Huynh Thuc Khang’s journalism career was closely associated with the Tiếng Dân newspaper, the leading newspaper of patriotic journalism in the Central region and the whole country. Before the August Revolution in 1945, in the context of stifled freedom of speech, the scholar and patriot Huynh Thuc Khang courageously chose to “make an open revolution” on the press front. He declared: “I am an open revolutionary, I fight for the interests of the Vietnamese people in an open way.”
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| Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang and the newspaper Tieng Dan. |
Dedicated and responsible journalist
Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang (1876-1947) was born into a poor Confucian family, originally from a farmer in the mountainous region of Quang Nam . He overcame many difficulties and hardships with determination and hard work. He passed his studies early and became famous, but he did not become an official but nurtured the will to reform the country.
In nearly 20 years of appearing in the press forum, Huynh Thuc Khang has shown himself to be a sharp speaker, a writer with a bold spirit, a journalist with upright thoughts, unyielding in the face of the harsh policies of the colonial regime, with a writing style and reporting style that is "very Huynh Thuc Khang".
Each article by Huynh Thuc Khang shows his profoundness, sharpness, and sophistication, exuding a heroic spirit, indomitable in the face of hardships and difficulties, and a heart for journalism for the benefit of society. Huynh Thuc Khang's name is honored in the development of Vietnamese journalism.
Mr. Huynh's viewpoint on journalism is to actively participate in political and social life and pay strong attention to people's lives. His writing style is full of fighting spirit. He is a person who is very aware of the role of journalism "A hundred thousand soldiers are not worth one newspaper" and always associates the mission of journalism with the destiny of the nation "The Voice of the People is related to the country's affairs".
Despite his advanced age, Mr. Huynh still devoted himself to the role of Minister of the Interior in the Ho Chi Minh Government, then Acting President. He fulfilled each role excellently, with many great contributions, creating a "very Quang Nam" working style, decisive, quick, resolute, uncompromising, and unyielding.
The pen is a sharp "weapon"
The pen became a sharp weapon in spreading patriotic and revolutionary ideas during the French colonial period. Among them, Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang - a patriotic scholar, founded the newspaper Tiếng Dân (1927-1943); using the press as a means of struggle, considering it a powerful weapon representing the voice of the masses, especially oppressed workers.
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| The first students of Huynh Thuc Khang Journalism School (Photo: Archive). |
He believed that a person's great career must lie in whether his words and actions in life can help society or not, whether he can do three "immortal" (indestructible) things: establish virtue, establish merit and establish words for life or not, otherwise "just being rich and famous is not a career" (Voice of the People, February 22, 1933).
With such a philosophy of life, during his time as editor-in-chief of Tiếng Dân newspaper, if he accepted to publish false advertisements or print official documents that the French Embassy in Central Vietnam wanted to assign (while other printing houses had to go through bidding), he would have increased his income, but Huynh Thuc Khang still used the excuse that "the printing house is not strong enough" to refuse. He affirmed that the press is not a place to get rich. Financial autonomy, not being dependent on the French government or any organization, is an important factor that helps Mr. Huynh lead the newspaper to follow the criteria of speaking for the people, defending the people's rights...
During its 16 years of operation (1927-1943) with 1,766 issues published, Tiếng Dân was one of the typical newspapers of the revolutionary patriotic press. The newspaper honestly reflected the atmosphere and political life in the first half of the 20th century and truly contributed to the cultural history of the Central region and to the Vietnamese press.
Later, during the national resistance war, in order to promote the role of journalists in “fighting the enemy with their pens and guiding public opinion” and to promote the development of Vietnam’s revolutionary press, at the end of 1948, President Ho Chi Minh instructed the Viet Minh General Department to open a journalism school, considering it one of the urgent tasks to be done. Accordingly, on the morning of April 4, 1949, in Bo Ra hamlet (now Tan Thai commune), Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province, an important event took place, the opening ceremony of the first course of the Huynh Thuc Khang Journalism School.
The meaning of naming the first journalism school in the country after Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang is to remember and follow the example of the patriotic veteran, who was also a long-time, famous journalist; to set an example for students of a diligent learning spirit, a progressive organizational mind, a resolute and indomitable will, which are the basic qualities of a journalist.
He was one of the pioneers of the Tiếng Dân newspaper with the famous saying: “If you don’t have the right to say everything you want to say, at least you have the right not to say what people force you to say.” This is Mr. Huynh’s frankness, typical of Quang Nam people and very much worth learning from for today’s generation of journalists.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/chinh-tri/202502/huynh-thuc-khang-chi-si-noi-len-tieng-dan-de-lam-cach-mang-cong-khai-f930c94/
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