by Thu Vân “Your pens are the sharp weapons in the cause of telling the truth…” Thus began a letter that President Ho Chi Minh wrote to intellectuals and journalists in the southern part of the country on May 25, 1947. He also said in the same letter that “journalists should act like brave soldiers in the revolution to gain back unity and independence for the country.” One cannot imagine loftier ideals for this profession. Today, the lofty ideals may remain, but there are times I feel these are gathering dust in the shelves of our memory as the profession goes through one existential crisis after another. More than seven decades after President Hồ Chí Minh wrote the famous letter, it is fair to say journalism has gone through many changes, all over the world. Today, the profession is wedded, one could even say welded, to technology and business, and this creates a host of challenges in terms of the profession succeeding in the market place, in capturing the readers’ or viewers’ interest, and most importantly, in retaining credibility. While these challenges are true of all countries in the world, they take on particular characteristics in Việt Nam. It was not so long ago that the newspaper was the only media with a ubiquitous presence in the country. Wherever we looked, we could see someone reading a newspaper. Sitting in a street café, standing at free newsstands – glass cases on pavements wherein newspapers were spread out for the general… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply