One wrong word can ruin an entire article.

At the end of December 2024, photographer Hoang Hiep organized the exhibition "Peaceful Truong Sa". Islands are always an attractive topic for the public. This is the first time an individual in Hai Duong has organized a private exhibition on this topic. Therefore, Hai Duong Newspaper promoted both before the event and when the exhibition was held. In addition to reporting the news, the Editorial Board suggested that I write a reportage - notes.

The theme of the exhibition is "Peaceful Truong Sa", which is also the name of a photo that artist Hoang Hiep is fond of, taken by him on Da Thi island.

After many trips, exchanges and visits to the exhibition, the reportage - recording "Hoang Hiep - the person who lives fully in every moment" was completed and waiting for publication. In the nearly 2,000-word article, there was a very important detail: whether the photo was taken by him at dawn or dusk. If it was included in the article, it had to be stated exactly, otherwise it would be missing a good detail. After much hesitation, I wrote "The photo was taken by the artist at dusk" with the thought of discussing it with the author again before the article was published. That was the weekend issue on December 15, 2023. But for some reason, I forgot this detail. Late at night before the publication date, I suddenly remembered, so I quickly called him to ask him about this detail again. Artist Hoang Hiep said "the photo was taken at dawn".

He said that morning, stepping onto the deck of the ship, in front of him was the vast sky and water, the dawn was rising, the sea was covered in shimmering gold. In the distance, Da Thi island with two solid blocks of houses, also covered in a golden color as if it had just emerged from the sea. On the waves, the rubber boats of the navy soldiers from Da Thi, flying bright red national flags, flapped their way to the big ship to welcome visitors. He raised his camera to capture that moment.

I quickly informed the Editorial Secretariat to immediately change the detail "sunset" to "dawn". Luckily, it was still in time because the newspaper had not been sent to print yet.

I remember this story forever and have told it to my colleagues, especially young reporters: The details in an article must be absolutely accurate. When in doubt, ask again immediately. Just one wrong word can ruin an entire article!