Mr. Truong Minh Tuan speaks out about the 'whistleblowing' incidents in the press
Recently, many press agencies have been fined and warned, and some editors-in-chief have been temporarily suspended from their positions due to violations. Regarding this issue, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan discussed with the press that press agencies need to operate in accordance with their principles and purposes; reporters and journalists must uphold journalistic ethics.
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| Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+) |
Regarding the fact that many press agencies were "whistled," Minister Truong Minh Tuan said: In recent times, besides the great and positive contributions of the press to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland, some press agencies have operated against their purposes, a number of journalists have degraded in ethics and have a tendency to "self-evolve," "self-transform," intentionally or unintentionally assist hostile forces against the regime and have some manifestations of violating the law.
It is noteworthy that the press colludes with businesses to provide false information or distorted or edited information to serve unfair competition, distorting the business environment and harming consumers. The false news about fish sauce contaminated with arsenic “above the allowable threshold” is a serious manifestation of this situation.
Regarding this incident, the Prime Minister has directed the relevant agencies to coordinate in investigating and clarifying the violations of relevant organizations and individuals surrounding the survey and publication of information on arsenic-contaminated fish sauce by the Association for Standards and Consumer Protection (Vinastas). After the investigation concludes, the violations will be strictly handled.
The handling will depend on the level of violation after investigation. Colluding to "take money" to provide false information and violating the law will be handled differently; being careless and irresponsible will be handled differently.
The Minister of Information and Communications has pointed out that in the press, if specific mistakes are made due to qualifications or carelessness that do not cause harm to society, they can be corrected and lessons learned. If damages are caused to organizations or individuals to the extent that such damages can be compensated, compensation must be made according to civil law. The leaders of press agencies who make specific mistakes are not yet subject to disciplinary action.
Violations that arise from deliberately deviating from the principles and purposes, causing systematic errors, are another matter. For example, the removal of the headline quoting the National Assembly Chairman “I am disappointed when reading the draft law submitted by the Government.” This headline does not accurately describe the content of the National Assembly Chairman’s statement, causing public opinion to misunderstand the relationship between the National Assembly and the Government.
According to the Minister of Information and Communications, there are times when individual comrades in press leadership and management agencies give advice on whether to report this or not, and that is just a recommendation or reminder. If the recommendation or reminder is seen as rigid and not suitable to real life, the press agency leaders can completely respond and debate to reach the truth.
The Party leads the press, the State manages the press with principles. Those assigned to perform tasks in the press leadership and management agencies are not allowed to arbitrarily direct in the name of the Party and the State. The leadership and management of the press must also be perfected in terms of procedures, and this perfection also needs contributions and criticism from the people and journalists.
Minister Truong Minh Tuan emphasized that in Vietnam, the Party leads the press and the State manages the press. Whether leading or managing, they must comply with the Party's principles and the rule of law. The press is not censored. Party organizations and Party members operating in press agencies must comply with the Party's regulations and not go against the Party's viewpoints, policies, guidelines and directions. The State manages the press by law. Press agencies must be responsible before the law for their activities.
According to the Minister, the Party's orientation is to direct the press to activities that benefit the country and the people, to activities that fight corruption, bureaucracy, and negativity, to improve society, protect nature, protect the environment, promote good and fight evil. That is also the people's will. Therefore, the Party's orientation is to direct the press to the people's will, to prevent the press from violating the law and going against the people's will.
The Party's leadership and the State's management of the press do not prevent freedom of speech, do not prevent multi-dimensional information, and certainly do not destroy the personality, style and talent of journalists./.
According to Vietnamplus
