Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The exhaustive working trip last month has left me indebted, owing some writing for Thanh Nien newspaper on the occasion of Vietnam’s Press Day, June 21.

Coincidentally, Vietnam Television has recently also interviewed me about the significance of the occasion. Thanks to the interview, I have had a chance to reflect, both in sense and sensibility, at my profession as a journalist over a long period in the very special situation Vietnam.

Many foreign colleagues have asked me what it’s like to be a journalist in Vietnam. Are you happy or not? Do you have freedom or not, they usually ask. I’ve always answered exactly what I think, trying to give them the facts about the Vietnamese press.

And now I’d like to share with you what I think about a journalism career in Vietnam on the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s Press Day.

In my opinion, a good Vietnamese journalist must first be a good citizen, a good worker, and, if she or he joins the Communist Party, a good party member. Obviously people have their own concept and judgment about “goodness,” but I think we cannot say someone is a good journalist if he is in fact a bad citizen.

When I was still abroad several weeks ago, I read a news story on Thanh Nien’s web site about a Vietnamese American who returned to Vietnam to build and sell houses for other overseas Vietnamese. However, the Vietnamese American was described negatively as a fraudulent man in the press while in fact his case was not clear.

That’s bad. How could that happen to a businessman? My immediate feeling was sadness. I want everyone who lives or works in my country to enjoy a peaceful life under the laws.

It should never be the goal of the press, of the state leaders, or of anyone, to sully the name of an honest business or even a business that has minor problems or made minor mistakes.

Besides, I don’t think that kind of information interests readers because most readers would share the same feeling as mine.

At present, however, I’m feeling very excited, partly because of an article by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in the Washington Times which mentioned the role of the press in Vietnam’s society. He highly appreciated and was fair about the press, though I know, by what he told me or what he said in some meetings, he’s not always satisfied with the press.

He wrote in the article that “a vibrant press complements our reform strategy and is an indispensable weapon in the fight against corruption and red-tape. The Vietnamese press is taking active measures to expose injustice, earning the admiration of our citizens. These heroic efforts are encouraged and protected by the government.”

The most difficult part of being a journalist, in my opinion, is they are normal citizens with all normal feelings of happiness, of misery, or of discontent, but they have to make all their feelings public in the newspapers everyday. When journalists detect wrongdoings or corruption among state officials, an agency mistreating a business or an official asking investors for bribes, they cannot just discuss it with their friends or families. They must report those wrongdoings in the press.

The cross a journalist has to bear is that he has to clarify the things he knows and thinks in black and white everyday. A journalist has no choice to act differently. Therefore, a journalist may make a lot of new friends, but will definitely find more enemies.

The case of the mafia kingpin Nam Cam and his ring, which was laid bare by Thanh Nien’s investigation several years ago, is a good example. They were an organization of dangerous criminals who corrupted many state officials and, thus, corroded the state’s prestige both politically and economically. But still now there are some people, including state officials, who still feel resentment and hatred against the investigators and reporters. Some of them had good relations with those arrested in the case, while others thought Thanh Nien’s investigation took down so many officials.

Some asked if I faced any consequence from that case, as well as other similar cases that Thanh Nien had disclosed. Yes, definitely, even severe circumstances at times. There was distrust and nuisances from some officials and agencies, but fortunately they were only a minority in the government and party systems. I think that’s a good sign for my country.

When Thanh Nien launched its very first edition twenty years ago, a Russian reporter of the APN news agency made a peculiar wish – that Thanh Nien Newspaper would have enemies. Absurd as it seemed at that time, now I understand.

The rationale is if the newspaper is righteous, it will definitely be loathed by wrongdoers. If the newspaper promotes the Party’s reforms and fight against corruption, it cannot expect any support from corruptors or anti-reformists.

As I remember, the “absurd wish” immediately became a hot topic for well-known columnists at the time.

As a reporter, my only fear is of being hated, disregarded, and isolated by good and honest people. On the other hand, in my opinion, there is no reason that a reporter should fear being resented by malefactors.

A journalist, in my opinion, should be one that clings to the good in people, of those who always place the interests of the society and the country above their personal interests and do not compromise with wrongdoers who decay society, the country and the state, and to do things that can leave a bad image of Vietnam for foreigners.

Nguyen Cong Khe, Editor-in-Chief, Thanh Nien