Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Do Qui Doan made the remarks at a conference held in central Thua Thien-Hue province on June 14 to review the state management of media in 2006 and discussed future tasks.

Participants in the two-day conference focused their discussion on legal issues, the structure of state management and the role of businesses in the media industry, as well as the operation of media agencies’ representative offices in cities and provinces.

According to the Press Department of the Ministry of Culture and Information, Vietnam now has 687 media agencies, nearly 803 publications including print, radio, television and news websites. The press was said to promptly reflect all socio-economic developments in the country and the world, while delivering the Party and State's guidelines, policies and laws to the public.

The government and relevant ministries have issued many regulations and documents to facilitate media activities. However, a number of newspapers and magazines have failed to perform in accordance with their permits.

Since 2005, the Ministry of Culture and Information has handled more than 800 complaints about inaccurate reporting in newspapers, suspended the operation of 8 media agencies, and withdrawn licenses of a magazine and a publication and revoked the press cards of five journalists.