Press in corruption combat: Fighting goes along with building

In the country’s common achievements in preventing and combating corruption as well as building and rectifying the Party and political system, there are important contributions from media agencies and journalists who have worked hard to overcome difficulties and temptation so as to keep their pens on the right direction.

In his speech at the national conference held on June 30, 2022, to review the 10 years of implementing the anti-corruption scheme, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is head of the Central Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Corruption and Negative Phenomena, affirmed that media agencies have shown active engagement in the work, accompanying with the Party, State, and authorised agencies in the fight.

A report released at the 25th meeting of the steering committee in February this year showed that in 2023, media agencies posed more than 27,000 news and articles on the topic, up 2.5 times than the figure in 2022, creating strong social consensus and promoting support from officials, Party member and people to the work.

Many reporters have braved dangers to bring to light many negative cases, providing investigation agencies with evidence of acts of corruption, bribery, economic regulation violations, and abuse of power.

Not all-rosy picture

Also at the national conference, Party leader Trong reminded the press to avoid spreading one-sided and inaccurate information, and not to just focus on “fighting” but pay greater attention to “building”.

He pointed out that the society, through the reflection of many newspapers, seems to be all grey or full of trivial things with only few good things and good people.

Speaking at the 3rd Congress of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) on September 8, 1962, President Ho Chi Minh underlined that reporters with personalism only write to earn reputation but do not understand that doing anything useful for the people and the revolution means glorious.

Amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution with a boom of technology, reporters now have to compete with not only each other but also “community reporters” who just need a smart phone to spread news. Facing a fear of being late and a lack of experience, many reporters have spread news without verification.

Meanwhile, a number of journalists fail to overcome material temptation, bending their pens and joined interest groups.

Their actions go against Article 8 in the Code of Professional Ethics for Journalists adopted during the sixth Congress of the VJA in March 1995, which determines that journalists must always maintain pure quality and not seek self-profits, absolutely not intentionally publishing or omitting information for personal gains, and not using their reputation for that purpose.

“Self-evolution” and “self-transformation” have occurred among a number of reporters who abuse anti-corruption activities to harm the Party, and people’s cause of national construction and defence. Some even used the pen to serve their personal political ambitions and put them above national interests.

Right at the second Congress of the VJA in 1959, President Ho Chi Minh stressed the need for journalists, especially press officials, to maintain firm political stance and put the interests of the nation and the people above all.

The 2018 Law on Corruption Prevention and Control states in its Article 75 that press agencies and journalists have the responsibility to fight corruption, spread news about corruption cases and anti-corruption activities, and must be objective and truthful, and comply with journalism laws and professional ethics when reporting news about corruption cases and anti-corruption activities.

Nguyen Dinh Chieu (1822-1888), a famous poet of Vietnam in the 19th century, wrote: “A boat never sinks no matter how much morality it carries/ A pen never gets blunt no matter how many sinners it attacks.”

The pens in literature and journalism always go along with the boat of morality, meaning that fighting efforts must go with building endeavours. To fight evil is to build good!

TB (according to VNA)