Việt Nam, Thailand exchange experience in managing professional ethics of journalists

General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Vũ Việt Trang (second from right) and Chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand and Senior Advisor to the Thai Journalists Association Chavarong Limpattamapanee had talks on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo An Đăng

HÀ NỘI — General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Vũ Việt Trang on Wednesday received Chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand and Senior Advisor to the Thai Journalists Association Chavarong Limpattamapanee and a Thai delegation who are on a working visit to Việt Nam.

Welcoming the guests, Trang said that the visit takes place at a time when external activities between Việt Nam and Thailand are being held vigorously and there are various press exchange activities between the two countries.

She briefed the delegation on the organisational apparatus and development directions of VNA, stressing that VNA is one of the six key national press agencies that provide Việt Nam’s mainstream information for the domestic and foreign press systems. In recent years, VNA has also directly provided information to the public.

VNA operates under the consortium model with 15 news units for domestic and foreign service (consisting of five editorial departments, two source news centres and eight editorial offices), along with five news support centres, a publishing house, and two printing companies. With representative offices in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide and 30 overseas bureaus across the five continents, VNA has a strong contingent of more than 1,000 reporters working across the country and in most of the key areas around the world.

The General Director noted that VNA has bilateral and multilateral cooperation with more than 40 major news agencies and press organisations in the world, including two press agencies of Thailand, namely the Thai News Agency (TNA) and Thai Public Relations Department (PRD). It is a member of the Executive Board of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

VNA’s representative office in Thailand was the first resident bureau that the news agency opened in a foreign country, in early 1946 right after the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam was established. Throughout its operation process, despite a temporary closure due to the world situation, VNA’s resident reporters in Bangkok have always worked effectively, fulfilling their tasks, promoting the image of Việt Nam to the Thai people; providing accurate and timely information about the situation in Thailand and the region, Trang said.

For his part, Chavarong said he has worked for the Thai National Press Council of Thailand with the task of connecting Vietnamese and Thai journalism since 1994. In Thailand, journalists’ matters and related issues are managed by press agencies.

Through this visit, he hopes to learn about experience in managing journalists’ issues, handling violations, as well as dealing with fake news.

At the reception, the two sides discussed issues relating to professional ethics of journalists. Trang said that professional ethics always play an important role in professional activities of each journalist because the press has a social orientation role.

The VNA journalists’ association now has 1,112 members and they are required to comply with the provisions of the 2016 Press Law, the Code of Ethics for Journalists issued by the Việt Nam Journalists’ Association, as well as the “Code of Conduct on Social Media” issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications in 2021, she said.

Complying with these regulations helps the members create accurate and timely information, Trang said, adding that they are responsible for the information they share on social media in their capacity as both citizens and journalists, and proactively join the fight against fake news.

VNA recognises that journalists who comply with professional ethics contribute to enhancing the prestige and position of the press agencies they work for, she said, adding that gaining public trust is the target press agencies aim for. — VNA/VNS