Pride in journalism

Minh Hang (Thanh Hoa Newspaper reporter): Overcoming the limits of "local journalist"

I don’t know if I am lucky or not to work at a local Party newspaper - something I never thought of when I was in university. Because in my mind, as well as my friends at that time, I always thought that working at a central press agency would give me access to the latest media methods, as well as freedom to be creative, “fly” and be the place with the best conditions to express the critical voice of the press. However, after more than 10 years working at a local Party newspaper, I realized that this was a good environment for me to practice my political mettle and honesty with my pen - the most essential factor in a journalist.

The homeland of Thanh Hoa is changing day by day, and I am always proud to be a small part in the journey of bringing the name of my homeland to the media for thousands of readers, businesses, and investors to know about Thanh Hoa. Over 10 years working at Thanh Hoa Newspaper, I have also witnessed the "spectacular" innovation journey of the newspaper. The printed newspaper has not only added many new and unique publications, with diverse writing styles, beautiful photos, attractive presentations, and received many compliments from readers, but Thanh Hoa e-newspaper has also become timely, responsive, and caught up with the trend of multimedia communication. And in recent years, our reporters have been "in time" to be trained by the editorial office, equipped with many skills to become multimedia reporters. Not only does he work on news quickly and accurately so that the news will be "on" the electronic newspaper as soon as possible, but he also proactively combines new ways of expression to bring life to his work. Accordingly, hot news that is of public interest is mostly published on Thanh Hoa Newspaper earlier than other media, or some central newspapers with permanent offices in Thanh Hoa.

As an economic reporter, I know that this is a difficult, dry and specialized field, requiring basic knowledge of economics and the knowledge conveyed in the article must be understandable to a wide range of readers, and have a certain value. We often share with each other that economic journalists “write and learn at the same time”. When embarking on a new topic, a difficult field, we often do thorough research to exploit many angles of the problem more thoroughly and deeply.

Many of my colleagues often say that the glory that comes to them is not the awards, but the burning passion for the profession. Field trips are always wonderful experiences. Journalism, for each reporter, is not afraid of difficulties, hardships, working with the base to promptly reflect the breath of life, being a bridge to bring the thoughts and aspirations of the people to the Party, the State and vice versa.

Journalism, still known as a cruel profession, a profession of sacrifice. The work does not care about time, maybe when everyone is resting, it is the time for reporters to start writing, sending news and articles to the agency for timely editing and publishing. And then after each article, reporters immediately start exploiting news, articles and planning for the next issue.... However, this "dry field" has trained me to be more careful and meticulous in every word; helping me understand better that behind each article, or a short news, is the effort of the entire editorial office with many people working silently from early morning until late at night... All require carefulness and accuracy, to provide readers with timely news and quality articles.

Minh Hai (reporter of Thanh Nien Newspaper Office, North Central region): Each character, each article is an unforgettable mark of the profession.

Being a journalist is not just about completing a job, but also giving me valuable life experiences through each assignment, each story, each character I come into contact with. After 15 years of journalism, with thousands of works, there are memories that will never be forgotten.

It was 8 years ago, but the time I worked on the case of 3 gold miners suffocating was probably the most memorable in my 15 years of working. Upon receiving the news that 3 gold miners were suffocating in a deep cave on the top of a mountain in Pu Luong Nature Reserve, on the night of June 5, 2016, I and a number of reporters from other press agencies traveled more than 80km from Thanh Hoa City to the mountainous district of Ba Thuoc to be on time for the scene the next morning. I was led by local people and an official of Ba Thuoc district through many forests and cat-eared rocky mountains. And it took more than 4 hours to get from the center of Kit village to Nuoc cave - where the suffocation occurred. When we arrived, it was past noon, the sky began to gather dark clouds, forcing us to work quickly for nearly 1 hour to get down the mountain in time, otherwise when it got dark, we would not know the way out. In less than a day, my colleagues and I had to walk for nearly 9 hours through mountains and forests. During that time, we had no food or rest, only occasional drinks of water to sustain our lives. When we reached the center of Kit village, we were all exhausted and lying on the ground, glad to know that we were still alive.

Another memory is the time I traveled more than 3 hours through the forest and mountains to reach Sa Na village in the border commune of Na Meo (Quan Son district) - where a terrible flash flood occurred on the morning of August 3, 2019, sweeping away 15 people and more than 20 houses. When I arrived, I witnessed the miserable faces of both the elderly and children crying in grief because they lost their loved ones, because all their property had disappeared in an instant, making me unable to hold back my tears. Those cries seemed to tear apart the quiet space of the mountains and forests of the West, and then fell into despair when their loved ones never returned.

There are many sad memories, but also many happy memories during my time as a journalist. For me, the happiness of a journalist is probably the hope that my work can change someone's life. At the end of 2019, I wrote an article calling for support for the case of PTH (in Dinh Thanh commune, Yen Dinh district) with right parotid gland cancer who needed a huge amount of money for urgent surgery. H.'s family situation is extremely difficult, H.'s mother is depressed and not healthy enough to work, H.'s grandfather is over 90 years old and bedridden. After the article, Thanh Nien Newspaper readers donated more than 230 million VND for H. to treat her illness and help her family ease the difficulties. Thanks to the support of readers, H.'s condition has now stabilized and she is a law student about to graduate from a university.

Each character, each journalistic work is a memory for a journalist like me. There are happy memories, there are sad memories, from which I gain more experience in life and work.

Hoang Mai (reporter of Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station): Journalism - a profession of experiences

If someone asked me what I like most about my career, I would immediately say without hesitation that it is the trips. Traveling to promptly grasp information, to propagate about the colorful life on radio and television; traveling to find topics, journalistic materials and to listen to and reflect the thoughts and aspirations of the people. Each trip brings to journalists like me many interesting experiences, helping me to become more mature in my career.

Ever since high school, when I applied to journalism school, my mother said that girls choosing journalism as a career is hard, requires a lot of traveling, must be healthy, and what will happen to their husband, children, and family in the future? At that time, I told my mother, "Journalism is the career I like, I like to travel here and there, and experience a lot about life."

Nearly 13 years working at Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station, this place has become a common home for me to study and practice my writing. Journalism, besides the happy days, besides the trips that bring back full of information, beautiful images about life, homeland, country, there are also many trips that, despite having pre-scheduled appointments, are still refused to work, refused to provide information; reporters encounter people who behave uncultured, do not respect journalists... But most of all, after each trip, reporters like me always find interesting, unique, beautiful things to tell listeners. Journalism is a hard, stressful profession, but journalism also brings me many emotions, pride and glory when being attached to, passionate about the job I love.

As a radio reporter in charge of National Security and Defense, I often have contact with the military, police, and border guards to listen to the stories of the soldiers to better understand the difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices of them in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Among them, the working trips in the mountains have left me with many memories. That was in August 2022, during a working trip to Ta Com village, Trung Ly commune (Muong Lat). To get to the village, we had to travel about 50km from the district center, through Muong Ly commune, then continue to take a boat to cross the Trung Son hydroelectric reservoir a few more kilometers to enter Ta Com village, this is a key area of ​​​​complexity in drugs. Only when we came here, did we feel the danger and complexity of this land, a year before, Major Vi Van Luan, Muong Lat District Police, heroically sacrificed himself in the process of arresting drug criminals. The trip helped my colleagues and I see the hardships and difficulties and admire the silent sacrifices of the officers and soldiers even more. This is the material for me to create quality journalistic works. And the work "The story of camping in Ta Com" won the 2022 provincial Golden Hammer and Sickle C prize.

I still remember the memory, in May 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was complicated, it was also the time when the election of National Assembly deputies and People's Council deputies at all levels for the 2021-2026 term took place. I was assigned by the leader to report live on the radio about the election atmosphere in the centralized quarantine area of ​​Thuong Xuan district. When I received the task, I was also very worried about how to ensure epidemic prevention work while providing information to listeners in the fastest way. Because we worked in the quarantine area, we were not allowed to contact citizens who were in quarantine. In the difficult situation, "ingenuity" emerged, I effectively promoted the advantages of radio to carry out the task: That is, conducting interviews with voters over the phone to reflect their thoughts and aspirations to elected representatives as well as the voters' responsibility in strictly implementing the regulations on COVID-19 prevention in the quarantine area and during the election. Thanks to that, I completed my mission, promptly reporting to listeners about the joy and excitement of voters exercising their civil rights in quarantine areas.

For journalists, the joy and happiness when their brainchildren are well received by listeners and their works have won high prizes in competitions organized by the Central and the province. Most recently, in 2022, I won the Silver Medal at the 15th National Radio Festival with the work "Waking up the dawn"; 3rd Prize in the National Press for the cause of Vietnamese education in 2022 with the work "Companion"; Encouragement Prize in the National Press Award for Party building work in 2023; B and C prizes in the Tran Mai Ninh press in 2021; C prize in the contest "Typical examples of following Uncle Ho's teachings" (on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Uncle Ho's first visit to Thanh Hoa)... These are the rewards and motivations for me to continue to strive, overcome difficulties to keep the flame of passion for the profession.

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tu-hao-nghe-bao-217268.htm