Journalists continue to demonstrate their mettle, dedication, and leadership in major national issues.

Author Bui Thanh Hai - Readers' Committee (Today's Rural Newspaper/Dan Viet Electronic) with Series of 3 articles "Global Geopark being "butchered" - A Prize in the category of Reportage, Investigative Reportage in print media:

Contribute a small part to protect the eternal values of Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark

"This year, the National Journalism Awards Ceremony was held with many new, creative and attractive features, making the award-winning authors like us very excited and looking forward to it. Hopefully in 2025 - the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Journalism Day, journalists will continue to strive to have truly quality works to celebrate this great event" - Journalist Bui Thanh Hai.

In late March and early April 2023, NTNN Newspaper/Dan Viet Electronic Newspaper received information from people about the situation of taking advantage of the construction of bends and roads to build new rural areas to illegally exploit rocks in the core area of Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, Ha Giang province.

The group of reporters spent many days investigating and recording illegal stone mining and trading activities, recording negative signs of local leaders' complicity in profiteering, and corruption from turning a blind eye to violators.

Indeed, people use the cover of opening new rural roads and traffic routes to exploit stones to build homestays and do other things. The group of reporters used many roles to meet directly with the miners, sellers, and buyers of stones... to reconstruct the full process of illegal stone mining.

Author Bui Thanh Hai - Today's Rural Newspaper/Dan Viet Electronic

From these "sources", the group of reporters managed to approach the officials who were considered to be "protecting and behind" the illegal stone mining. A leader of Dong Van town advised us in detail on how to "dodge" the way to get stone from the Dong Van stone plateau.

In the incident, field reporters had to confront subjects who violated the law on illegal stone mining and trading in the Dong Van stone plateau. We remember the dangerous situation when we confronted the owner of a stone crushing factory in the Dong Van stone plateau. This person had been caught by the authorities for illegally selling stones, as reported by the press.

Therefore, violators are very cautious when approached by strangers. We had to face a series of difficult questions and queries from name, age, address, which business, where is the company address, business tax code, what is the purpose of buying the stone, what type of stone, how to use it, what is the mixing ratio? Just one questionable answer could have us "closed the gate, locked up". Thanks to the information prepared in advance, the group of reporters overcame the difficult questioning so that the subject could provide the addresses where the stone was "smuggled" for illegal sale.

Author Tu Sang - Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper with the work "Infiltrating the kidney buying and selling ring in Ho Chi Minh City" - B prize category: Reportage, Investigative reportage, journalistic notes, notes:

Bringing the "dark corners" of kidney trafficking to light

Kidney trading in particular, and the trading of living human organs in general, is a reality that has been and is happening, causing many dangerous consequences. It will be difficult to completely end it without changing the mechanism, policies, and laws on this issue. During the investigation, the reporter realized that this is not a new issue, but the “donors” and “donees” are still the ones who suffer the most.

Because the “donor” has to sell his organs, and the “donee” has to buy them at a very high price. In fact, in Ho Chi Minh City, there is a kidney trafficking network operating nationwide. This network forms connections, enticing poor people to sell their kidneys at low prices (about 250-300 million VND) but then selling them to patients at very high prices (from 1.2 billion to 1.3 billion VND).

Author Tu Sang.

However, the kidney trading market is still very active because the supply and demand gap is too large, and the "profit" is very high. When the trading lines are exposed, in addition to the individuals and organizations that profit from it being handled and prosecuted, another aspect is also revealed. Those are the pale, weak faces of the poor, because of debt and poverty, so they "take risks" and have to sell a part of their body. As for the buyers, with kidneys "priced" at billions of dong, they need to have certain economic conditions.

Thus, if a person does not have the financial means but gets sick, the kidney transplant must be weighed in terms of money, must be on the waiting list or cannot wait any longer. From there, the group of reporters investigated this kidney trafficking ring, to find a new solution, to get to the root of the problem, which is how to find a source of organ donations from brain-dead and heart-dead people - a reasonable, safe source that does not affect the donor.

After Ho Chi Minh City Law posted the trailer “Infiltrating a kidney trafficking ring in Ho Chi Minh City”, on the night of October 8, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department directed the Criminal Police Department and the Criminal Police Team of Binh Chanh District Police to coordinate. Thereby, they arrested and prosecuted a group of subjects to investigate the crime of buying and selling human body parts.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health also re-inspected the entire kidney transplant process at hospitals. From the effects of the series of articles, Ms. Pham Thi Hao (expert of the Legal Department, Ministry of Health) said that many regulations need to be revised to help increase the source of donated organs from brain-dead people.

Author Ta Duy Thanh - Thoi Nay Department, Nhan Dan Newspaper with a series of 3 articles "Solutions for effective public investment" - B prize in the category of News, reflections, and interviews in printed newspapers:

Recognizing shortcomings that contribute to "pushing" public investment to the finish line

The flow of public investment capital into the economy contributes significantly to Vietnam's economic growth rate. In 2023, our country had a successful year if only considering the disbursement of public investment capital. On that basis, the Government continues to identify public investment as a resource and driving force for development.

However, the initial successes are at risk of being “lost in the water” due to old diseases, inherent shortcomings of the system, slow disbursement of public investment capital, and increase in public investment capital. Wishing to contribute a small part in “pushing” public investment to the finish line, we started to come up with ideas for the series of articles and conduct surveys and research in many units and localities.

Author Ta Duy Thanh - Today's Department, Nhan Dan Newspaper

The reality is far from what was planned. Most private enterprises, from small-scale (specializing in civil construction) to the largest construction corporations in Vietnam… are hesitant to touch on sensitive topics. Son Hai Group refused to work with reporters when it learned the content of the issue we were investigating.

Vingroup not only did not work but also influenced the group to not appear in the series. Many experts only agreed to consult and work on the condition of anonymity. The group of reporters visited 10 provinces and cities such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Daklak..., but the results were also limited. There were problems that were only solved when they went to a small private concrete station in a remote corner of a mountainous province in the Northwest...

One corner of the problem has been peeled off, carrying great expectations on its back. Construction norms are established with the role of performing the state management function. In reality, they have become a burden on public investment in construction. Even "heavy" to the point of bringing "bread and butter" to some parties and causing disadvantages to the budget. The backwardness of norms is not the most important but it is also the first possible thing to start changing. Aiming for a high level of management, overcoming the disease of apathy in some places.

The series was carried out over a period of about 6 months, a short period of time compared to the country's more than 4 decades of development. The country's development has been accompanied by an increasing number of public investment projects, and the scale of these projects has also grown steadily. The disease of overspending on public investment is at risk of becoming a chronic disease.

Through this series of articles, we hope to contribute to fundamentally changing the management style as well as the old working mindset in managing and implementing public investment projects. Only then can we fully receive the values of the "wave" of public investment.

Hoa Giang (Recorded)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nguoi-lam-bao-tiep-tuc-the-hien-ban-linh-dan-than-di-dau-trong-nhung-van-de-lon-cua-dat-nuoc-post300192.html