REGULATIONS

11th NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS INFORMATION

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CHAPTER I

GENERAL REGULATIONS

Article 1: Name of the Award

The 11th National Award for External Relations Information is an annual award initiated by the Steering Committee for External Relations Information, the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation (the Standing Agency of the Steering Committee for External Relations Information), in collaboration with relevant agencies and units: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the General Department of Politics under the People's Army of Vietnam, the Nhan Dan Newspaper, the Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnam Television, the Radio Voice of Vietnam, the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, the Vietnam Publishers’ Association, etc. The award is presented to authors or groups of authors with outstanding and exemplary external information works as stipulated in the Regulations and other relevant legal documents.

Article 2: Purpose and significance of the Award

1. To affirm that external relations information is an important part of the political, ideological, and diplomatic affairs of the Party, the State's diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy; and is a regular and long-term task of the entire political system under the leadership of the Party.

2. To contribute to protecting the Party’s ideological foundation; effectively implementing the Party’s and State’s guidelines, orientations, and policies on external relations information.

3. To honour authors or groups of authors with outstanding works/products in the field of external relations information.

4. To provide motivation for groups and individuals to actively participate in innovating and improving the quality of external relations information and communication activities; enhancing connectivity among agencies, units, and localities, thereby maximising the proactiveness and positivity of all forces involved. From there, promote the combined strength of the entire political system, the active participation of the people, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends.

Article 3: Award Categories

The award will evaluate works/products in the following categories: (1) print newspapers/magazines in Vietnamese language; (2) print newspapers/magazines in foreign languages; (3) radio broadcasts; (4) television broadcasts; (5) books; (6) photographs; (7) digital-multimedia products; (8) initiatives and products with external relations information value.

Article 4: Entry Regulations

1. Submissions must be published, released, or announced through mass media, or activities and events organised domestically or internationally, during the period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. For works/products released before or after this period, two-thirds of the work’s content must be published during the stipulated period to be qualified.

2. Works/products which have already been honoured in other contests are eligible for the Award but must clearly state the prizes and information about the specific awards, the organisers, and contest dates.

3. Works/products participating in the Award do not infringe copyright and are not subject to copyright disputes.

4. Works/products that are ineligible for the Award include: series of journalistic works compiled from independent works by individual authors at different times of publication, without the continuity of the series of articles; works/products pending assessment of competent agencies; photos manipulated using photo editing software; and works/products which violate the provisions of the Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Law, and other legal regulations.

CHAPTER II

SPECIFIC REGULATIONS

Article 5: Participants

1. All Vietnamese citizens and foreigners are eligible to submit external relations information works/products for the Award.

2. Each author or group of authors can submit a maximum of 10 works/products for the Award, in accordance with the conditions specified in Articles 5 and 6 of the Regulations.

3. Members of the Award Council, Organising Committee, and Preliminary and Final Juries are not eligible to participate in the Award.

Article 6: Awarding criteria

Entries considered for the Award must be exemplary and meet the highest selection standards of the Award, including:

1. Content

Works/products are objective, timely, and have strong impact domestically and internationally; effectively serving external relations information and communication activities, specifically:

- Promote Vietnam as a peaceful, friendly, cooperative, and developing country, a reliable friend, an active and responsible member of the international community, contributing to enhancing the country's and the Communist Party of Vietnam's position and reputation on the international stage; disseminate the country’s history, tradition, people, culture, and achievements during the renewal process, noble and beautiful values, the theory and practice of socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, the leadership role of the Party, the superiority of the regime, Vietnam's contribution to the world's cultural and intellectual heritage to the international community; honour and introduce the ideological, moral values, and lifestyle of President Ho Chi Minh, and Vietnamese historical figures.

- Introduce the cultural quintessence of humanity and progressive thoughts of the era consistent with the Party's viewpoints, and Vietnam's culture to the people domestically.

- Combat fabricated information, distorted arguments about Vietnam, protect the ideological foundation of the Party.

- Ignite patriotism, reinforce the strength of great national unity, and foster the determination and aspiration to contribute to a new era of national development, for a prosperous and happy Vietnam. Affirm the people's trust in the Party, the State, and the socialist regime.

- Reflect the international community's sympathy and support for Vietnam, facilitating the renewal, construction, and defence cause of the Fatherland, successfully achieving the country's development goals by 2045.

2. Forms

2.1. Award for works in the field of journalism

Category: News reports, interviews, features, commentaries, documentaries, investigative reports, journalistic notes, analyses, radio and television programmes, etc., in accordance with the current Press Law and as stipulated in Articles 5 and 6 of the Regulations, specifically:

- Radio and Television: A single work or a group of works (no more than 5 programmes) on the same event or topic. Each programme must not exceed 120 minutes in duration. The work must reflect the characteristics of broadcast journalism, including dynamic visuals; images and sound meeting quality standards. All images and audio used in the work must be properly licensed.

- Vietnamese/foreign-language newspapers/magazines: A single article or a series of articles (no more than 5 issues), or a special column by the same author or group of authors on the same event or topic. The content must have value for external relations information, especially on issues of public concern, explored from new perspectives and angles. If the work is published in multiple languages, only one representative work in a single language may be submitted for the Award. The agency or individual submitting the work must clearly state the reason for the chosen language and the total number of languages in which the work was published.

2.2. Award for books

A book or a series of books published in Vietnam or abroad. Entries can be in the form of traditional printed books, e-books, or directly published audiovisual books (not electronic reprints of printed books). For books published in Vietnam, they must comply with regulations of the Publishing Law and must not be subject to any form of disciplinary action by publishing management and supervisory agencies, nor have negative public opinion

2.3. Award for photographs

Single photos or photo series (no more than 10 photos). For photo news and photo essays on the same content, only those published in the same issue of a newspaper or at the same time (for online newspapers) will be selected. Photo files must be in JPG format, with a size from 5MB to 12MB and a resolution of 300 dpi. No identifying marks are allowed on the photos. No captions or signatures may be written on the photos. Photomontages, digitally manipulated photos, and photos created by artificial intelligence technology are not eligible. If necessary, the Organising Committee reserves the right to request the original files from the authors for verification.

2.4. Award for digital - multimedia products

Video clips, podcasts, ideas, platforms, or digital communication campaigns, and digital technology application projects that are innovative and have a wide reach to promote the image, country, people, culture, and intellect of Vietnam to the world; and reflect the international community’s perspectives, support, and solidarity towards Vietnam, thereby facilitating the renewal, construction and protection cause of the Fatherland.

2.5. Award for initiatives and activities with value in external relations information

Creative activities or initiatives by individuals or organisations presented in any form such as conferences, seminars, forums, discussions, cultural-artistic-culinary exchange programmes, international exchanges, cooperation projects/programmes, etc., that promote the image, country, people, culture, and intellect of Vietnam to the world; and reflect the international community’s perspectives, support, and solidarity towards Vietnam, thereby facilitating the renewal, construction and defence cause of the Fatherland.

3. Notes

- Works and products submitted for the Award must comply with the laws of Vietnam and the host country (for works/products by foreigners or overseas Vietnamese).

- Authors or groups of authors with multiple awarded entries can only receive the highest prize.

- The Award Council is authorised to use the winning works for external relations information activities as well as for dissemination and promotion of the Award.

Article 7. Methods of submission

1. Forms of participation

- Information about the National Award for External Relations Information is widely introduced on various media outlets; newspapers; Vietnam Television channels; e-portals of agencies, localities and units, and on the official website: https://giaithuong.ttdn.vn.

- Participants register an account and submit their works online via the website: https://duthi.ttdn.vn.

- The information required to be submitted on the online system includes: (i) Title of the work; (ii) Introduction/summary of the work (no more than 500 words); (iii) Name of the author(s) or group of authors; (iv) Language of the work; (v) Category (Vietnamese-language Newspapers/Magazines, Foreign-language Newspapers/Magazines, Radio, Television, Books, Digital-multimedia products, Initiatives or products with value for external information); (vi) Representative image (photo of the work); (vii) Upload the digital file of the work (mp4, mp3, pdf) or provide a link to where the work is published.

- For the Book category, if a digital version is available, it should be submitted online through the competition system. If no digital version exists, please upload the book cover image and fill in the work’s information on the competition system, then print the label provided by the system and send it along with the physical book (hard copy) to the Award Council via postal mail.

- Authors or groups of authors submitting works/products, as well as agencies, units, or localities, can proactively identify, propose, and send works/products to the Award Council. Note: If a work is proposed by an agency, unit, or locality, there must be consensus and agreement in writing between the submitting entity and the author(s).

2. Some notes when submitting works

- For the television category: Please also submit the transcript and the script/narration of the work. Additionally, to ensure convenient online judging of television works, save bandwidth, maintain clear quality without distortion, and ensure compatibility across all browsers, authors are requested to submit video files that meet the following technical criteria:

+ File size ≤ 1.5 GB for videos up to 120 minutes

+ Video Codec: H.264

+ Container: MP4

+ Resolution: 720x480

+ Video Bitrate: 1.2 - 1.5 Mbps

+ Audio Bitrate: 96 - 128 Kbps

- For the category of initiatives and products with external relations information value: the uploaded file can be in any format (video, audio, link, or a PDF file describing and introducing the initiative or idea in detail).

- For the book category: The work submitted must include an attached written agreement between the author and the publisher, as well as relevant parties (if any), regarding participation in the award and acceptance of the prize (if awarded).

3. Works/products deemed to be ineligible (disqualified) are those that do not meet the provisions of the Regulations. The Council will not return any submitted works/products and is not responsible for explaining the reasons for disqualification.

4. The Award Council and the Organising Committee have the authority to identify and nominate works/products that meet the award criteria. The number of nominated works/products shall not exceed 10% of the total entries in each award category specified in Article 5 of the Regulations.

Article 8. Award Structure

The Award will be presented to works/products in the categories specified in Article 5 of the Regulations.

- Award Structure: 01 Special Prize (for all categories); 01 First Prize, 02 Second Prizes, 02 Third Prizes, and 03 Consolation Prizes for each category.

- The Award Council may decide on other forms of commendation for collectives/individuals who join and contribute actively (based on separate, specific criteria).

- The number of prizes will be determined by the Award Council, based on the actual quality and quantity of the submitted works/products.

Article 9. Benefits for Award winners

1. For authors or groups of authors whose works/products win the prizes, the reward will include:

- A trophy of the National Award for External Relations Information.

- A certificate from the Award Council.

- A cash prize as specified by the award regulations.

2. Award-winning organisations, collectives, and individuals may use and exploit the award’s trophy for promotional and communication activities. They may also be rewarded by relevant ministries, agencies, and supervising units in accordance with the law.

Article 10. Process for Evaluating, Announcing, and Presenting the Award

1. The Judging Council comprises the Preliminary Evaluation Council and the Final Evaluation Council, established under the decision of the Chairperson of the Award Council. These councils shall develop evaluation regulations consistent with the requirements of the Award, the Press Law, the Publishing Law, the Copyright Law, the Intellectual Property Law, and other relevant laws. These councils operate on the principles of collective decision-making and majority rules. In cases of disagreement, the matter will be reported to the Award Steering Committee or the Standing Agency of the Steering Committee for External Relations Information for guidance.

- The Preliminary Evaluation Council is responsible for initially selecting outstanding works/products based on qualitative and quantitative criteria appropriate for each language in which the works are presented, and for nominating them for the final round.

The Preliminary Evaluation Council shall evaluate works directly in the foreign language version. For books and initiatives/products of external information value, the evaluation may be done based on the translated version. For journalistic works in Vietnamese, the submission of accompanying foreign language versions (if they have been published in foreign language media) is encouraged.

- The Final Evaluation Council shall review, appraise, and choose the most outstanding works/products based on the shortlist from the Preliminary Evaluation Council, and submit them to the Award Council for consideration and decision.

Based on the Final Evaluation Council’s shortlist, the Award Council shall review and report to the Chairman of the Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, Head of the Steering Committee for External Relations Information, for approval of the list of award-winning works (through the Standing Agency of the Emulation and Commendation Council - the Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation).

2. The number of awards will be decided by the Award Council based on the Award Regulations. The selection of outstanding works/products for prizes does not necessarily consider the number of prizes for each category.

Article 11. Award Announcement and Ceremony

A ceremony to announce and present the National Award for External Relations Information is scheduled to be held annually in the third or fourth quarter and will be broadcast live on the Vietnam Television.

In case of any changes, the Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation and the Steering Committee for External Relations Information will make a decision and provide a specific notification.

Article 12. Settlement of complaints, denunciations, and violations

1. Individuals have the right to complain about the evaluation results and violations of regulations and procedures related to the prize awarding. A complaint must clearly state the name, address, reason for complaint, and be sent to the Standing Agency of the Award. The Standing Agency of the Award is responsible for reviewing and responding to complaints, reporting the results of complaint settlement to the Award Council.

2. The Award Council will revoke the prizes and notify domestic competent authorities and Vietnamese representative agencies abroad/foreign representative agencies in Vietnam to handle according to legal regulations in the following cases: (i) works/products joining the Award violate the Press Law, the Publishing Law, the Copyright Law, the Intellectual Property Law, and regulations of Vietnam and relevant foreign countries and the Award Regulations; (ii) exploitation of the winning titles for illegal activities.

3. The Award Council will not consider applications without clear names, addresses, or from senders impersonating others. The revocation of the prizes will be publicly announced in the mass media./.