Over the past 80 years of being associated with the nation's important historical events, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) is proud to be the only press agency to be awarded the noble title three times: Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period (2001), Hero of the People's Armed Forces (2005 and 2020), and many other noble awards.
This is the recognition of the Party and State for the great contributions of VNA in the cause of information and propaganda, building and defending the Fatherland.
Three times honored to be awarded the title of Hero
On June 14, 2001, President Tran Duc Luong signed Decision No. 456/2001/QD-CTN to award VNA the title of Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period for its outstanding achievements in the 1989-1999 period.
This is a recognition of the role of VNA in propagating the renovation policy and promoting the country's industrialization and modernization.
Since the early 1980s, VNA has boldly innovated the content and form of information, persistently discovered and promoted advanced models, and criticized social negativity.
Foreign information work promptly reflects the multilateralization and diversification activities of the Party and State; and introduces the country and people of Vietnam to international friends.
VNA also built a national film archive with more than 1 million valuable films about the history of revolutionary struggles and President Ho Chi Minh .
By 2001, VNA had developed from 12 initial bulletins into 35 publications with many types of reference news, popular news, domestic and foreign newspapers published daily, weekly, monthly, specialized documents, bulletins and electronic newspapers in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese.
The establishment of the News Agency Audio-Visual Center (1999) marked a new step forward in multimedia information production.
On March 17, 2005, President of Vietnam Tran Duc Luong signed Decision No. 205/2005/QD-CTN "on conferring the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces" on Vietnam News Agency (VNTTX) - now VNA for its outstanding achievements in the resistance war against the US to save the country.
During the anti-American period alone, VNA provided support to the Southern battlefield with more than 450 key cadres; not to mention hundreds of cadres, reporters, editors and technical staff from the North following the advancing troops, participating in campaigns across the battlefields of the South, Laos and Cambodia.
News and photos sent from the battlefield to the rear contributed to encouraging the national resistance movement. Nearly 260 reporters, editors and technical staff of the industry heroically sacrificed their lives, accounting for more than 25% of the total VNA workforce during the war and 4/5 of the total number of journalists nationwide who sacrificed their lives.
On September 1, 2020, President Nguyen Phu Trong signed Decision 1521/QD-CTN to confer the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces on the Liberation News Agency (TTXGP) - the official news agency of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
Established in 1960, TTXGP operated for 15 years under bombs and bullets, maintaining the "bloodline" of information in most battlefields, reflecting the strength of the revolutionary movement and exposing enemy plots.
During the historic Ho Chi Minh campaign, VNA reporters and reporters closely followed the main units, promptly reporting on the battles and rapid advances of the liberation army and capturing immortal moments, such as the photos "Tanks occupying the Independence Palace" (Tran Mai Huong) or "Mother and son on the day they met" (Lam Hong Long).
Not only on the battlefield, TTXGP was also the main force providing information for Vietnamese delegations at the Paris Conference, contributing to creating international public opinion in support of the resistance.
Along with military strength, the accurate and timely information source of TTXGP became a sharp weapon, contributing to the victory of Spring 1975.
80 years of the epic News Agency
Looking back on 80 years of formation and development, VNA emerges as a symbol of revolutionary journalism, a place where heroic traditions, steadfastness and a desire for constant innovation converge.
Since its establishment on September 15, 1945, under the direct leadership of President Ho Chi Minh, VNA has affirmed its role as a national news agency, holding the responsibility of providing official information, orienting public opinion, and serving the Party and State leaders.
In the history of Vietnamese journalism, few agencies are as closely linked to the nation's destiny as VNA: each step of growth of the agency is also an important milestone in the journey of building and defending the Fatherland.
Former General Director of VNA Ho Tien Nghi said that since its inception, VNA has been assigned two important tasks. The first task is to provide official information to the entire press and media system in the country. Most of the news and articles published publicly in the press at that time were published by VNA.
The second task is to provide reference information for senior leaders, from President Ho Chi Minh, the Politburo to research agencies of the Party, State and army. VNA is able to grasp strategic information thanks to its network of resident reporters in provinces, cities and many countries, and at the same time exploit news from international news agencies.
Former General Director Ho Tien Nghi affirmed that the history of VNA is a heroic epic, marking the pioneering role and position of the strategic information agency of the Party and State.
During the resistance war against the US, in order to promptly supplement the forces to support the South, many intensive training courses were opened. The reporters of the News Agency at that time not only faced fierce bombs and bullets, but also had to fight against diseases, malaria, lack of technology and working conditions.
The sacrifice of the first General Director Tran Kim Xuyen on the morning of March 3, 1947 in Chuong My, Ha Tay (now part of Hanoi) is a clear demonstration of that spirit of self-sacrifice. He fell while directly transferring machinery to the war zone.
Many reporters secretly went to the battlefield, hiding from their families, accepting to be away from their wives and children to complete the tasks entrusted to them by their agencies.
Recalling emotional memories during the period of sending reporters to the battlefield, former General Director Ho Tien Nghi said that after each training course, he would go down to meet and encourage his colleagues, asking them if they had anything they wanted to tell their families.
Most of the reporters said they were reassured and comfortable and promised to meet in Saigon. Some only had time to buy postage stamps to quickly write a few lines to their relatives. “Many of our brothers left without saying goodbye to their families. They told me: Come see my parents, wife and children, and tell them that I have a safe trip. So I followed the address and cycled to each house to visit. There were no gifts at that time, just a kilo of sugar, a carton of milk for the elderly or a package of candy for the children,” he recalled emotionally.
The team of reporters of the News Agency is also trained in politics, ideology, economic knowledge, military, diplomacy, security and defense to meet the strategic information requirements of the Party and State.
Former General Director Ho Tien Nghi compared VNA to a "big school" where many generations of reporters grew up through hardship, working day and night to complete their tasks.
Transformation in the digital age
The 2008-2021 period is considered a particularly important turning point when VNA is facing the wave of global digital transformation while meeting the increasing information needs of society.
Former General Director Nguyen Duc Loi acknowledged that this is a challenging period but also opens up opportunities. The context of explosive technological development, the rise of social networks, and the rapid change in the way of working and receiving information forces the national news agency to boldly innovate.
“We realize that we must make strong, drastic and comprehensive changes to maintain our role as the strategic information center of the Party and State, while meeting public expectations,” Mr. Nguyen Duc Loi shared.
Bold decisions have created a new look for VNA. In 2008, the online newspaper VietnamPlus was born, becoming one of the pioneering online newspapers, quickly asserting its position in the digital age.
Two years later, the Vietnam News Agency (VNews) officially went on air, marking an important turning point, turning VNA into a multimedia press agency.
In 2014, a series of new information products continued to be launched: from bulletin boards integrating images and audio information to the relaunch of the modern foreign information project, expanding the ability to spread authentic information to the world.
In particular, in 2017, the industry-wide multimedia operations system was put into operation, connecting from management to editing and production, making VNA one of the press agencies with the most advanced technological infrastructure in Vietnam.
These advances are not just investments in equipment, but a comprehensive transformation of thinking, processes and people. In a large organization, changing the way of working, production methods and working culture requires consensus from the Board of Directors to each reporter and editor.
According to former General Director Nguyen Duc Loi, the most important factor is to maintain the “roots” of a state news agency: authentic content, clear political orientation, while still keeping up with technological trends. This is the secret to helping VNA modernize and maintain its reputation as a national strategic press agency.
During this time, external information activities were also promoted, affirming the international position of VNA. The US-North Korea Summit in Hanoi in 2019 is a typical example: In just a few days, VNA produced and published nearly 4,000 information products in many languages, providing them to both domestic and foreign press.
Currently, with a network of 30 permanent offices abroad, cooperation with about 40 international news agencies and press organizations, and production of information in many languages, VNA is truly an important information bridge, promptly refuting false arguments, and at the same time bringing the image of Vietnam to the world.
What makes VNA’s unique identity is not only technological innovation, but also the tradition of solidarity and humanity. Mr. Nguyen Duc Loi proudly calls VNA a “warm home” where generations of journalists love and guide each other, continuing the spirit of their predecessors. It is this spirit that motivates today’s young reporters to not only be good at technology and sensitive to current events, but also maintain political courage, contributing to shaping the mainstream information flow in the era of “online storms.”
Over the past eight decades, VNA has not only witnessed but also contributed to the making of the country’s history. From a fledgling news agency at the time of the nation’s founding to a leading multimedia press agency, VNA has always played a pioneering role in every stage.
Former General Director Nguyen Duc Loi emphasized: VNA today not only inherits the heroic tradition, but is also a modern press agency, ready to take the lead in the digital age, worthy of the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tu-hao-la-co-quan-bao-chi-duy-nhat-ba-lan-duoc-phong-tang-danh-hieu-anh-hung-post1061151.vnp
![[Photo] Binh Trieu 1 Bridge has been completed, raised by 1.1m, and will open to traffic at the end of November.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/10/2/a6549e2a3b5848a1ba76a1ded6141fae)
Comment (0)