National Press Festival 2026: Vietnamese journalism keeps pioneering flame in the new era
WVR - The National Press Festival 2026 affirms the courage, creativity, social responsibility, and pioneering mission of Vietnamese journalism in a new era.
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| Delegates press the button to inaugurate the National Press Festival 2026. (Photo: Son Hai) |
On June 19, in Hai Phong City, the National Press Festival 2026 officially commenced with the theme “Vietnamese Journalism – Loyalty, Creativity, Responsibility in the New Era”. The event, organized by the Vietnam Journalists Association in collaboration with the Party Committee and People's Committee of Hai Phong City, is part of a series of activities commemorating the 101st anniversary of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2026).
Attending the opening ceremony were Trinh Van Quyet, Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and Head of its Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation; Le Quoc Minh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association; Le Ngoc Chau, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Deputies' Delegation of Hai Phong City; along with leaders of central committees, ministries, departments, press agencies, local journalist associations, veteran journalists, international journalists, and a large audience of press enthusiasts.
Upholding the mission of Revolutionary journalism
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| Mr Trinh Van Quyet, Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, speaks at the opening ceremony of the Press Festival. (Photo: Dieu Linh) |
In his directive speech at the opening ceremony, Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation Trinh Van Quyet emphasized that the National Press Festival 2026 is a major event for journalists nationwide, taking place in the spirit of the entire Party, people, and army striving to bring the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress into life. This is not only a gathering and celebration of the journalism profession but also an opportunity to reflect on the past journey, commend the forces, and invigorate the spirit for a professional, humane, and modern revolutionary press.
Recalling President Ho Chi Minh's teaching: “The mission of journalism is to serve the people, serve the revolution,” Politburo member Trinh Van Quyet affirmed that the requirement for journalism in the new phase is to continuously innovate to develop commensurately with the era's stature, serve the Fatherland, and serve the people.
Praising the efforts of the Vietnam Journalists Association, the Party Committee, and the People's Committee of Hai Phong City and co-organizing agencies, Mr Trinh Van Quyet noted that the discussions at the Press Festival have directly addressed the hottest issues in journalism today, from newsroom model innovation, policy communication, protecting the ideological foundation of the Party to the application of artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
According to Mr Trinh Van Quyet, the theme “Vietnamese Journalism: Loyalty – Creativity – Responsibility in the New Era” aptly captures the demands of the times. He emphasized: “Loyalty is the root, creativity is the path, responsibility is the destination.”
In the context of digital technology, artificial intelligence, social networks, and cross-border platforms profoundly changing global communication methods, he asserted: “Technology may change the way journalism is done, but it can never change the mission and ideals of Vietnamese revolutionary journalism.”
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| Delegates visit the exhibition booth at the National Press Festival 2026. (Photo: Dieu Linh) |
From this requirement, Mr Trinh Van Quyet urged the nation's journalists to continue upholding the Party's principles, the people's principles, absolute loyalty to the Fatherland and the revolutionary cause; continuously innovate, create, break through, master technology; effectively play the role of development motivation, a sharp weapon of ideological and mass mobilization work; steadfastly maintain “content as the core, technology as the tool”; while innovating governance models, developing sustainable press economics associated with building a skilled, courageous, professional team of journalists.
Especially, in the wave of artificial intelligence application in the media field, Mr Trinh Van Quyet cautioned: “Artificial intelligence can write words, but it cannot replace the political courage, conscience, and heart of revolutionary journalists.” According to him, no matter how advanced technology becomes, it is merely a means; quality content, orientation, humanity, and professional ethics are what make a newspaper's reputation and vitality.
He also emphasized that every journalist must uphold the motto “sharp pen, pure heart, bright mind”; every newspaper must be a reliable forum for the people, resolutely fighting against corruption, waste, negativity; absolutely not allowing commercialization to blur the noble mission of revolutionary journalism.
With a glorious tradition, firm political courage, intelligence, and aspiration to contribute, Mr Trinh Van Quyet expressed confidence that the nation's journalists will continue to uphold the pioneering flag on the ideological and cultural front, alongside the entire Party, people, and army, successfully implementing the Resolution of the 14th Party Congress, steadfastly moving towards two historical milestones: the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding in 2030 and the 100th anniversary of the country's founding in 2045.
He emphasized: “The country cannot rise without a courageous, pioneering, and aspirational press.”
A major festival for the nation's press
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| Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association Le Quoc Minh speaks at the opening of the Press Festival. (Photo: Dieu Linh) |
In his opening speech at the Press Festival, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association Le Quoc Minh stressed that the National Press Festival 2026 is a major event with special significance for journalists nationwide, taking place as the press inherits a century of glorious tradition while proactively breaking through to join the country in entering a new era.
According to Deputy Head Le Quoc Minh, this year's Press Festival theme carries profound and comprehensive orientation. The three keywords “Loyalty, Creativity, Responsibility” affirm the core mission of revolutionary journalists: absolute loyalty to the Party's ideals, the people's interests; continuous innovation and creativity, applying modern technology; while enhancing social responsibility and professional ethics in building a just, democratic, and civilized society.
The National Press Festival 2026 features 87 exhibition booths from affiliated journalist associations, provincial and city journalist associations, and journalism training and research institutions nationwide.
The central exhibition space is constructed as a journey connecting tradition and the future, through a system of images, documents, artifacts, and modern display technology, helping the public reflect on the development journey of revolutionary journalism while clearly perceiving the demands placed on journalism in the new context.
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| Delegates congratulate the National Press Festival 2026. (Photo: Son Hai) |
Another highlight is the host unit's exhibition space with the message “Hai Phong – Convergence and Shine”, reflecting the link between journalism and the local socio-economic development. Additionally, the National Press Forum includes 11 in-depth discussion sessions, focusing on current issues of modern journalism such as organizing press agencies' activities, promoting journalism's role in protecting the Party's ideological foundation, journalism accompanying businesses in creating the future, especially the puzzle “AI – How to apply, what to apply, and how to control it in Vietnamese press agencies”.
This year's Press Festival also features a variety of activities such as the expanded Journalists' Singing Contest, a incense offering program at Hai Phong historical sites, awards honoring exhibition booths, outstanding events, and impressive, excellent journalistic products. These activities contribute to creating a renewed, creative, attractive, and practically effective Press Festival.
Hai Phong continues to accompany journalism
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| Secretary of the City Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Hai Phong City Le Ngoc Chau speaks at the opening ceremony. (Photo: Son Hai) |
On behalf of Hai Phong City, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Deputies' Delegation of Hai Phong City Le Ngoc Chau expressed the honour of the city to welcome central leaders, delegates, distinguished guests, and journalists from all over the country to attend the National Press Festival 2026. He affirmed that this is the first event in a series of national-scale key activities commemorating the 101st anniversary of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press Day organized by the Vietnam Journalists Association in Hai Phong.
The Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee emphasized that the National Press Festival 2026 is the largest-scale event for the nation's press community, gathering a large number of central, local, and regional news agencies and journalists.
This is also an occasion to review and honour the glorious tradition and great contributions of Vietnamese revolutionary journalism to the cause of national liberation, construction, and defense; while serving as an important forum to exchange experiences and discuss solutions for press development in the phase of organizational restructuring, digital transformation, content renewal, and operational method innovation.
Providing information about the host locality, Mr Le Ngoc Chau stated that since July 1, 2025, Hai Phong City was newly established by merging Hai Phong City and Hai Duong Province, with an area of nearly 3,200 km², a population of over 4.6 million, ranking fourth nationwide. Hai Phong has an economic scale of nearly 30 billion USD, ranking third nationwide and is the only locality maintaining double-digit growth for 11 consecutive years.
In the first six months of 2026, the city's socio-economic growth continued positively. The GRDP in the first quarter of 2026 reached 11.21%; total state budget revenue was estimated at over 113 trillion VND, achieving 58% of the annual estimate, up 12.4% compared to the same period; foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction was estimated at over 3 billion USD, up 74.6%; total export turnover was estimated at nearly 26 billion USD, up 8.3%; cargo throughput at ports was estimated at nearly 96 million tons, up 11.2%.
Notably, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs' announcement, in 2025, Hai Phong continued to rank first nationwide in both PAR INDEX and SIPAS. According to the evaluation and ranking of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in 2025, Hai Phong was among the top 5 localities with the best economic governance quality, with 7 out of 9 component indicators leading nationwide.
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| The exhibition booth of Hai Phong City at the National Press Festival 2026. (Photo: Dieu Linh) |
Mr Le Ngoc Chau affirmed that Hai Phong's achievements always have the companionship and support of press and media agencies nationwide. To realize the goal of becoming a leading modern industrial port city in the region, the city hopes to continue receiving the companionship of press agencies and journalists, contributing to strengthening trust, creating consensus, encouraging the development aspiration and dedication spirit of the city's Party Committee, government, army, and people.
The Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee requested central and local press agencies to continue to pay attention, increase airtime, expand coverage, build more in-depth and lively special pages and columns about Hai Phong. He hoped: “Every article, every documentary, and news footage will strongly reflect the open investment environment; outstanding mechanisms and policies; key projects; cultural and historical values, as well as promote the beautiful, friendly, and rich identity of Hai Phong's land and people.”
Le Ngoc Chau also committed that the city will closely coordinate, direct the provision of full information, create the most favorable conditions for press operations, and continue to contribute to the city's overall development.
From the port city of Hai Phong, the National Press Festival 2026 further invigorates the spirit for the nation's journalists to continue upholding the mission of revolutionary journalism, accompanying the country's development, and better serving the information needs of readers.
Tags:
National Press Festival 2026
Vietnamese
journalism
flame
new era
Trịnh Văn Quyết
Commission for Information
Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation
Politburo member
member of the Party Central Committee
Lê Quốc Minh
Editor-in-Chief
Nhan Dan Newspaper
Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA)
Hai Phong city
