These suggestions were put forward at a meeting that VOVNews held with staff reporters and freelance journalists in Ho Chi Minh City on June 19.

Tran Minh Hung, director of the VOV branch office in HCM City, hailed the contributions of reporters and freelance journalists to VOV in general and VOVNews in particular. One-third of more than 1,000 news and stories that VOV broadcasts every day are contributed to freelancers at home and abroad.

VOVNews officially launched on February 3, 1999. In addition to current affairs, political, economic, social, cultural, sports and international news and stories, VOVNews runs many other features such as in depth reporting, homeland tour, Vietnamese food, minority culture and online doctor. Currently, VOVNews streamlines four broadcast channels, VOV1 (news and current affairs), VOV2 (cultural and social affairs), VOV3 (music, news and entertainment) and VOV6 (overseas service). VOVNews also augments the news with music, images and video clips.

For readers and listeners abroad, participants at the meeting proposed that VOVNews provide more information about the country’s development and stories about overseas Vietnamese who do business successfully here as well as increase the Vietnamese language teaching programme for overseas Vietnamese.

They also suggested VOVNews add more cultural programmes to make the online paper more attractive.