Building a professional, humane, and modern Vietnamese revolutionary press

Discussing at Group 1 on the Draft Law on Press (amended), National Assembly deputies of Hanoi assessed that this is a law project of special importance, not only for the development of Vietnam's revolutionary press but also contributing to the cause of building a rule-of-law state, developing the economy and society, protecting sovereignty and enhancing the national position in the new context.

Journalism needs to be seen as a modern cultural industry.

According to National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son, Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo has identified the development of science, technology and innovation as one of the strategic breakthroughs. In that context, scientific journals need to be placed in the right position and have their own appropriate mechanisms. Currently, the draft has included "Scientific Journals" in the scope of regulation, but it is still general and has no specific regulations.

National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son speaks at the discussion at Group 1

Delegates suggested that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between scientific journals with the task of publishing research results and policy criticism and specialized journals with the task of disseminating applied information. For scientific journals, there should be a more favorable mechanism for licensing, financial autonomy, multilingual publishing and international publication, considering this an important channel to connect the innovation ecosystem and improve the quality of scientific publications in Vietnam.

In addition, delegates also proposed to supplement digital transformation policies for scientific journals, including: building digital databases, granting international identification codes and encouraging links with prestigious journals in the world , creating a foundation for Vietnamese scientific journalism to deeply integrate.

In Article 3, Section 15, the draft stipulates that magazines “only update news and events on the activities and fields of operation of the governing body”. Regarding this content, delegates said that this regulation is not suitable for reality because many magazines still reflect political, economic and social issues, spreading messages, policies and major decisions of the Party and State. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate regulations that are more suitable for the current practice of journalism.

Referring to the foreign press, delegate Bui Hoai Son cited Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW, which emphasized the need to improve the quality and effectiveness of comprehensive international integration. In the context of global information competition, foreign press needs to be given due attention and investment.

Delegates suggested that the revised Press Law should emphasize more on the role of foreign press in promoting the national image. Specifically, it should encourage the development of multilingual press, radio and television channels, especially in English and languages ​​of neighboring countries.

Promote decentralization and delegation of power

According to National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son, the trend of decentralization, delegation of power and streamlining the apparatus is being promoted. The draft Law stipulates that the provincial People's Committee is responsible for state management of local press, but it is necessary to clarify the authority and coordination responsibility of the provincial People's Committee in managing representative offices and resident reporters of central press. Therefore, the delegate proposed to expand the authority of localities in licensing a number of publications, supplements and columns; at the same time, strengthen the inspection and supervision of press activities in the locality, helping the press to accurately reflect reality and reduce the burden on the central management agency.

Regarding the press economic model, in the context of our country not having private press, it is necessary to emphasize the mechanism of ordering, bidding for public tasks and public investment with focus, associated with the "3 easy" technical economic standards: easy to understand, easy to apply, easy to implement. This is an important resource for the press to fulfill its political tasks, especially in remote areas, border areas, islands and the foreign affairs sector.

Discussion scene at Group 1

Along with that, National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son needs to expand the legal framework for association, socialization, public-private cooperation in the press, and at the same time have preferential policies on tax, land, and credit for press agencies and associated partners when organizing cultural activities, community events... However, it is necessary to establish a strict control mechanism to avoid commercialization, deviating from the principles and purposes.

According to National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son, the draft Law on Press (amended) should be seen not only as a legal framework for press activities but also as a driving force for the press to develop as a modern cultural industry. According to the delegate, the press today is not only an ideological tool and forum for the people, but also a creative product with cultural and economic value, linked to other cultural industries such as music, cinema, advertising, publishing, radio and television. When placed in the cultural industry ecosystem, the press can create a chain of added value, both serving political tasks and contributing to promoting the national image.

The delegate emphasized that the Law on Press (amended) needs to supplement clear mechanisms and policies so that the press can operate as a cultural industry, from financial mechanisms based on ordering and bidding for public tasks; policies to promote innovation, application of digital technology, artificial intelligence, big data... to expanding foreign press, developing multilingualism and forming a modern and effective press group model.

National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son said that this draft of the Press Law (amended) was carefully and seriously prepared. However, for the law to truly become an important legal tool to promote journalism in the digital age, it is necessary to continue to more strongly institutionalize policies for scientific journals associated with innovation; strengthen the role of foreign and multilingual journalism in international integration; build a cultural industrial ecosystem for journalism; clarify decentralization and delegation of power to localities and perfect the journalism economic mechanism suitable for conditions without private journalism.

“With those adjustments, I believe that the revised Press Law will contribute to building a professional, humane, and modern Vietnamese revolutionary press; both meeting domestic information needs and affirming Vietnam's position in the international arena,” National Assembly Deputy Bui Hoai Son emphasized.

Q more specific regulations on revocation of press operation licenses

Commenting on the draft Law on Press (amended), National Assembly member Le Nhat Thanh said that it is necessary to have more specific regulations on cases of revocation of press operation licenses. Specifically, Clause 1, Article 20 of the draft states that "If a press agency has a press operation license but does not operate, the license will expire". Regarding this content, the delegate suggested that it is necessary to clearly state "how long does it take to not operate" for the license to expire to ensure transparency. At the same time, it is necessary to add principled regulations on cases where a press agency must temporarily suspend operations due to objective reasons (organizational restructuring) or force majeure (epidemics, etc.). In these cases, the suspension period should not be considered as the basis for determining the expiration of the license, in order to avoid unnecessary administrative procedures.

National Assembly Delegate Le Nhat Thanh speaks at the discussion at Group 1

Also according to the draft Law, people working at scientific magazines are not eligible for press cards (Point e, Clause 1, Article 29). Delegates said that this provision is a change from the 2016 Press Law and could lead to inequality between people working at scientific magazines and other types of magazines.

In reality, people working at scientific journals also collect, process, analyze information, and convey knowledge to the public - essentially journalistic activities. Furthermore, in Clause 2 and Clause 16, Article 3 of the draft, scientific journals are defined as "journalistic products", therefore, those who create content for these journals are also journalists. Based on that basis, delegates suggested that the drafting agency continue to research, evaluate, and consider maintaining the regulation on granting press cards to people working at scientific journals as currently stipulated in the 2016 Press Law.

Regarding copyright in the field of journalism (Article 39), the draft Basic Law inherits current regulations, requiring press agencies to comply with the law on copyright and related rights when publishing and broadcasting press works. However, delegates said that this regulation only stops at citing but does not clarify the legal responsibilities of press agencies, especially in the context of increasingly popular application of artificial intelligence (AI).

Therefore, National Assembly Deputy Le Nhat Thanh suggested that the Drafting Committee study and supplement specific regulations on the responsibility of press agencies in controlling the origin and legality of press works, including when using AI to support content creation.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/xay-dung-nen-bao-chi-cach-mang-viet-nam-chuyen-nghiep-nhan-van-hien-dai-10392634.html