Real journalists do not take advantage of their reputation to harass the grassroots.

(Baonghean.vn) - Advertising is a legitimate channel for press agencies to increase revenue. Genuine journalists do not take advantage of the name to force the establishment, but this situation still exists among a number of reporters and contributors.

This is an issue of interest and discussion at the regular Press Conference in December 2016 organized by the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications on the morning of December 6.

Comrades Ho Phuc Hop - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department and Nguyen Ba Hao - Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications chaired the conference.

Many representatives of press agencies located in the province attended the Conference.

In November, press agencies proactively organized information and propaganda on typical current events such as the 2nd session of the 14th National Assembly; Provincial People's Council delegates and National Assembly delegates met with voters in localities, etc. The content of current information on political and foreign affairs activities has many innovations. In particular, Nghe An Newspaper and Nghe An Radio and Television Station have invested in propaganda content for localities to implement the Party Congress resolution into life...

In addition, press agencies also reported on activities celebrating major holidays; reflected on socio-economic development results; assessment activities, preparation for preliminary and final reviews of sectors and units; raised vigilance to detect prohibited, counterfeit and poor-quality goods; actively fought against violations of the law; and criticized the implementation of policies and guidelines at the grassroots level.

The comrades chaired the Conference.

However, there are still limitations that need to be overcome in the coming time. For example, some press agencies have some news and articles with inappropriate, sensational or inaccurate headlines. Some press agencies send collaborators to the base but the documents are not sufficient or valid.

"Recently, there have been reports of too many press collaborators going to the grassroots level. In some cases, 1 letter of introduction is used for 2-3 people. Sometimes the letter is crumpled and has been issued for a year. I suggest that leaders of press agencies pay attention to the process of issuing letters of introduction to journalists," the Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications stated.

Journalist Tran Duy Ngoan said that recently the Nghe An Journalists Association has received many complaints from the grassroots about the working style of some journalists from press agencies.

Speaking at the Conference, Mr. Tran Duy Ngoan - Chairman of Nghe An Journalists Association said that in the last months of the year, the Journalists Association received many phone calls reflecting that the facility received many delegations from press agencies based in Nghe An in one day, and calls from magazines in Hanoi, causing inconvenience and wasting time.

“For journalists, I have not heard any negative feedback from the base about their working style, but I have heard a lot about collaborators. I think it is necessary to tighten supervision and management of collaborators in the area to promptly rectify and avoid negative impacts on the image of journalists and the strength of press and media agencies,” journalist Duy Ngoan shared.

It is necessary to strictly handle cases of reporters and correspondents who take advantage of the name of press agencies to harass the grassroots. Photo courtesy of Nghe An Newspaper.

Also on this issue, Mr. Tran Minh Ngoc - Deputy Director of the Provincial Radio and Television Station said that this situation is difficult to end, because this is a legitimate activity of press agencies, especially financially autonomous agencies. According to Mr. Ngoc, the Department of Information and Communications needs to research, develop and issue a document guiding how to contact reporters and collaborators for the base to partly overcome the above situation.

Journalist Thu Huong - Nghe An Labor Newspaper frankly commented: "Making advertisements is not bad, the important thing is how to do it. If you go to the grassroots and write negative articles, threaten and put pressure, then it should be condemned and dealt with, but we cannot generalize all press agencies to do opportunistic advertising."

Journalist Ho Ngan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper, affirmed that a true journalist does not take advantage of the press to coerce the establishment.

Journalist Ho Ngan - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper affirmed that a true journalist does not take advantage of the press to force the establishment. The recent cases of violations and harassment of the establishment are often not in the locality but from other localities, so they need to be clearly handled and brought to the public for warning and deterrence.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, journalist Ly Vinh Sinh - Nghe An Public Security Newspaper said that to solve this problem well, two-way coordination is needed, the governing body must strictly manage collaborators and reporters, and the base must promptly report when noticing unusual signs.

Many other issues were also raised by press representatives during the discussion at the conference, such as the situation of illegal construction, slow issuance of apartment ownership certificates, propaganda on the issue of protecting and developing the Vinh orange brand, etc.

Comrade Ho Phuc Hop concluded the Conference and oriented propaganda work in December.

Concluding the conference, Head of the Propaganda Department Ho Phuc Hop affirmed that increasing revenue through advertising channels for press agencies is a legitimate thing to do, and that healthy advertising activities should be encouraged, based on the two sides accompanying and voluntarily coordinating. However, he pointed out that there is still a phenomenon of reporters and collaborators threatening at the grassroots level, and that press agencies are still limited in managing this issue, and need to learn from experience in managing their reporters and collaborators.

In December, the Head of the Propaganda Department directed to promote the dissemination of the results of the 4th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee and the 2nd session of the 14th Provincial People's Council. It is expected that the hot issues raised for questioning at this session of the Provincial People's Council will include: implementing the new VNEN school model, socialization in schools, licensing and management of construction activities in the area, the risk of social insurance fund bankruptcy, health insurance expenditures, etc.

Other contents that press agencies also need to focus on promoting include: the implementation of Directive 05-CT/TW dated May 15, 2016 of the Politburo; results of the implementation of socio-economic development tasks in 2016, directions and tasks in 2017; events and holidays in December; border demarcation and marker planting, affirming sovereignty over seas and islands, spring crop production in 2017, ensuring traffic safety, etc.

Thu Giang