Vietnam will trim its state-run media and publishing sector, with the loss of about 10,000 jobs and some widely circulated newspapers, as the ruling Communist Party tightens its control over the booming industry, a report said yesterday.
The number of publications in Vietnam has more than doubled to about 1,100 in the past 15 years. “Commercialization” of the media has been rising, “affecting negatively public opinions,” a Ministry of Defense-run newspaper said.
The Ministry of Information and Communications detailed a project on Friday to restructure Vietnam’s media, under which 4,000 licensed journalists and 6,000 employees could lose their jobs, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
The government approved the plan in June.
It was not clear how many publications, including print and online versions of newspapers and magazines, would remain.
Vietnam would not allow commercialization or privatization of the media, thereby helping to improve its quality and ability to inform the public, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son said at the meeting on Friday.
Communist-run Vietnam, like China, keeps tight control over its media, with most of its editors-in-chief party members and their appointments approved by the party.
However, the development of the Internet and social media networks have challenged the party’s authority in recent years.
Provincial departments and each sector of the economy would no longer run newspapers, with the Communist Party’s regional chapters to take direct control, the report said.
Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam radio, the official Vietnam News Agency and three newspapers run by the Communist Party, the defense and the police ministries would be allowed to turn themselves into multimedia agencies.
Organizations with newspapers in both print and online editions would be allowed to keep the online version.
Restructuring would be conducted on a trial basis by the end of next year, with the entire process to be completed by 2020.
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