Social responsibility of journalists

Late last month, public opinion was extremely noisy surrounding a class party at Gia Luong Primary School (Gia Loc, Hai Duong). The mother did not pay the parents' association fund, so her child could not have a party with his friends. The public opinion was also stirred up partly because an article in an online newspaper was one-sided and biased. Seeing many readers' anger and reactions, the newspaper changed the headline 4 times. After that, some Facebook accounts posted articles praising and admiring the "brave" mother who "fought" against wrongdoings and absurdities. Then she shared this content on her personal page and wrote "thank you journalist". It is not known whether that Facebook account belongs to the journalist or not, but it is clear that this ugly, noisy story continues to be pushed to a higher level because of the "journalist's" supportive voice.

The story of the social responsibility of journalists has never been mentioned as much as it is today. A journalist is a citizen, a member of society. What a journalist expresses in his or her journalistic work must first come from the consciousness of a good citizen. The social responsibility of a journalist is not much different from other professions such as honesty, humanity, for the common good of the collective, community, society... However, with the role, position, influence, a viewpoint, an ideology, a trend through the press can become a problem for the whole society.

With the rapid development of technology, people access information from many different sources, including many sources of incorrect, untrue information, created intentionally, even maliciously, for personal interests, or to cause misunderstandings, division... At this time, the responsibility of journalists is to use their skills, ability to access, process, and evaluate multi-dimensional information, to convey to people honest, objective, and responsible information, maximizing positive effects and minimizing negative consequences for society.

Social responsibility is also one of the important factors that make journalists different in their communication work. News from the press is different from news on social networks in that there must be responsibility from the press agency and the journalist in each news line. With social responsibility, journalists will know where to stop between the fragile boundary between reporting news that is beneficial to the community and society and reporting news whose sole purpose is to "attract views".

It is no coincidence that every year on the occasion of the anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, June 21, Party and State leaders request the press nationwide to strengthen information analysis, promote the role of constructive journalism and solution journalism. Do not avoid negative issues but report in a constructive way, find ways to overcome and resolve them in a humane and legal manner. During the visit and working session with the Vietnam Journalists Association on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 - June 21, 2023), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh wished that the press must take the lead in discovering and praising new factors, good people, good deeds, using beauty to eliminate ugliness, using positivity to push back negativity, creating motivation, inspiration, and spreading in the community and society.

In recent times, journalists in Hai Duong have been fully aware of the social responsibility they must assume and shoulder. Journalists are always dedicated, devoted, and ready to sacrifice personal interests to preserve and increasingly enhance the position, prestige, and honor of the journalism profession.

Uncle Ho - the great journalist once taught: "Every person has good and evil in their heart. We must know how to make the good part in each person bloom like spring flowers, and the bad part disappear...". That is the noble responsibility of journalists to the people, the community, and society, because behind the news are human destinies.