Who was the first announcer of Voice of Vietnam?

Many interesting stories about the history of Voice of Vietnam over the past 80 years such as: Who was the first announcer of the station? What was the content of the first broadcast? What was the first broadcast of the liberated Saigon Radio like?

The first two announcers of Voice of Vietnam were Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat and Ms. Duong Thi Ngan - Photo taken from the book

Interesting stories of the history of Voice of Vietnam and also the history of the country are told in the book Voice of Vietnam - 80 years accompanying the country .

The book was launched by Voice of Vietnam and the Truth National Political Publishing House on September 4 in Hanoi, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Voice of Vietnam (September 7, 1945 - September 7, 2025).

How did Uncle Ho give instructions to establish the national radio station?

Readers learn about the birth of Voice of Vietnam.

In August 1945, the August Revolution succeeded. On the way from Tan Trao, Tuyen Quang to Hanoi, President Ho Chi Minh instructed Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap - Minister of the Interior ; Tran Huy Lieu - Minister of Information and Propaganda - to use information and communication means to serve the revolution, especially to urgently establish a national radio station.

Mr. Xuan Thuy - member of the Northern Provisional Revolutionary Committee - was assigned the task of organizing implementation.

Dan Thanh newspaper issue dated September 8, 1945 reported on the birth of Hanoi Radio Station, namely Voice of Vietnam - Photo: VOV

The station was hastily established and organized, including the search for announcers. There was Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat for the male voice and other part-time editors, but a female voice had to be found.

Mr. Tran Lam - the person in charge of organizing VOV at that time - thought that this job was similar to that of a female telephone operator, so he went to the Hanoi Post Office (also known as the Steel Wire Department).

The criteria for the announcer is Hanoi accent, high school education level or higher, clear, soft voice, age under 30.

The next day, Ms. Duong Thi Ngan, daughter of Professor Duong Quang Ham, was introduced by the Hanoi Post Office to work at the headquarters of Voice of Vietnam.

From the very first day of work, she was assigned to be an announcer and, together with Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat, read the first announcement of the National Radio: "This is the Voice of Vietnam, broadcasting from Hanoi, Capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam".

Thus, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat and Mrs. Duong Thi Ngan were the first two announcers of the National Radio. When participating in the resistance war, each person had to have their own pen name and stage name. Mrs. Duong Thi Ngan combined the name of her close girlfriend with her own name to form Ngan Thanh.

Mr. Tran Lam and Mrs. Duong Thi Ngan read in the music room, No. 4 Pham Ngu Lao - Hanoi, September 1945 - Photo taken from the book

What does the first broadcast include?

In the early days of its establishment, Voice of Vietnam did not have a specialized recording device, so announcers, reporters, and editors spoke directly into the microphone and broadcast directly on the air.

The first broadcast took place at 11:30 on September 7, 1945. First, 10 girls from the Women's National Salvation Association were sent to sing the song " Destroy Fascists" by musician Nguyen Dinh Thi.

After the theme song, there was a message read by Ms. Duong Thi Ngan and Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat: "This is the Voice of Vietnam, broadcasting from Hanoi, Capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam."

Then the two announcers opened the program with a blurb:

"Dear compatriots nationwide and dear listeners! Starting today, September 7, 1945, Voice of Vietnam officially launches to compatriots nationwide and listeners around the world...

We hope that from now on, we will be a dear friend of every Vietnamese family, and also a friendly voice to all peace-loving peoples around the world...".

After the revelation, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat solemnly reread the full text of the Declaration of Independence read by President Ho Chi Minh at Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi on September 2, 1945.

Then announced the list of members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam headed by President Ho Chi Minh. Next was the reading of President Ho Chi Minh's "National Appeal" (September 5, 1945).

Next, Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap - Minister of the Interior and Commander-in-Chief of the revolutionary armed forces - read a speech calling on all people to unite to help, build and protect the revolutionary government and revolutionary army.

Finally, there was news about successful uprisings in localities across the country and world news provided by the Information Center. Interspersed were revolutionary songs such as: Vietnamese Soldiers, On the Road, and Youth Call.

Many other interesting historical stories are also included in this book. Such as the story of Liberation Radio officially broadcasting its first program in Saigon after the victory on April 30, 1975; or about Mrs. Hanah Hanoi (Trinh Thi Ngo) and her English radio programs that defeated American soldiers...

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ai-la-phat-thanh-vien-dau-tien-cua-dai-tieng-noi-viet-nam-20250904222632337.htm