The newspaper acts as a political commissar.

75 years ago, in order to promptly serve the requirements of political ideology and propaganda work when the resistance war against French colonialism was at its peak, the General Command decided to merge the two newspapers Ve Quoc Quan and Quan Guerrilla into the QĐND Newspaper. Not only was it honored to be named by President Ho Chi Minh, but right from the first issue (October 20, 1950), the journalists of the QĐND Newspaper were instructed by President Ho Chi Minh: "Speak things that are truly practical, in line with political guidelines, less jokes, write short, simple, easy to understand, present clearly, and do not go to other pages". That teaching, more precious than gold and jade, is always in the mind and heart of every journalist of the QĐND Newspaper.

The editorial board of the People's Army Newspaper reported to President Luong Cuong on the results of the newspaper's political tasks in recent times. Photo: TRONG HAI

Previously, on December 27, 1944, that is, 81 years ago, the Tieng Gun Resounding newspaper - the predecessor of the People's Army Newspaper - was published just 5 days after the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team - the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army was established. General Vo Nguyen Giap was the one who directly directed the publication of the Tieng Gun Resounding newspaper. The Tieng Gun Resounding newspaper was quickly born along with the birth of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team, showing that General Vo Nguyen Giap deeply understood President Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on building revolutionary armed forces and armed propaganda work: "Politics is more important than military ", "it is a propaganda army", "military without politics is like a tree without roots"... In the beginning, our Army only had 34 soldiers, without any military branches or services, but immediately had a press army. Information, political theory, political ideology create forces, create fighting strength. General Vo Nguyen Giap emphasized: "Creating a newspaper is like organizing a coordinated battle."

For the journalists of the People's Army Newspaper, the two milestones of 81 years and 75 years are both origins, clearly showing the role of the newspaper in the history of the Vietnam People's Army, as well as in the history of the Vietnamese revolution, closely linked to the revolutionary activities of President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap. It can be seen that, for the previous revolutionary leaders, the press was a particularly important revolutionary weapon, needed first.

Because of the special importance placed on the press army and press weapons, in the first issue of the People's Army Newspaper, comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh - then Director of the General Political Department, wrote the first political article on the front page with the title "Winning and protecting crops".

The General Command assigned the first task of Chief Editor and Chief Editor (Editor-in-Chief) of the People's Army Newspaper to comrade Le Liem, who was then Deputy Director of the General Political Department. Veteran journalist Pham Phu Bang (1930-2024) recalled: "The articles Mr. Le Liem wrote were read very carefully by almost all the highest-ranking officers, all political commissars of divisions and regiments. Those were articles of a directive nature, associated with strategic intentions. In this case, the newspaper played the role of a Political Commissar." During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, comrade Le Liem was the Chief of the Front's Political Department, and was assigned by General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of the Front's Party Committee, to organize the publication of the People's Army Newspaper at the front. Upon receiving the order, the People's Army Newspaper organized a front-line editorial office, published 33 issues right at the front, distributed directly to officers and soldiers in the trenches, encouraging and motivating the fighting spirit of the troops.

Officials and reporters of the People's Army Newspaper visited the Huynh Thuc Khang Journalism School relic site, April 2025. Photo: VIET TRUNG

In the midst of the two great resistance wars of the nation, the cadres and reporters of the People's Army Newspaper did not fear hardships and sacrifices, rushing to the fronts and battlefields, promptly conveying the directives and resolutions of the General Military Commission and the General Command to the cadres and soldiers; promptly reflecting the brave and tenacious fighting spirit and the heroic feats of our army and people. The People's Army Newspaper has 9 journalists who are heroic martyrs who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield. Notably, two journalists were posthumously awarded and conferred the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces: Senior Lieutenant, martyr Le Dinh Du and Colonel Dang Tho Truat. The saying of People's Armed Forces Hero, Martyr Le Dinh Du has gone down in the history of Vietnam's revolutionary press when talking about the position of Army journalists and reporters: "A soldier can stand and shoot, kneel and shoot, or lie down and shoot, but we reporters at this time can only stand straight in the trenches, using weapons such as cameras and fountain pens to record the exploits of our comrades and the crimes of the enemy!".

Image of the People's Army Newspaper published at the Dien Bien Phu Front appearing at the 100th Anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, June 2025. Photo: TUAN HUY

After the country's peace and reunification, and especially during the renovation period, the People's Army Newspaper has performed well its role in orienting ideology, informing and propagating the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and policies, especially in the military and defense fields; fighting against wrong viewpoints, opposing the plot of "peaceful evolution" and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation". The newspaper vividly reflects the life, fighting, working and production of cadres, soldiers and people, contributing to strengthening confidence, arousing patriotism, revolutionary will and aspirations to build a prosperous and happy country and firmly protect the socialist Fatherland.

Speaking during his visit and working session with the People's Army Newspaper on October 19, 2015, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (1944-2024) emphasized: "People's Army Newspaper is truly a heroic newspaper of the heroic Vietnam People's Army and the heroic Vietnamese nation. This is an important and indispensable newspaper in the Vietnamese revolutionary press system; one of the leading political newspapers of the country and the Army, with its own prestige and identity."

Constantly innovating but steadfast, maintaining identity

“Prestige” and “identity” are invaluable assets of the People’s Army Newspaper. In any circumstances, the People’s Army Newspaper is always a loyal soldier on the political and ideological front, always politically steadfast, following the viewpoints and guidelines of the Party and State and implementing well the resolutions and direct instructions of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army. The newspaper correctly implements its principles and purposes and maintains the identity of a political newspaper, a Party newspaper in the Army. Along with its political qualities, the People’s Army Newspaper is also a newspaper full of cultural qualities, with many famous writers, poets, and painters, such as the generation of resistance against the French, Tham Tam, Thoi Huu..., the generation of resistance against the US, Anh Ngoc, the later generation, Do Trung Lai, Tran Anh Thai, Hong Thanh Quang... with many famous poetic works, included in general textbooks, many of whom have been awarded the State Prize for literature and art. Last September, three artists who used to work at the People's Army Newspaper, Mai Van Hien, Nguyen Bich and Duong Huong Minh, were honored to have a street named after them in Dien Bien Phu ward, Dien Bien province.

The newspaper was honored to be named QĐND by Uncle Ho, the phrase “Serving the People!” was placed above the newspaper’s name on the mantle. Therefore, QĐND Newspaper must definitely serve the information needs of cadres, soldiers and people well. The newspaper must proactively seek out readers and provide information on issues of interest to readers.

Representatives of generations of journalists of the People's Army Newspaper met to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its tradition. Photo: TUAN HUY

In the current context, the People's Army Newspaper must innovate to fulfill its role as a key, multimedia, and public opinion-orienting media agency. That is because social networks are becoming an information force that competes fiercely with mainstream newspapers, while international media platforms create great competitive pressure in terms of speed, attractiveness, and ability to reach readers.

The tastes of young readers require the People's Army Newspaper to actively innovate its approach and apply new technologies. With the attention of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, the People's Army Newspaper has carried out a comprehensive digital transformation, from content to form, reporting methods, and reader approach methods. The newspaper has built a multimedia, multi-platform communication system, combining print newspapers, electronic newspapers, and modern digital platforms. Print newspapers are still considered as epitaphs, as pages of history for today's generation, not only having the meaning of disseminating information but also having the meaning of storing extremely valuable information.

E-newspapers have the strength of digital technology, providing multimedia information, making it easier to reach readers. The People's Army Newspaper has attracted a large number of readers with high-quality articles, videos, infographics and podcasts. The newspaper has proactively developed content on social networking platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Zalo... The newspaper also focuses on implementing creative journalism products, data journalism with the application of modern technologies. The newspaper has soon applied artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis to optimize content, predict reader trends and personalize user experience.

Delegates presented flowers to artists and actors participating in the Summary and Awarding of the 4th Writing Contest "Protecting the Party's Ideological Foundation in the New Situation" jointly organized by the People's Army Newspaper and the Vietnam Journalists Association, May 2025. Photo: TUAN HUY

In the information competition with social networks, the People's Army Newspaper is confident in winning and retaining its readers. Social networks cannot replace press information, because the nature, role, and information responsibilities of the press and social networks are different. In the chaotic world of information on social networks, users will not know clearly what is right or wrong, true or false. Therefore, the press is always a solid support for information for society, an information tool of the Party and the State. For those working for the People's Army Newspaper, the accuracy, authenticity, and reliability of information are vital issues.

Technology is very important, however, the People's Army Newspaper always identifies people as the subject and the center. People are the objects that the Newspaper serves and the quality of human resources is the decisive factor in the development of the newspaper. Recently, in the Vietnamese press, there has been a trend of over-emphasizing and over-abusing AI. However, the results of AI's work are related to automatic input data on foreign technology platforms, so if AI is used to produce press content, it will be difficult to control well, and the risk of errors is unpredictable. Therefore, the people working at the People's Army Newspaper only use AI for support and reference, but do not depend on AI to produce content, and do not let AI lead.

Journalism is considered one of the intellectual labor sectors, with an elite aspect. Thanks to AI, journalism will become more leisurely, but if this is not limited, it will easily be mistaken for simple labor, and journalists will dig their own graves.

No matter how smart, AI is just a machine, it has no heart, no human emotions, cannot empathize with humans and certainly cannot replace humans in journalism.

Realizing this, the People's Army Newspaper always determines that improving the quality of the newspaper depends on the journalistic staff, so it has focused on training a team of reporters and editors who are "both red and professional", have political courage, are good at expertise, are proficient in technology, and are also emotional people, know how to be moved by beauty, protect what is right and good, criticize and fight against what is bad, negative and degraded.

The People's Army Newspaper is a newspaper that has been awarded the heroic title twice: People's Armed Forces Hero and Labor Hero; and has been awarded the Gold Star Order - the most noble medal of our State. 75 years since the first issue was published, the People's Army Newspaper has made continuous innovations and developments, but the quality and identity of the newspaper have always been maintained. The People's Army Newspaper always strives to be worthy of the trust of the Party, the State, and the Army, always being a close, sincere, and beloved friend of the people, actively contributing to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/chao-mung-ky-niem-75-nam-ngay-thanh-lap-bao-quan-doi-nhan-dan/kien-dinh-va-doi-moi-o-to-bao-hai-lan-anh-hung-885639