Unlike many years ago, the 18th National Press Awards Ceremony has changed, leaving many impressions on journalists nationwide and the press-loving public. Many authors were surprised by the new organization method, not only in the script content but also in the space where the award ceremony took place, creating comfort for everyone attending the program.
Author- and author-centered
Identifying the National Press Awards Ceremony as an important occasion to encourage and support the team of journalists, those who have been constantly striving to build a Vietnamese Revolutionary Press that is combative, humane, professional and modern. In that spirit, the organizing committee determined that this year there should be innovations in line with the spirit of press innovation in recent times.
Journalist Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, said that in a year there are many different national press awards, many awards of ministries and branches, but the way the award ceremonies are presented is quite traditional.
Journalist Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, informed about the innovation at the 18th National Press Awards Ceremony. Photo: Son Hai
“This year, on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, we want to make a difference, and the most important difference is to focus on the author and group of authors. We propose a solution on how to honor them appropriately. Usually, a genre has a few awards, which is easy, but for the National Press Awards, there are dozens of awards for a B, C, or Encouragement award, so the problem is how to make a difference...” , journalist Le Quoc Minh shared.
The innovation and creativity also posed a problem for the organizers: how to avoid the situation where authors go up on stage in a long line, giving and receiving. The audience does not know whether their work and the MC calling out the name belong to the author who is receiving it or not. The organizers tried to make the people standing on stage feel honored, the people sitting below feel proud and wish that one day they could also stand on that stage to receive the award.
With the spirit that the author is the center of the event, the organizers have changed the entire format of the program. From finding a location, using the stage, building ideas. In which, how can the stage solve the problem of the audience, viewers, and solve the flow of people from the bottom up to receive the award appropriately?
The organizers have come up with a solution to have the author stand on stage, with the lights shining down on him/her, along with the author’s name and work. Each type of award will have different ways of awarding, to avoid boredom, and to try to be more creative and impressive as time goes on.
Journalist Le Quoc Minh said: The difficulty is not to turn the award ceremony into a showbiz stage but to have a political color, to be serious and still have full speeches of Party and State leaders, information about the award organization to introduce to the public. For the artistic performances, it must not obscure the award ceremony. We have organized the composition of a separate song for this year's award ceremony. The organizing committee has searched for a number of locations, so that they are suitable, not too big, not too small, convenient for the authors to travel from the provinces and cities and ensure that no costly expenses arise. We have agreed to choose the ICE hall at the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Palace with a large space to perform.
President To Lam, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh - Chairman of Vietnam Journalists Association and delegates visit photo booths at the ceremony. Photo: Son Hai
In addition, the organizers have tried to create unique and distinctive works for the performances. The images shown are also carefully selected. In the award ceremony for each content and category, new technology is also used, taking into account safety factors. The coordination with the director team and the filming and programming team of Vietnam Television (VTV) is also coordinated smoothly.
As we all know, in recent years, journalism has undergone many innovations, in which many television programs and television reports have been creative and invested in, attracting public attention. However, the innovation in awarding the National Press Awards has followed a fairly long pattern.
This time, the organizers hope to innovate and make a mark by going beyond the “safe zone”, to experiment and do new things. Choosing the National Press Awards ceremony is a testament to the effort to innovate, dare to think, dare to do, go beyond the safe zone to have a worthy event.
Maintaining the spirit of creativity and innovation in journalism
Mr. Hoang Cong Cuong, General Director of the event, said that the National Press Awards Ceremony or award ceremonies in general in Vietnam are following a fixed format. This year, with the guiding ideology of comrade Le Quoc Minh and the team, we determined to innovate. Moreover, this program is a national press awards ceremony, so it is even more necessary to have a difference.
“This is a very difficult topic. The Journalists Association also suggested that the program should put the award-winning journalists in the center, so that the brothers and sisters feel truly proud. Especially, because the National Press Awards ceremony is also a branded program. Therefore, we are even more determined. The whole team had to spend 2 months to complete the preparation, from coming up with ideas, designing the stage, and the program structure,” shared General Director Hoang Cong Cuong.
Performances at the 18th National Press Awards Ceremony - 2023. Photo: Son Hai
To find the “solution” to the difficult problem, the organizing team focused on the script with a consistent idea. Specifically, in the opening part, the image of President Ho Chi Minh appeared with his views on the Vietnamese revolutionary press: “The press is the vanguard force on the ideological and cultural front”, “The task of the press is to serve the people, to serve the revolution”. This is also the red thread that guides our country’s journalists through many generations.
Next, the four forms of journalism (television, radio, print, and online) were also “artized” through a contemporary dance called Clear Heart, Bright Pen. The artists appeared with a lamp in their hands, symbolizing a clear heart. Behind them, the pen was raised high, representing the spirit of dedication and respect for the truth of those in the profession.
The introduction ended with the advice of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: “Revolutionary journalism is also a sharp weapon that pushes society to constantly move forward… The press must do everything it can to contribute to creating unanimity and great combined strength for the revolution.”
In addition, throughout the event, the audience also listened to the confidences and aspirations of the journalists themselves through carefully produced reports. All the elements created a coherent flow, partly depicting the spirit of dedication of the press throughout 99 years of development.
Affirming that all parts and performances were carefully and comprehensively "tailored" specifically for the press, General Director Hoang Cong Cuong added that this approach has maintained the political nature of the entire event.
“The performances all aim to convey the message about journalism and journalists. Even the final song, Sending Love and Faith, composed specifically for the awards ceremony with a rap part by singer Phuc Bo, is an interesting surprise that the crew wants to bring to the public. Here, the breath of contemporary music is closely combined with the main message, making the event even more influential,” emphasized general director Hoang Cong Cuong.
Journalist Thanh Vu - Center for Digital Content Production and Development, Vietnam Television - VTV, the event production unit shared: The National Press Awards is the biggest event for Vietnamese journalists. We worked with a spirit of openness, innovation, responsibility and seriousness with every word, every phrase from the script to the rehearsal and broadcast of the program with the mindset that this program will have the most 'difficult' viewers, so there cannot be any mistakes".
The 18th National Press Awards Ceremony truly became a place to honor authors and groups of authors with outstanding works in their professional activities. Photo: Son Hai
From the success and impression at the 18th National Press Awards Ceremony, the organizing committee will continue to prepare for the 100th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, especially the National Press Awards Ceremony next year.
Journalist Le Quoc Minh said: With the attention of the Party and State leaders, chaired by the Central Propaganda Department, the propaganda of activities to celebrate this milestone has been issued for a long time. On that basis, the Vietnam Journalists Association has issued documents guiding local journalist associations and branches to carry out emulation movements to create content activities, new press products, build a cultural environment, including sideline activities such as organizing sports events, press competitions, photojournalism, videos, etc.
“We have made detailed plans for next year, especially the National Press Festival, which is an important event held on a large scale, or the 19th National Press Awards Ceremony, which will also be built with a unique and creative scenario and will have many new things. Currently, the Vietnam Journalists Association has a plan and will be prepared to implement it at the end of the year. Hopefully, the above activities will maintain the spirit of creativity and innovation so that the press always feels that the Vietnam Journalists Association is a common home for journalists nationwide,” the President of the Vietnam Journalists Association emphasized.
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/le-trao-giai-bao-chi-quoc-gia-lan-thu-18-dac-sac-doc-dao-nhan-len-niem-tu-hao-post300899.html
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