Back then at Thanh Nien Newspaper

To date, it has been exactly 37 years since I first submitted an article to Thanh Nien Newspaper.

There was such a branch – that 's the long news article about a youth branch at Camp 05.06 Bau Bang, a re-education camp for misguided young men and women, located west of Da Nang City. It was the summer of 1988.

1. That evening, I was invited to a meeting of the women's labor team after a cassava planting session. Several lazy women, afraid of the sun, were reprimanded. The person in charge said, "You work to earn a living, so why be lazy? Do you think you're from respectable families? Maybe only this journalist here is from a respectable family…" The whole camp burst into laughter, dispelling the heavy atmosphere of the meeting. I'll never forget it; it was the first time in my life I sat in a meeting with over 300 girls who had made mistakes in a reformatory camp, but I only managed to write a news report to send to Thanh Nien Newspaper. by mail …

Exactly one year later, when the newspaper moved to Nguyen Thong Street, I sent in my short story , "Darkness and Light," about a hydroelectric power plant unit in Nam Giang. When a student unit discovered a soldier's grave at the edge of the forest and notified the family to come and claim the remains, the wife stayed at the scene that night and recounted how she and her deceased husband were workers at the Ben Thuy power plant. Her husband had gone south, while she remained a power plant worker, having been disciplined for embezzling materials. They had fought amidst bombs and bullets to maintain the power supply, and then committed crimes because of greed. That was the fragile distance between each person…

Activities of Thanh Nien Newspaper at the Central Vietnam Office (now the Central Coastal Office) after the historic flood of 1999. Photo 1: Thanh Nien Newspaper's vehicle entering the flooded area of ​​Quang Nam to report on the event.

PHOTO: LE VAN THO

Photo 2: Relief efforts at the headwaters of the Thu Bon River, Quang Nam.

PHOTO: LE VAN THO

Shortly after, when I transferred to the Quang Land magazine, the editorial board invited me and journalist Huynh Ngoc Chenh to join the newspaper when they added a Thursday edition and needed more correspondents in Central Vietnam. A short time later, Huynh Ngoc Chenh was transferred to the South, leaving only me to establish the newspaper's representative office in Central Vietnam in 1992. At that time, the editorial board also invited poet Thai Ngoc San to be a correspondent in Hue, after he left his job at the Song Huong magazine.

I'm mentioning those details to illustrate further: To expand the growing Thanh Nien newspaper, the editorial board at the time boldly recruited many veteran writers from various provinces, such as writer The Vu from Nha Trang, poet Tan Hoai Da Vu, poet Le Nhuoc Thuy, writer Nguyen Hoang Thu from the Central Highlands, poet and musician Vu Duc Sao Bien… to strengthen the editorial office and departments. When we met at 20 ter Tran Hung Dao B, we already knew each other, so the working atmosphere was very smooth.

Journalist Truong Dien Thang on a reporting trip to Ly Son Island, Quang Ngai.

Photo: TL

Outside of work hours, the colleagues would often gather at the coffee shop or billiard hall next to the editorial office, creating a lively atmosphere. Mr. Vu Duc Sao Bien, a former teacher who had previously worked as a journalist, would frequently share his experiences on writing techniques, which the young writers listened to attentively.

At that time, Mr. Huynh Tan Mam was still in office, and we would occasionally sit down for drinks and chat about old and new things. Mr. Mam rode his Suzuki to work and had a gentle nature. I kept wondering how such a person could have been a leader of the student movement before 1975. Before I could fully understand him, he transferred to another position after only a short time…

Back then, newspapers were still struggling, with low print runs. After their shift, the entire editorial team had to rush to the printing house to monitor paper supplies and check the quantities ordered by distributors… Sometimes they wouldn't get home until after 9 PM. I came from Da Nang and slept on the tiled floor at night, so my colleagues often invited me along to see what it was like. I would often go to the technical room to watch the montage department create the layouts and cut and paste… Thanks to that, I learned about many stages of newspaper production, which was very useful.

2. When the newspaper moved to 248 Cong Quynh Street, it was a period of great success, although the premises were still cramped, not enough space for hundreds of people to work together, so extra tables and chairs had to be placed in the hallway. Sometimes 2-3 people in the editorial secretariat had to share one table, but the working atmosphere was always urgent and serious.

I remember several morning briefings when the Editor-in-Chief came. Before the meeting, he would go to many newsstands to observe and listen to opinions, both positive and negative. I was once invited to speak. And I always honestly said: "In Da Nang now, every morning when you go to a coffee shop, the first newspaper you see in the customer's hand, and the one many people choose to read first, is Thanh Nien . At the office, you often meet retired people visiting, carrying newspapers; some praise it, some offer suggestions…" I said that journalism is very difficult now because the readers' level of education is quite high. That day, my speech was praised for its honesty.

When the editorial board decided to establish a newspaper office in Central Vietnam, seeing that the agency was still poor, I boldly suggested using my house on Trung Nu Vuong Street as the office and not charging rent. Although only about 30 square ^meters , that office operated until the end of 1996, before I was able to purchase a house on Bach Dang Street, where it remains to this day. This "makeshift" office at my house became a gathering place for many retired people, readers, and contributors from Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai, where they stayed and exchanged articles quite actively.

When the office opened, in addition to collaborators, leaders from Da Nang and Quang Nam provinces also attended. Mr. Nguyen Dinh An, Mr. Nguyen Van Chi, Mr. Nguyen Ba Thanh, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and even retired figures like writers Nguyen Van Xuan, Doan Ba ​​Tu, and Vinh Linh frequently visited to exchange information. The atmosphere was always lively, especially when Thanh Nien Newspaper began printing in Da Nang. Mr. Doan Ba ​​Tu often said: "People in Da Nang and Central Vietnam used to read newspapers the next day, when they arrived by car and train. Now, newspapers are available to read at 5 a.m. You have changed people's reading habits, it's truly wonderful."

3. From 1972 I went to Saigon to study and only returned at the end of 1975. A friend suggested I write about the old generation of journalists in Da Nang. Actually, it's very difficult. I know many of them, but I know absolutely nothing about the journalism profession in Da Nang before 1975.

As mentioned, before 1975, even before we brought Thanh Nien newspaper to Da Nang, there weren't many journalists here, and they were dependent on newspapers in Ho Chi Minh City. Newspapers had to be sent by plane or train, and only available the next day. Therefore, the journalistic atmosphere, for both readers and writers, was very stagnant. That was sad, even though the people of Da Nang were passionate about journalism.

Now, after our generation, with advancements in technology, there is a large and vibrant generation of young journalists in Central Vietnam. Provinces and cities all have local newspapers and journalists' associations. Thanks to this, the days we spent working in journalism are now just memories.

Therefore, the memories I record are merely recollections of the formative years of my career, nothing more, nothing less…

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ngay-ay-o-bao-thanh-nien-185250618014930422.htm