Vietnam News Agency (VNA)
The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) stands as the official state-run news provider of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, operating under close governmental oversight consistent with the country’s regulatory framework for the media sector. With a sprawling infrastructure comprising 32 units, the agency encompasses a wide array of departments, including specialized news divisions, publishing arms, and digital media platforms.
Media assets
News agency: VNA
Publishing: Tin Tuc, The Tao Van Hoa, Viet Nam News, Le Courrier du Vietnam, Vietnam Pictorial, Vietnam Law & Legal Forum, Vietnam-Korea Times
News portals: Vietnam Plus, BNews, BizHub, OhVietNam
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
The VNA operates as a state agency, legally empowered to disseminate information representing the official narrative of the Vietnamese Party and state. The agency is governed under Decree No. 88/2013/ND-CP, which sets out its roles, responsibilities, and institutional structure.
Its leadership is appointed by the government, with strategic direction and major appointments subject to approval by the Prime Minister. The agency’s core mission is to reinforce the ideological alignment of the media sector with the political priorities of the Communist Party. The current General Director (CEO) of VNA is Vũ Việt Trang, who also serves as Secretary of the agency’s Party Committee for the 2020–2025 term.
In February 2025, the government enacted Decree No. 27/2025/ND‑CP, which redefined the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of VNA, superseding the previous framework established in 2022. This reinforces VNA’s role as the official state news agency tasked with broadcasting Party and State documents and serving both domestic and international audiences.
The VNA’s operations are broadly organized into three core segments:
a) Press Information Division: This branch is responsible for producing and distributing news in various formats, including text, images, and video, for both domestic and international dissemination. It serves as a primary content supplier for Vietnamese media and a key channel through which the state projects its messaging abroad.
b) Publishing Division: Through the Vietnam News Agency Publishing House, VNA releases printed materials aligned with the ideological and policy directives of the Communist Party and the government. Its media portfolio includes an array of periodicals catering to diverse linguistic and thematic audiences.
c) Television and Digital Media Division: This segment oversees the VNA Television Channel (VNews) and VietnamPlus, the agency’s multilingual digital news portal. It also manages a suite of online platforms focused on business, politics, and international affairs.
Source of funding and budget
VNA’s operations are sustained through a hybrid financial model, combining state subsidies with commercial revenuederived from advertising sales, publication subscriptions, and content syndication. Although the precise budgetary figures for the agency are not disclosed publicly, independent experts and journalists interviewed in June 2024 confirmed that the Vietnamese government exercises full control over VNA’s finances. It remains unclear whether public funding constitutes the majority share of its total income, though the agency continues to operate as a heavily state-supported institution.
Editorial independence
The editorial agenda of the Vietnam News Agency is shaped by government policy and closely adheres to the official positions of the Vietnamese state. Under Decree 88/2013, all domestic media organizations are required to use content produced by VNA, which functions as a centralized news source for the country’s entire media ecosystem.
Moreover, ministries, state agencies, and administrative departments are obligated to supply information to the agency to ensure unified dissemination of Party and state communications to the public.
As of mid-2025, no statutory provisions or institutional safeguards have been identified that would guarantee editorial independence for VNA. The agency is widely recognized as an instrument of state communication rather than an autonomous media outlet.
July 2025