“ This is the series of articles that left me with the most sadness and anxiety. During the process of going to the field and exploiting information for nearly 6 years, there were times when I had to swallow my tears because of the letters calling for help, because of the heartbreaking tragedies. Therefore, I always tell myself to "dig deep" into the problem, grasp the information firmly, keep my pen straight, and be consistent in my thoughts and stance to protect the information" . That is the sharing of journalist Vo Manh Hung - author of the series of articles "Development first, treatment later: The danger of destroying the environment for economic gain" - a work highly appreciated by the Final Jury of the 17th National Press Awards in 2023.
Actual penetration at more than 20 "hot spots" across the country
The environment is not a new issue, but any government and people in the world are particularly concerned - especially when the environment around where we live has been and is being negatively impacted, threatened and destroyed! As a journalist following the natural resources and environment sector, with enthusiasm and a responsible pen, Vo Manh Hung - reporter of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper has planned to visit a series of "hotspot" areas of environmentally destructive production activities in many provinces/cities across the country to learn and record the current situation. From there, sound the alarm to help limit similar environmental incidents that may occur in the future.
Journalist Vo Manh Hung on a field trip to Quy Hop district, Nghe An province.
Immediately after returning from his field trips, journalist Vo Manh Hung started writing the series of articles “Develop first, cure later: The danger of destroying the environment for economic gain” . This series of articles includes an introduction and 5 articles, divided into different “coherent” content/issues: from the current management situation, operation/exploitation activities, “loopholes” arising from policies to solutions as well as the most fundamental solutions.
“In the process of implementing the series, I personally came up with the idea, built the outline, and planned to investigate and learn about the reality in more than 20 provinces and cities in all regions of the S-shaped strip of land of the country. All the areas that I visited to learn about, each place has a different situation as well as “hot spots”, but all have the same consequence: “development goes hand in hand with the destruction of the living environment, causing people living nearby to have to file complaints and cry for help...” . Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the series of articles that I have spent a lot of effort, time, and the saddest and most worrying thing” , Mr. Hung shared.
There are places where, when first mentioned, asking for information through colleagues and research organizations, journalist Vo Manh Hung received advice and warnings about the dangers of approaching reality, because there are always "owls" following when they see the appearance of strangers. And if unfortunately their identity is revealed, the reporter's life will be in danger.
Especially at a series of "hot spots" of stone mining with "problems" in the mining process, causing serious pollution in Yen Lam stone craft village (Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province), the capital of large-scale coal smuggling in Cam Pha city (Quang Ninh province); or the "underground world" of underground mining in Quy Hop district; "hot spots" of unsafe stone mining blasting at tragic mountain peaks that killed dozens of people in Luong Son district (Hoa Binh province)...
Journalist Vo Manh Hung always determined to find ways to go deep into the “hot spots” , instead of observing in the open, to get the most authentic evidence. “Therefore, on some trips, I had to risk approaching and stay up all night waiting for the moment when factories and production areas “release” toxic smoke and wastewater into the environment” , Mr. Hung confided.
Professionally written script
Based on "live" information through nearly 6 years of in-depth investigation and research, along with shared opinions and interviews from leaders of ministries, departments, and agencies at all levels from the Central to local levels, National Assembly delegates and environmental experts, in early December 2022, journalist Vo Manh Hung came up with a detailed scenario and proposed to the department leaders and the Newspaper leaders to send 2 more reporters specializing in photos and videos, Hoai Nam and Hoang Dat, to return with him to some "hot spots" flying flycams, to have more new and most panoramic footage from above.
In the series, the photos play a very important role, they are very beautiful photos, not only covering the scenery, the current state of the environment seen from above by a flycam, but also focusing on the details of the "dark areas" as well as the "black spots" of pollution, the "wounds" of mountains and hills caused by mines, cutting/cutting machines; or the smoke and dust that stone crushing and clinker production enterprises freely release directly into the environment at night...
Two photojournalists Hoai Nam and Hoang Dat at a "hot spot" in Thanh Hoa.
Photojournalist Hoai Nam shared: “During the discussion with Mr. Vo Manh Hung, I sympathized with the author's idea, understood the "script" he presented, and deeply felt the "picture of truth" that will be shown in the series.
These photos cannot be taken in one trip, to capture the truth requires many times of observation and contemplation. I try to stick to and reflect as realistically as possible the dark and cruel corners of the environment behind the “red carpet” of attracting investment for economic development.
For example, to show the activities of untreated waste discharge, I had to focus on monitoring and observing the time frame (usually at night), talking to the locals so as not to be exposed but still have information. Violating businesses always have "eyes and ears" around, we had to operate in secret. Regarding the photos showing the suffering of the people, not only listening to the reflection but also having to be with the people to feel, and give the most genuine moments" .
After completing the content and photos according to the given "script" , the series of articles was presented by Ms. Thanh Tra in the form of Mega-story (or long-form) - a type of quality journalism in terms of both content and elaborate presentation (including text, images, data, graphics, Infographics), thereby not only helping readers access decent, luxurious articles; but also providing readers with in-depth content with the most complete "information tray" .
Ms. Thanh Tra said that to make this series of articles, she had to discuss a lot with the author and spend a lot of time to do it. “The series of articles uses the sad tones of the color of the soil deeply imprinted by pollution, destroying the living environment, combined with valuable photos of reality that the reporter has painstakingly captured in the journey to find a voice for the green environment that is being destroyed. In addition, the layout of the mega series of articles is to run the text on the background of the vast and majestic scenery of dozens of mountains that have been dug up and destroyed, or the image of large factories with smoke and dust flying everywhere... I repeated it quite a lot so that readers can feel as bare as possible about the reality that the author wants to send to readers,” Ms. Thanh Tra said.
With passion for the profession and a deep concern for the environment, author Vo Manh Hung and his colleagues have created an extremely elaborate work, conveying a great message - it is time for a more sustainable "green revolution" for the future of the Vietnamese people.
Fortunately, right after the series of articles were published on VietnamPlus Online Newspaper, many localities across the country quickly took action to conduct inspections, and on that basis issued a series of decisions to sanction administrative violations in cases of "gutting" resources and "destroying" the environment, while also collecting money for illegal mineral exploitation and requiring businesses to remedy violations. Many petitions and letters of appeal from the people have been and are being resolved by the authorities! Not only that, during the implementation process, with the information provided by reporters, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has also acknowledged and amended the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 (effective from January 1, 2022).
Hoa Giang
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