Solution to "treat" the problem of avoiding providing information to the press

"Journalists and press agencies need to immediately use press tools to fight against manifestations of restricting the press's right to access information," Secretary General of the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper Nguyen Duc Hien emphasized.

The current situation and solutions to overcome the problem of avoiding providing information to the press were among the hottest topics at the scientific workshop "Citizens' right to access information and press freedom" organized by the MEC Center for Community Education and Communication in coordination with the Hoa Binh Province Journalists Association on the morning of February 25 in Hanoi.

Overview of the workshop. Photo: BM

Taking advantage of the spokesperson's status to avoid

According to journalist Nguyen Duc Hien, General Secretary of the HCM City Law Newspaper, the situation of journalists being denied access to information by state agencies is still a common occurrence. One of the main reasons is that the spokesperson status is being exploited to avoid responsibility for providing information.

"The spokesperson regulations were originally intended to promote accountability of state agencies to the press, but have been unintentionally turned into a barrier to refusing to provide information by many entities. If in the past, journalists could find information from many departments, divisions, and offices within an agency, now there is only one contact point: the spokesperson and/or the agency's leader. Therefore, information is often provided late, because the spokesperson must always ask for approval before providing information to the press. In many cases, avoidance is made by making excuses that the spokesperson is on a business trip or is sick," journalist Duc Hien analyzed.

Sharing more information about the current situation of "avoiding" providing information, journalist Ha Duc Nam, Permanent Vice President of the Hoa Binh Provincial Journalists Association, cited the research results of the RED Center for Communication and Development, which showed that over 80% of journalists out of a total of 384 journalists who responded to the survey said they had encountered obstacles at levels ranging from low to high, from avoiding providing information to threats and revenge...

The situation of avoiding providing information to the press has led to many consequences. Most notably, the delay in explaining information has "given way" to bad-faith information, inaccurate outside information and unfavorable speculation.

"If state agencies are "slow" and do not truly understand the meaning of the phrase "proactively providing information", in some specific cases, if they do not proactively provide timely information to the press and media, it can lead to an information crisis with unpredictable consequences," Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Head of the Press and Publishing Department, Central Propaganda Department, emphasized.

Failure to proactively provide timely information to the press and media could lead to an information crisis with unpredictable consequences. Illustration photo. Source: Internet.

Director Nguyen Van Hung also noted that information on social networks in some cases has overwhelmed information from official press agencies, sometimes still having a certain reliability. It is possible to mention information that has received public attention recently such as: The death of the Turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake; Personnel results of the 12th National Party Congress... These events once again show that proactively providing information to the press must become a mandatory principle for all state agencies.

What are the solutions to reduce information avoidance?

A solution to overcome the current situation of avoiding providing information to the press has been highly appreciated by journalist Nguyen Duc Hien. That is, journalists and press agencies need to immediately use press tools to fight against manifestations of restricting the press's right to access information.

Commenting that in reality, the press has not yet vigorously fought for its right to access information, journalist Nguyen Duc Hien cited a typical positive but still isolated case, that of journalist Tran Vu, Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper.

On December 17, 2015, the Department of Information and Communications of Ca Mau received a petition from journalist Tran Vu requesting to handle a person with the function and authority to provide information but did not provide information to the press. According to Tran Vu's petition, he had received a complaint from the people related to the traffic project in Dam Doi district (some contractors had sent a complaint to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dam Doi district for signs of violating the Law on Bidding and Bidding Arrangement). The purpose of Tran Vu's contact with the district leaders was to clarify the complaints of the contractors, but the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dam Doi district did not cooperate. Since December 5, Tran Vu has contacted the Office of the People's Committee of Dam Doi district and was promised to arrange a schedule to provide information and answer interviews. After 3 reminders, with 12 days of waiting, journalist Tran Vu has not received a response. Deputy Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Dam Doi district Le Tan Phat said the reason was that the leaders were busy with meetings and did not have time. And journalist Tran Vu has filed a petition to request the handling of the person with the function and authority to provide information of Dam Doi District People's Committee.

After receiving the above petition, journalist Tran Vu was received by the Chairman of Dam Doi District People's Committee and enthusiastically provided with information.

However, cases like journalist Tran Vu are still very rare in reality. Partly because "not all journalists have the time and ability to file complaints and lawsuits due to delayed information provision or refusal to provide information", journalist Nguyen Duc Hien explained.

According to Infonet