VOV President: VOV always proud to be voice of conscience and peace

VOV.VN - Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) is always proud to be the voice of conscience and peace, said Do Tien Sy, president of VOV, at a ceremony hosted by VOV on February 13 in Hanoi to mark World Radio Day 2023.

As part of his speech at the event, Sy, a member of the Party Central Committee and secretary of the Party Committee, expressed his joy at VOV launching a broad array of activities in order to solemnly celebrate World Radio Day.

The event can be viewed as a festival for both broadcasters and radio lovers worldwide, as well as in Vietnam to honour the positive contributions of radio to the national development and society.

“During the past 77 years, National Radio has always accompanied and developed with the country, VOV is always proud to be the voice of conscience fighting for the aspiration for freedom and independence, joining hands to build a peaceful world.

That is also what the 2023 World Radio Day wants to talk about, so that each broadcaster is more proud and fully aware of their responsibility in spreading the humanistic values of this form of media, thereby promoting cohesion and sharing, fighting against social injustice, and settling conflicts and disputes towards a peaceful and compassionate society,” VOV President said.

“Today, VOV is a pioneering media agency in innovating and modernizing the media in order to best meet the needs of the public in the era of explosion of new media forms.

VOV radio channels continue to focus on innovating programmes on air, thereby making them become more attractive, while investing and building many programmes with open content and enhancing interactivity to attract public participation.

This method has been used in order to create a new step to improve the overall quality of radio, which is the basis for radio to truly become a companion of the public in all circumstances," Sy shared.

According to Sy, the theme of World Radio Day 2023 "Radio and Peace", with this being very meaningful in the context that we are facing the problem of fake news and misinformation on social networks.

“More than ever, radio needs to prove its value by transmitting reliable and valuable information to contribute to reducing tension, preventing conflicts, promoting cohesion and sharing, and joining hands to build a peaceful and compassionate society," the top VOV leader stressed.

Christian Manhart, representative of UNESCO to Vietnam, highly appreciated VOV's continued initiative to celebrate World Radio Day and expressed UNESCO's respect for this. For many years, VOV has always been a reliable partner of UNESCO.

“We highly appreciate that VOV again took the initiative for today’s celebration and wish to express our thanks. Since many years you are our reliable partner.

World Radio Day was initially proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO and afterwards adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day, on 13 February. The objective is to celebrate radio as a key medium and enhance international cooperation among broadcasters. Radio Day should encourage broadcasters to provide inclusive and diversified content, and access to information for all,” he said.

Radio is the most popular medium in the world and one of the reasons for this is that programmes are inexpensive to produce and receive, as well as being available in many areas worldwide which are not covered by internet, television, or newspapers.

This year’s global theme “Radio and peace” reminds us that radio is a powerful means of communication for conflict prevention and peacebuilding when it is independent. It shall be used as a defence against misinformation and fake news, an issue which divides and fosters both conflicts and wars. Therefore, radio must continue providing verifiable information that is in the best interest of the public, making the people in power accountable, and helping society to build a better future for all.

UNESCO underlines the importance of supporting radio through capacity-building for increased professionalism, adequate legislations and regulations, assistance towards the digital transition, financial viability, and respect for editorial independence, he went on to say.

At the seminar held by VOV as part of the celebration, Philomena Gnanapragasam, secretariat-director of the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), said that this year's theme is very special. Thereby, it shows that UNESCO recognises the contribution and role of broadcaster.

As a longtime broadcaster, Gnanapragasam emphasized that the content factor plays an important in making radio programmes attractive, he said.

In recent years, the media has faced unprecedented changes in history with the development of science and technology, especially with regard to the cross-border platforms.

In this context, Pham Manh Hung, vice president of VOV and chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, believes there is no type of press that has the ability to completely dominate the public, including television, online, social media, and including radio.

“Therefore, in this context, if we consider it a challenge, we will lose our spirit. If we see it as an opportunity to change, we will be able to optimize and take advantage of the new form of media, digital and social media platforms to conquer the public and create momentum to boost the broadcasting development," Hung shared.

According to Hung, the biggest problem for broadcasters is how to capture the public’s attention, speak the voice of the public, and really say what the public is highly interested.

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