Cover photo of the book "Writers & Current Events" by author Nguyen Khac Phe

14 years after the first issue of Thanh Nien was published, I cried out to the world and it took me another 20 years to write my first article. That was in 1959. At that time, I, like many other young journalists, did not know about Thanh Nien Weekly, but the main ideology of this first revolutionary newspaper was continuously continued through the following newspapers, such as: Cuu Quoc, Co Giai Phong, Nhan Dan..., and from there, it was transmitted to all classes of people.

My first article passionately expressed the spirit of fighting for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland that “Thanh Nien” initiated. It was a record of “Pioneer Soldiers” published in the “Literature” newspaper (the predecessor of the current “Literature” newspaper). In that class, there was Nguyen Cong Thanh, a classmate. Thanh had worked in the army during the anti-French resistance, so he was given the privilege of graduating early, joining Mr. Vo Bam’s army, “piercing the line” across the upper reaches of the Ben Hai River to the South...

It has been 66 years! I really can’t remember or count how many articles I have written over the past half century. Due to my “fateful relationship” with the roads where “history collided” for 15 years (1959 - 1974), I have written many articles during that period and up to now about the typical events, heroic examples, and countless sacrifices of a large army that made an important contribution to the fight for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. These articles were published in publications of the former Binh Tri Thien province and present-day Hue , as well as many other local newspapers or central newspapers.

After the country was peacefully unified , with the revolutionary spirit that Thanh Nien Weekly had aroused, the national press system steadfastly continued and developed, in order to meet the diverse demands of the new period, I had the opportunity to expand the "battlefield", especially since I was transferred to work as a professional cadre editing literary magazines. Since then, 42 years have passed! After 24 years (1959-1983) of working as an amateur journalist, it was not until June 1983, when I was appointed as "Deputy" to poet Nguyen Khoa Diem to build the Huong River Magazine, that I became a "legitimate" journalist.

It was thanks to the articles that continued the revolutionary tradition of the “Thanh Nien” Weekly in 1925 that a writer from a remote province caught the attention of the Central Youth Union. I mention the story of “amateur” journalism also to “give credit” to the team of collaborators who were a reliable support, a factor contributing to enhancing the prestige of the newspapers… This is also a “lesson” I “realized” when working at the Song Huong Magazine. During this period, the war had ended, but the “battlefield” with the new “enemy” in peacetime, exposed or disguised, was sometimes more complicated and difficult than before. That enemy was corruption, waste, and bureaucracy, which President Ho Chi Minh had specifically named in an article in 1952. He emphasized: “It is a quite dangerous enemy. Because it does not carry swords or guns, but it is in our organizations, to ruin our work”…

On this new “battlefield”, I, like many other journalists, have enthusiastically joined the battle. Here are the titles of some articles on this battlefield that were published in the political essay collection “Writers & Current Events” (Writers Association Publishing House, 2013): Land encroachment cannot be considered as a normal act of corruption; When moral and lifestyle degradation appears in numbers; Corruption and cultural degradation; Resignation or going to court: Not enough; For the “General Attack” campaign on termites to succeed...

In this series of articles, the article “What to do to stop barbaric capitalism?” after being published in the Literature and Arts Newspaper on November 1, 2008 (column “Writers’ Voice”) was broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam Radio as an editorial of a media agency, so General Dong Si Nguyen heard it. He called me and said something like: “I welcome your article… If any force puts pressure on us, we will speak up to support you…”. It was surprising and touching, because to me, he was a “long-range leader” when I was in Truong Son, and I rarely had the opportunity to meet him.

I cite some memories to show that the voice of journalists in the fight against "worms" is very necessary and respected. The new "battlefield" that I and many other journalists are participating in is also the fight to protect the nation's cultural heritage and traditions, to prevent acts of destroying the ecological environment... My article "The Guardians of the North Hai Van Forest" was awarded the A Prize by the Thua Thien Hue Journalists Association in 2001 and the political article "When the balance of nature is violated" won the Hai Trieu Journalism Award in 2021. I submitted this article to the competition when I was in my "80s" to see if my pen was "blunt" yet? And would the topic of the ecological environment be noticed?

We are familiar with the saying “A knife must be sharpened to be sharp” and we can also say “A pen must write to not rust”. Hopefully, our journalists will have more and more journalistic works like this to be worthy of being the excellent successors of the fine tradition of Thanh Nien Weekly…

Nguyen Khac Phe

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/dao-phai-mai-but-phai-viet-154735.html