Journalists working at the scene during the dry season - Photo: Huy Quan
In July 1989, Quang Tri province was re-established and still lacked many cadres for its units, departments, branches, and sectors... that was an opportunity for us to return to our hometown to work. At that time, it was still difficult to request a transfer to work inthe education sector, so some people advised me to transfer to the Propaganda sector or Quang Tri Newspaper (which were agencies that still lacked many cadres).
When applying for a job transfer to the Newspaper, the leader's requirement was that the applicant must have at least 3 articles published in central and local newspapers. Fortunately, although I studied at a teacher training college, I always liked writing articles.
In my second year of university, I had an article published in Tien Phong Newspaper, then another article published in Dan Newspaper of Binh Tri Thien province and some articles published in the journal of the education sector of Dak Lak province. I met some other requirements regarding my political background and that of my family. In early December 1989, the Provincial Party Committee decided to accept me to work at Quang Tri Newspaper and worked there for 30 years, until early 2020 when I retired.
I remember the first days I came to work at a press agency. I was confused and bewildered, not knowing what to do. Sitting in the office, there was nothing to write about, and meetings were only held once or twice a week.
Journalism is not an administrative job that requires sitting for 8 hours at the office. But every day I still come to sit and read the newspaper or do odd jobs. Seeing me sitting for many hours at the office, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief said: "You have to go to the localities and units to find people and jobs to write about." Hearing the leader's advice, I "awakened" to my job.
A few days before, I was sent by my agency to attend the year-end conference of the Department of Culture and Information. In the speech of the delegates, the Secretary of the Party Committee of Hai An Commune, Hai Lang District, reflected on the difficulties and shortages in many aspects of the locality. His story left an unforgettable impression, so I asked the agency for a work permit to go to Hai An Commune.
At that time, Quang Tri province had just been re-established, so the infrastructure of the localities was very poor, the roads were difficult to travel, mostly small, narrow, muddy dirt roads. From Dong Ha to Hai An is about 30 km, but I had to cycle across fields and sand from morning until noon to reach this locality. It was indeed a very poor coastal commune. The houses were sparsely populated with old, dilapidated tin-roofed houses; small basket boats; the villages were somewhat desolate, the roads were all sand, many places were washed away by rainwater, making transportation difficult.
After work, I was invited by the Party Secretary of the commune to have dinner at his house. It was past noon so the rice and soup were cold. What I remember most among the dishes was a plate of stir-fried papaya with pork fat, which was very delicious. Because compared to my family at that time, we were still poor and didn't have enough pork fat to eat, every day we only had sweet potato leaves or water spinach.
After 4-5 days of writing, erasing, writing and rewriting many times, I finally completed the article "About Hai An" which was quite vivid, with many specific, authentic and accurate figures and details, so it was chosen by the newspaper's editorial department to be published immediately, without being "stuffed up and down" or edited many times. That was the first article I was published in Quang Tri Newspaper. When the newspaper was published, I was also very happy because the agency paid me a royalty of 8,000 VND. I used that money to go to Dong Ha market to buy 1 kg of pork to bring home and have a delicious meal with my family. So, compared to the teaching profession, which only receives a monthly salary, being a journalist in addition to a fixed salary also has a royalty, so life will be better.
After a while, I cycled to Gio Linh and coincidentally met a mother who had made many contributions and sacrifices for the revolutionary cause, but her life was still difficult. She also felt sad that when she met some old cadres and comrades who had worked with her or were raised and protected by her, they were now less open, less close, and less friendly, which made her feel sad... That article was like a story about human love before and after the war. I named the article "Achievements and Sorrows", and when it was submitted to the editorial department, it was revised to "Tears of Grief".
I didn’t like the title of this article very much, but what could I do? Fortunately, the article had many touching details, so many people read it. A high-ranking leader of the province came to the newspaper office to ask about the writer but couldn’t find him. Then he and his driver went to Gio Linh district to meet the mother named in the article to comfort and encourage her. I think that this is a very necessary gesture for those who have taken care of cadres and fought together in the warm and cold trenches of the past.
Besides the happy stories about the articles that readers are interested in and remember, during my career, I also encountered many sad, troublesome, and worrying stories. Because I was assigned by my agency to work in the internal affairs department, I had to investigate and expose negative events in a number of agencies, units, and localities many times. The anti-negativity articles touched a number of people, making them feel angry, uncomfortable, and alienated.
I remember one time when a reader provided me with information, I went to get more information, verified the incident and then wrote an article about the negative aspects of a unit operating in the cultural field. When the article was published, the director of that unit was very angry (which is understandable) and showed signs of revenge. Some people in his unit knew about this attitude so they came to Quang Tri Newspaper to see me and advised me to limit going out during this time, if I had to go anywhere, go with two people to avoid unfortunate events.
A few days later, some of the director’s confidants came to the office to talk to me about “having to cause trouble.” Luckily, I was on a business trip that day. If I had been at the office that day, I could have easily been “questioned” or subjected to harsh words like what had happened to those who worked as anti-corruption journalists.
There are also some people who, when their unit or locality is exposed by the press for negative stories, take advantage of their relationships with their superiors to call the leaders of Quang Tri Newspaper to claim that because of Mr. A's or Mr. B's articles, their agency lost the title of cultural unit, or in some cases, because of the press's reflection, the cadres did not get a salary increase or were not promoted to a higher position as expected...
People who are exposed to negative stories are sad and somewhat angry, but the journalists themselves are not happier because of that, nor do they receive any rewards, it is their job and responsibility to do. On the other hand, people have great trust and expectations in the press, if the dark and negative aspects are not exposed, then bad and evil can easily prevail.
Journalism has received very practical attention from the State, but in the end, it is a difficult and arduous job, requiring one to be restless with each word and to think carefully before writing to avoid unnecessary consequences.
Writers must report the truth and uphold civic responsibility. They cannot take sides or, for any reason, report false information, which would damage the reputation and honor of individuals and groups. At that time, the reputation and honor of journalists would not be good either.
30 years of journalism have had many happy and sad stories. But I always try to do my best, always be objective and careful in my work, although it is inevitable that there will be some limitations and mistakes. However, I am also very proud of journalism because it has helped us go to many places, meet many people, learn good things and right reasons so that each of our articles and each of our actions has more practical meaning.
Hoang Nam Bang
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nho-ve-nghe-bao-194452.htm
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