Journalism memories

Journalists at the press conference celebrating the success of the 13th National Party Congress

Listen directly to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong share about journalism

On the morning of February 1, 2021, right after the closing session of the 13th National Party Congress, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chaired a press conference to announce the results of the Congress. What made me and my colleagues in the hall feel both surprised and excited was that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong spent a valuable amount of time talking about journalism.

Speaking humbly, intimately, humorously and with the understanding of someone who has been involved in journalism for decades, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his sympathy and shared the difficulties, hardships and honors of journalism. Along with acknowledging the contributions of the press to the success of the Congress, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shared that journalists must have qualifications, a keen eye, sensitivity and sharpness to produce timely, accurate, correct and attractive works. The press must promptly discover and praise good people and good deeds, but must also resolutely criticize and reject bad thoughts and public opinions. According to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, to produce quality and unique works, journalists must always be truly concerned, devoted and responsible for their profession, "not only working during the day but also at night" so that "the next article will be better than the previous one".

Although it was only for a few minutes, the heartfelt sharing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made me and the journalists at the press conference feel excited, more loving and proud of our profession. This is an unforgettable memory and also a motivation for me to try harder at work.

HOANG BIEN

Mind your words

In April 2020, a reporter from Hai Duong Newspaper wrote an article reflecting on the policy of moving the market location in a commune in the province. After the newspaper published it, some people called the newspaper's hotline, reflecting that the article was one-sided and unconvincing. Moving the market to a new location was unreasonable because of the long distance and inadequate facilities, while the old market was a traditional market, and holding a market here was convenient for the people... The move of the new market was only a resolution of the Commune Party Committee, not an official decision of the commune as the newspaper reported. People asked Hai Duong Newspaper to send reporters to meet directly with affected traders and local people to write a multi-dimensional, objective article.

After receiving the feedback, the agency's leaders assigned my department to verify and clarify the issue. The results showed that the reporter who wrote the news only collected information from the commune officials and had not directly met the traders affected by the market relocation policy. Therefore, the news published in the newspaper was one-sided and not convincing. This error was due to the reporter's lack of professional skills. However, there was an editing error in the news. The reporter wrote that the Commune Party Committee had a "resolution" to relocate the market. Because I did not clearly distinguish between "resolution" and "decision", I replaced "resolution" with "decision", leading to an error. When reading "decision", readers can understand that there was a "decision" to relocate the market by the Commune People's Committee, while "resolution" represents the policy of the Commune Party Committee.

After this incident, Hai Duong newspaper published a more in-depth article, reflecting the incident from many sides, including the opinions of local traders and residents.

The reporter and I both reviewed the situation in the department meeting and were demoted that month. That mistake reminded me that when writing a newspaper, we need to be careful with every word, every letter, because just one wrong word can ruin a piece of journalism. In addition, when gathering information, each journalist must be close to the base, seek information from multiple perspectives, and "listen to many ears". Only then can the journalism be guaranteed to be accurate and have the breath of life.

NINH TUAN

Meaningful business trip

As reporters for local Party newspapers, we rarely have the opportunity to travel to other provinces. At the end of 2020, I was invited by the leaders of the Provincial Women's Union to join a working delegation in Dien Bien province. The Women's Unions of Muong Loi and Phu Luong communes in Dien Bien district are localities that the Provincial Women's Union has received support from under the "Accompanying Women in Border Areas" Program launched by the Central Union.

To make it on time, the delegation had to travel by car overnight to reach Dien Bien City. It was raining and the road was long, but all the members of the delegation were very excited. Early the next morning, they arrived in Dien Bien City, rested for about 2 hours, and then got back in the car to the gift-giving locations. The two communes bordering Laos are about 80 km from Dien Bien City. The road is winding and steep, so the delegation took a lot of time. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed, with handshakes and hugs from the commune leaders, Women's Union officials, and leaders of Huoi Puoc Border Guard Station, as if we had met relatives after a long time. After the gift-giving ceremony, I had the chance to chat with the ethnic women's union members here. Although their Kinh language was limited, some had to ask for an interpreter, they always wanted to say thank you to the delegation and wished to visit Hai Duong one day. These words moved me very much. For lunch that day, we were invited by the border guards to enjoy dishes that they grew and prepared themselves... a meal full of military-civilian love.

After that trip, in addition to the works published in newspapers, I had many more beautiful memories, new friends and many experiences in a border area. During the days of working with the provincial Women's Union staff, I understood more about the job and became more attached and shared with them. Perhaps these are the things that only journalists have the opportunity to experience...

THANH HOA

Through the article, Hien escaped from difficult circumstances.

When I first started working at Hai Duong Newspaper, I often posted articles in the "Addresses for Help" section. This is a section of the newspaper about people in especially difficult circumstances.

I still remember in 2014, I wrote an article about the situation of Pham Thi Hien in Thien Dap village, Kim Xuyen commune (Kim Thanh). Hien's family situation was very pitiful, her mother passed away when she and her brother were young, and her father had his own family. Hien and her sister lived with their elderly grandmother. The income of the three grandmothers and grandchildren depended on fishing on the river. At that time, Hien was only in 6th grade, her younger brother was in kindergarten, both of them were at risk of dropping out of school. Knowing that information, I went back to find out about her family's difficult situation and wrote an article for the "Address for help" section.

After a while, I received information that after my article, Hien and her three grandchildren had received help from many people. A woman in Hai Phong City adopted Hien and promised to provide money for her education until she turned 18. Her family also received support from a pair of breeding cows and many clothes and other living items from benefactors in and outside the province. Recently, when I had the opportunity to meet her again, Hien had become a young woman, completely different from the dark, skinny girl she used to be. Hien said that after my article, the lives of the three grandmothers and grandchildren had changed, no longer as difficult as before. Although Hien and her two sisters had dropped out of school, they all had jobs and stable incomes. Her father and his own family had also returned and lived with the three grandmothers and grandchildren. The lives of Hien and her three sisters were happier and warmer than before.

I am very happy that through my article, the difficult lives have been known and supported by the philanthropists. I hope that there will be more "unhealed leaves" shared and helped so that the lives of many families will be less difficult.

TRAN HIEN

Go to base at midnight

On the evening of August 11, 2020, the day before my 25th birthday, I had an appointment with a group of friends to go out to eat and drink. While the group was eating and drinking happily, I received a text message from a colleague informing me that a suspected case of Covid-19 had just been discovered in Binh Giang district, where I was assigned to monitor propaganda. It was around 9 p.m. I immediately called the district to check the information. A district leader said that a person in Tan Hong commune tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and the district's Covid-19 Prevention and Control Steering Committee was holding an urgent meeting. This was the first positive case in Binh Giang district. At that time, I was very hesitant about whether I should return to the district immediately because I was a woman, it was dark and raining, the party had not ended yet, and the only means of transport was a motorbike.

Then I decided to leave immediately. I took my camera with me, put on a sun-protective jacket, and went straight to the Tan Hong Commune People's Committee. When I arrived at the commune People's Committee headquarters, the meeting had been going on for a while. Many people had quickly left the meeting to carry out their assigned tasks. Only the district leaders and the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Steering Committee of the district and commune were still discussing response measures.

I followed the information from the District Steering Committee and sent the news to the editorial office that night. Then, together with the comrades in the District Steering Committee, I went to Tuyen Cu village - where there was a Covid-19 case - to learn about the next activities in epidemic prevention.

After finishing my mission, I returned to Hai Duong city at midnight. Although I was tired, I was happy because I did not miss any important information.

HA NGA

When the character remembers wrongly

Having just graduated from university, I have been working as a probationary reporter at Hai Duong Newspaper since November 2020. On the first day of coming to the agency and working in a professional journalism environment, I was very worried. I remember the first days of writing news articles, I was not used to it so I had to correct a lot, the knowledge learned in school was much different from reality. I was fortunate to have my colleagues enthusiastically instruct and remind me about professional matters such as paying attention to every detail in journalistic works, how to evaluate information...

On the occasion of the propaganda about the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, I was assigned to write about people who have served many times in election work in localities. According to the introduction of the local government, my character, although old, is active and actively participates in movements and election preparation work. When working with the character, he was very happy and enthusiastic about telling stories about the election in the 90s of the last century, when I was not yet born. As if being drawn into stories about election work in the difficult years, I took full notes and secretly rejoiced that with these documents I would be able to write an article for the special issue on elections. When I got home, I wrote right away so as not to forget the good details. The article was immediately sent to my superiors for editing.

On May 17, 2021, the deadline for submission, the department head called me to verify the information. At this time, I just realized that the article I wrote had some very important time points that the character provided wrong. At first, I was skeptical because I took very careful notes, it couldn't be wrong. Then, I called the character again to find out the details. He happily said: "Sorry, it's been too long so I remembered wrongly!". That is the lesson I will always remember in my career. The experience learned is that in the process of collecting information, it is necessary to carefully evaluate, compare, and verify, especially historical documents to avoid errors.

SUCCESS

Who is the youngest martyr in Hai Duong?

Once, at a party after a football match, an old man asked:

- I challenge you journalists, in Hai Duong who is the youngest martyr?

A series of names of martyrs fighting against the French, Americans... who were from Hai Duong were listed, but the quizzer still answered "incorrect". That was all the story and it ended there, probably no one would remember.

A few days later, thinking back, I started looking for sources of information, calling many agencies, military units or related to the policy regime for people with meritorious services but got no results. The topic of war invalids, martyrs, or memories of war is a field that I love, so it urged me to find information about who is the youngest martyr of Hai Duong. The person who posed the above riddle only said "I read it somewhere. He was a martyr in peacetime and lived in Kim Thanh or Kinh Mon, Chi Linh, Nam Sach". From the little information above, I continued to search for information.

Luckily, during a propaganda event in Kinh Mon, I was able to get a PDF file several hundred pages long, in which there were a few lines about a teenage female martyr. I asked many more people, looked up the records, and then I was sure that this was the youngest martyr I had ever known.

That is the young martyr Le Thi Lanh, from Hiep Son ward (Kinh Mon). She sacrificed her life in 1992, when she was only 12 years old, when she jumped into floodwaters to save her peers. With that heroic act, she was posthumously awarded this noble title and is the youngest martyr of Hai Duong to this day.

A report on the female martyr's touching story was published in the newspaper on the occasion of the War Invalids and Martyrs Day.

The article was praised and many people called to say that it was through the article that they learned about this touching story. But for me, it is not just an article, but even from a piece of information, no matter how obscure, journalists must go to the end.

TIEN HUY

"Buy" sugar

A few years ago, I wrote an article called "Spring in the Fishing Villages" reflecting the joyful atmosphere of spring and Tet in some fishing villages in the province, including the fishing village in Kenh Giang commune (now Van Duc ward, Chi Linh city). That morning, I left my house in Tuan Hung (now Tuan Viet commune, Kim Thanh) at 7:50 am, then took an express boat in Thuong Vu commune (same district as Kim Thanh) to Kinh Mon. Arriving at Phuc Thanh commune (now Phuc Thanh ward), I stopped to ask a local for directions to Kenh Giang. They told me to go across the Van ferry to Chi Linh and then asked again because the distance was still very far. I followed the instructions, and the more I asked, the more confused I became when everyone said Kenh Giang was still very far. After crossing the Van ferry, I had to take two more ferries, so it was not until 9:30 am that I arrived at the commune People's Committee. Being led by an officer to the fishing village to collect materials for the article, on the way back, I carefully asked this officer for directions and was told that I only needed to take one ferry from Kenh Giang to Bach Dang commune (Kinh Mon) and return by express boat to be able to return home. So, instead of taking 2 ferries, because I did not ask carefully, I had to take 4 ferries, which should have taken me nearly 1 hour to get there, but it took me more than 2.5 hours. The subjective act of "buying the way" and not thoroughly researching the area became a memory that I will remember forever. Since then, whenever I go to work in places I have never been to, I spend time carefully researching the route on the map and gain experience by asking 2-3 locals for directions.

HUYEN TRANG

Thanks to traffic police for supporting candidates

Candidate Nguyen Hoang Viet was taken by a traffic police officer to get his card and arrived at the exam location on time.

On June 15, I was assigned to promote the 10th grade entrance exam in Thanh Ha district.

I took the opportunity to arrive early to report before the students entered the exam room. While the candidates were already sitting in the exam room, Nguyen Hoang Viet, a student at An Phuong Secondary School, rushed over. After having his temperature taken and his hands sanitized at the school gate, Viet was reminded to bring his exam card. Only then did he realize that he had forgotten his card at home. Viet was very confused and turned to me and asked: "Can you lend me your phone to call my mother to bring the card?". I quickly gave the phone to Viet and reminded him: "Calm down, there's still a lot of time." I watched Viet dial the phone number with trembling hands. After two phone calls, Viet's mother could not find the card at home. Viet began to panic, not knowing what to do, only fearing that he would not be allowed to take the exam. I thought that if he could not find the card, this student's mentality would more or less affect the exam process. So I asked some police officers standing nearby to take Viet home to get his card because if Viet went alone at this time, he would be in a hurry and worried, it would be very dangerous. At that moment, Lieutenant Bui Thanh Tung, working at the Traffic Police Department of Thanh Ha District Police, did not hesitate to drive his car to take Viet home. About 15 minutes later, Viet arrived at the exam location on time and safely.

If there was no time, Viet would have to write a commitment before entering the exam room because he did not have a card. After Viet thanked me, I did not forget to encourage him to try hard to do well on the exam and felt very happy to have helped this student. It was just a small thing during my work but it helped me appreciate and love my job more.

MOON