In the 92-year glorious history of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology have always acted as the Party’s ideological foundation and a lodestar for all actions of the CPV. Since its inception and during its leadership over the Vietnamese revolution, our Party has always thoroughly grasped the importance of protecting its ideological foundation and resolutely combated wrong, hostile viewpoints, which has been seen as a constant struggle, a consistent task, and a determinant to the victory of the Vietnamese revolution and the success of national renewal, industrialisation, and modernisation.

On October 22^nd, 2018, the 12^th Politburo issued Resolution 35-NQ/TW on “strengthening the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints in the new situation”. According to the Resolution, “the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation includes protecting the Party and its Political Platform and guidelines, the people, the Socialist rule-of-law State, safeguarding the cause of national renewal, industrialisation, modernisation, and international integration, ensuring national benefits, and maintaining a peaceful, stable environment for the country’s development”. The Political Report of the 13^th National Party Congress stressed that it is necessary to “enhance the fight for protecting the Party’s ideological foundation, resolutely and frequently combat wrong, hostile viewpoints and opportunism, and prevent and repel the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as the signs of internal “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. The Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the CPV Secretariat have always paid special attention to institutionalising the Party’s guidelines and working towards measures for protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints. Emphasis has been placed on pointing out responsibility of the Vietnamese revolutionary press as a sharp ideological weapon of our Party and State and an important means of disseminating the building of the Party and the political system, the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation, and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia speaks at the seminar on "Journalism with the task of defending the Party's ideological ground"

Over the years, press agencies have grasped and seriously realised our Party and State’s leadership, direction, and orientation for information work, adhered to the goal of maintaining political stability, created a consensus within society, cemented the people’s faith in the CPV and the socialist regime, and opportunely, honestly, comprehensively provided information about the political, economic, social life both at home and abroad. Due regard has been paid to organising high-quality pages, columns, and programmes for propagating the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints.

In addition, press agencies have actively disseminated political theory, while asserting the soundness and scientific, revolutionary nature of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology as well as the CPV’s role in the revolutionary struggle and the cause of national construction and protection with numerous achievements of today. Press agencies, such as People’s Newspaper, Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency, People’s Army Newspaper, People’s Public Security News, Government News, Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper, Army Radio and Television, and People’s Public Security Television, a number of magazines, such as Communist Review, Propaganda and Education Journal, Party Building Magazine, National Defence Journal, and Political Theory Journal together with the Party’s local newspapers have produced a lot of in-depth articles helping cement the scientific faith, enabled the CPV’s ideology and socialist ideal to maintain a dominant position in the society’s mental life, and create positive spill-over effects amongst the people. It is worth noting that the article entitled “A number of theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path towards socialism in Vietnam” by Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has been published as a highlight of the theoretical study field. Since the release of the article on May 16^th, 2021 via mass media, press agencies have published and broadcast thousands of programmes, articles, and editorials demonstrating active endorsements and support from scholars, scientists, and people from all walks of life at home as well as from foreign friends, political parties, and politicians. The article by Party chief has become an extremely valuable document for political theoretical study and education and the raised awareness of socialism and the path towards socialism in Vietnam amongst cadres, party members, and citizens. In this regard, press agencies have served as an efficient means of widely spreading such a scientific work of immense theoretical and practical values to readers and viewers.

In addition to actively propagating and disseminating the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law, national development policies and plans of the National Assembly, the Government, ministries, sectors, and localities, performing their functions of social supervision and criticism, press agencies have posted opinions of experts, researchers, and even citizens about the country’s socio-economic development, opportunely commended and encouraged valuable experiences, typical examples, and effective models and approaches in the Fatherland construction and protection as well as in socio-economic, cultural development, thereby fostering the Patriotic Emulation Movement. Press agencies have developed a large number of programmes and articles on the Party’s corruption prevention and combat in tandem with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, the building of the Party and the political system into purity and strength, and the fight against “self-evolution”, “self-transformation”, and the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle amongst a section of cadres and party members. Typical programmes and columns include “Facing off” (Vietnam Television), “Urgent Tasks” and “Commentary and Criticism (People’s Newspaper), “Straight Look, Sincere Voice” (Voice of Vietnam), “Self-Evolution and “Self-Transformation Prevention and Control” (People’s Army Newspaper), and a series of pieces of news and articles with convincing, attractive contents from Vietnam News Agency, Communist Review, and Party Building Magazine, being highly appreciated by the public, causing positive effects within the society. A part from programmes and news in Vietnamese, a number of press agencies have introduced publications and programmes in Vietnam’s ethnic languages and foreign languages (English, French, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese), with a view to spreading information amongst ethnic minority people, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends.

Press agencies have proactively criticised and opposed distortions of the country’s situation and national development strategies, plans, and policies, while unmasking and clarifying hostile forces’ plots of inciting the people to join illegal gatherings and petitioning, particularly at National Party Congresses, Elections of Deputies to the National Assembly, and during the State’s strategic decision making. Several magazines, such as Communist Review, Political Theoretical Journal, Propaganda and Education Journal, Philosophy Magazine, Ethnic Vietnam Magazine, Religious Work Magazine together with main political press agencies and a number of newspapers under ministries, sectors, and social organisations have concentrated on clarifying many theoretical and practical issues on ethnicity, religion, democracy, and human rights, asserting that Vietnam’s policies have always been both humane and rational, respected freedom of belief and religion, and guaranteed the people’s human rights. At the same time, they have unmasked hostile forces’ exploitation of foreign social networks and press to cause misinformation and negatively impact on our CPV and State’s prestige, while analysing and proving the sound legal basis of Vietnam as a sovereign nation in the prosecution, detention, and punishment of some individuals committing offences, such as Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Can Thi Theu, Pham Thi Doan Trang.

It can’t be denied that thanks to their rich contents, persuasive arguments, and specific figures, programmes and articles by press agencies in charge of protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile information and viewpoints have brought about significant effects in information and propagation work and earned strong support from cadres, party members, and the people.

Currently, Vietnam has opportunities and advantages, but faces a lot of difficulties and challenges. Hostile forces and political opportunists continue enhancing their sabotage strategy and taking advantage of the development of the Internet and social networks to conduct their cunning artifices. That will impose new requirements on the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints as well as information and propagation work in the press. In addition to the recorded significant achievements, the work of information and propagation to protect the CPV’s ideological foundation and combat wrong, hostile viewpoints has been encountered many challenges with unexpected incidents. Estimating, analysing, and processing information have yet to meet task requirements. A number of press agencies have yet to pay due regard to the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints. Some have even showed political insensitivity when letting hostile forces take advantage of their improper published information. In order to further promote press agencies’ role and improve the effectiveness of information and propagation relating to this important work, it is necessary to grasp and well implement several tasks and measures as follows.

First, raise the awareness of the importance of protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints in the new situation amongst press agencies’ leaders, cadres, journalists, and editors. Press agencies shall be fully aware that the protection of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints act as a task of paramount importance within the work of information and propagation. Thus, emphasis should be placed on correctly, creatively applying Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology to Vietnam’s current conditions, with the aim of enabling cadres, party members, and citizens to more clearly, thoroughly understand and adhere to the fundamentals and great values of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, asserting the CPV’s role in the Fatherland construction and protection, actively propagating and disseminating the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and the country’s achievements in 35 years of national renewal, raising cadres, party members, and citizens’ political knowledge, spreading positive factors, typical examples, and “good people, good deed” examples, and encouraging the entire CPV and people to successfully fulfil the cause of national renewal for the sake of wealthy people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation.

Second, keep strengthening the Party’s absolute leadership over the press, directing press agencies from Central to local levels to actively take part in defending the CPV’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints in the light of the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, fostering coordination between press management offices, the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, and relevant agencies to achieve uniformity in press management, and maintaining direction and orientation for press agencies to well carry out the mission of the revolutionary press. The work of leading, directing, and managing journalistic activities should be timely, acute, scientific, convincing, and equitable, keep pace with the development of practice, remain proactive, perceptive, and opportune in forecast and ideological orientation against major, complex, sensitive issues in social life, and include a close combination of internal information service and external information service.

Press management offices should focus on designing, reviewing, amending, supplementing, and completing the system of directing and legal documents on the press in a close manner to meet the demands for international integration and the development of digital communication, while applying scientific and technological advances to press management in a modernised way. There should be mechanisms to provide information for press agencies so that they could help organisations and individuals, particularly from other countries to fully, comprehensively understand and objectively assess Vietnam’s situation. Due attention should be paid to directing press agencies and their staff to conform to the Party’s regulations, the State’s laws on press work, 10 regulations on professional ethics of Vietnamese journalists, and rules for social network use amongst Vietnamese journalists so as to allow the defence of the CPV’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints to be widely, deeply propagated in the press and seriously, effectively conducted within press agencies themselves.

Third, encourage a sense of responsibility amongst heads of press agencies, particularly for propagating major political tasks and raising the quality of journalists and editors in terms of politics, ideology, professional competence, and work ethics. Due regard should be paid to building Party organisations and unions within press agencies, raising the quality of their operations, educating Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, and grasping the Party Central Committee’s directives and resolutions on the Party building and rectification, ideological work, and culture as well as the CPV’s orientations for press work in the new situation as the basis for press agencies to develop in the right direction and maintain the nature of the revolutionary press. Besides, it is vital to further step up the work of inspection, supervision, and Party discipline within press agencies and fight against “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” amongst journalists themselves.

Fourth, renew contents and forms of propagation and increase the quantity and quality of programmes and articles designed to protect the Party’s ideological foundation. Each article and programme must include solid theoretical basis, powerful arguments, topicality, and ideological orientation for readers and viewers so that every press work could become a means of cementing the people’s faith in the country. During our propagation and struggle, emphasis should be placed on combining “building” with “fighting”, with the former as a basic, long-term task and the latter as an urgent, routine, drastic measure, proactively spreading positive information through the press and the Internet, and seriously, drastically fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints so that the revolutionary press will be a truly sharp weapon for performing “exorcism”, protecting justice, condemning the evil, fighting against perceptual deviations and injustice. More importantly, doing so will make the press whole-heartedly serve the Fatherland and the people.

Great value should be attached to bringing into play advantages of online newspapers and magazines, web portals, new means of communication, and social networks to facilitate the work of information and propagation. Press agencies shall further apply modern technology to producing, editing, and approving news and articles, take advantage of the Internet and social media to approach readers and viewers, and exploit different channels to enable the press to serve overseas Vietnamese and help foreigners more clearly, correctly understand Vietnam’s practical conditions.

Fifth, make focalised investments in facilities and personnel. In addition to increasing the quality and quantity of collaborators and maintaining close coordination with relevant offices, sectors, scientists, and theorists, each press agency shall train and develop their own personnel into a specialised section or group of journalists with great competence to opportunely, frequently make convincing news and articles for safeguarding the Party’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints. Consideration should be given to working towards policies to opportunely reward press agencies and journalists with outstanding achievements in the defence of the CPV’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints, while due attention should be paid to keeping organising regular press awards regarding this topic in order to honour journalists and encourage them to produce more brilliant, effective articles for the work of propagation.

Our Party and State have always created a favourable condition for the press to develop. According to the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, we shall “build a professional, humane, and modern journalism and communication system”. The development of science and technology, particularly digital communication is providing more new spaces for the development of the press. More than ever before, press agencies and journalists nationwide shall continue to be fully aware that the press serves as a sharp weapon on the CPV’s ideological front, while promoting the glorious revolutionary tradition with nearly 100 years of construction and development and making significant contributions to the building and protection of the socialist Fatherland as well as the entire Party and people’s successful fulfilment of the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress.

NGUYEN TRONG NGHIA, Secretary of the Party Central Committee

Head of the Central Commission for Propaganda and Education