On the afternoon of June 6 in Hanoi, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha held the first National Buddhist Journalism Award Ceremony with the theme "Propaganda on the Good News - Beautiful Life, Vietnamese Buddhism accompanies the nation".
Launched in June 2024, the contest was held for the first time and received many responses. In total, there were 534 entries in the following categories: Print and electronic newspapers (288 entries); Radio and Television (228 entries); Press (18 entries).
According to the judges' assessment, most of the entries were of good quality, reflecting the spirit of compassion, the intelligence of Buddhism and their attachment to social life. Some outstanding works have opened up new, creative and in-depth perspectives. However, there are authors and works that do not meet the criteria set by the contest.
The Venerable Thich Gia Quang - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Church Council said that the contest took place on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2025), once again affirming the spirit of enter, harmony and development of Vietnamese Buddhism in the new era.
The jury decided to award the categories including: Print newspaper (1 first prize; 1 second prize; 1 third prize and 5 consolation prizes); Electronic Newspaper (1 first prize; 1 second prize; 1 third prize and 3 consolation prizes); Picture (1 first prize; 1 second prize; 1 third prize and 6 consolation prizes).
Notably, in this contest, the judges decided not to award the First Prize to the Press (1 Second Prize; 1 Third Prize and 2 Encouragement Prizes) and Radio Newspaper (1 Second Prize; 1 Third Prize and 4 Encouragement Prizes).
In the newspaper genre, the work to religion associated with life (2 periods) by author Mai Tam Hieu, Tran Thi My Dung won the first prize. The works spread Vietnamese culture in the homeland of the Dharma (3 periods) to win the second and the third prize belonging to the bunch of Vietnamese Buddhist works accompanying the nation.
In the electronic newspaper category, the First, Second and Third prizes respectively belonged to Buddhist works accompanying the community to create miracles of life (4 times), Truc Lam Buddhism accompanied the nation, spreading the spirit and cultural traditions of Vietnamese Buddhism to the international community.
In the Radio category, there was no First Prize, the work of Vietnamese Buddhism accompanying the protection of the Fatherland was awarded the Second Prize; while the work of Mobilizing all classes and classes of people to participate in building a clean, green, environmentally friendly city (3 times) received the Third Prize.
The works of General Vo Nguyen Giap with Buddhism, Nhap su tan tang, and Chua Phat su non won first and second prizes in the Television category.
The Second Prize and the Third Prize in the Press Photo category went to two works Linh Thieng of the pagodas in the Fatherland and Tang Ni Hue to Ride the Buddha in the Rain.
Following the success of the First Contest, the Vietnam Buddhist Church continued to launch the National Buddhist Press Award in 2025. The contest continued to introduce and promote the achievements of Vietnamese Buddhism, the Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the monks and nuns and Buddhists in the cause of national construction and development.
At the same time, they discovered typical examples of a "good and beautiful" lifestyle as well as encouraged and motivated monks and Buddhists to join hands and wholeheartedly continue to contribute more to the cause of developing Buddhism, religious solidarity, and accompanying the nation.
The entries will focus on promoting a healthy and peaceful lifestyle in the spirit of Buddhism with the theme of the life and work of the monk, Buddha, or the applications of the community, all classes in society when applying lessons from Buddhist classics, charity and community support activities aroused from understanding and applying Buddhist teachings.
The entries include print newspapers, electronic newspapers, radio, television and press photos.
The work must be published and broadcast in licensed press publications, and must not have participated or won awards in any other press competition. Each individual or group of authors is allowed to submit a maximum of 5 works reflecting the same content.
The time to receive entries is from now until January 5, 2026, the judges will score the preliminary and final round in the first quarter of 2026, the award ceremony is scheduled for June 2026.
