts. During the period of peace, innovation and integration, the Newspaper and Radio PTTHLA promoted their role as the mouthpiece of the Party, the voice of the Party Committee, the government and the people of Long An province, maintaining political orientation, contributing to strengthening the people's trust in the Party, the State and our regime.

In Long An - the brave and resilient homeland, along with many outstanding children of the nation, there are 19 martyr journalists, among whom there are those who will forever stop at the age of twenty. After the war, Long An press continues its mission of "weaving" new spring journeys for the homeland and the country. That is to accompany the development and innovation of the province. In each historical period, the press and journalists have their own mission and responsibility.

Before the two press agencies merged, both the Newspaper and the Radio had a long and proud tradition and supported each other to perform well the propaganda task in the province, bringing the propaganda, education and entertainment functions vividly to everyone, every home. Thereby, contributing to improving the people's knowledge, serving the cause of economic, cultural - social development, security - defense of the province in the new revolutionary period.

The newspaper and the radio station have a team of journalists, reporters, editors, technicians,... who have won many awards at provincial, regional/ministerial, and central press awards... With that tradition, the journalists of the newspaper and the radio station always have steadfast faith in the Party, are dedicated to their profession, build a strong political stance, clear professional ethics, and high professional qualifications to fulfill their assigned missions.

Although there are still certain difficulties in the initial stages of merger and operation, with the belief in a new journey and solidarity and determination to overcome difficulties, the Newspaper and Radio and Television Station vow to continue writing a proud journey together on the new journey.

At the same time, each cadre, civil servant and employee of the Newspaper and Radio and Television Station clearly understands the profound instructions of General Secretary To Lam: "The new era also sets new and higher requirements and tasks for revolutionary journalism, requiring the press to develop accordingly, grow together with the nation, and be worthy of professional, humane and modern journalism"./.

On March 11, 2025, Long An Provincial Party Committee issued Project No. 28-DA/TU on merging Long An Newspaper and Long An Radio and Television Station. From April 2, 2025, the two units merged and began operating under the new name Long An Newspaper and Radio and Television Station (PTTHLA).

Through the process of formation and development, in the new period, PTTHLA Newspaper and Radio will be the main, modern media unit, orienting public opinion, spreading positive values, and strengthening connections with people and businesses.

Like the Moon

Source: https://baolongan.vn/su-hinh-thanh-va-phat-trien-bao-chi-long-an-a197393.html