Honoring courage and love for the profession

(Baonghean) -Not afraid of danger, not afraid of hardship and constantly creating are the things that journalists of Nghe An Newspaper have achieved over the past year. And that is even more clearly demonstrated through the 15 award-winning works at the Nghe An Press Awards 2013…

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee awarded Certificates of Merit to the authors who won the 2013 National Press Award.

Let’s start with the work “Journey to find the truth of the evil religion Hoang Thien Long” by the group of authors Nhat Lan - Viet Long, one of the most elaborate works and the work that attracted public attention right after the first issue was published. As a roommate of journalist Viet Long, I still remember that at that time, he did not attend many meetings at the beginning of the week, and his articles were not as regular and frequent as before. Through the little information we knew that “he was pursuing a special topic”.

Later, I learned that to have such a solid work, they had worked tirelessly for 2 months. From the time of implementation, starting to work and even until the newspaper was published and reached the readers, everything was not easy. This was a completely new topic and was considered "sensitive". However, for an experienced journalist like Viet Long (formerly a veteran reporter of Nghe An Police Newspaper), as soon as he heard this information, he determined that this was a painful social issue. Therefore, immediately after receiving the guidance of the Editor-in-Chief, they began to collect documents, gradually infiltrating the Hoang Thien Long organization. Journalist Nhat Lan recounted: At first, to gain people's trust, we had to ask someone to introduce us and use the excuse that our mother was seriously ill to ask for help. At first, when they saw strangers, they were hesitant, but then they saw our sincerity, so they trusted us and step by step, we were able to infiltrate the organization.

The journey following the Hoang Thien Long organization from Nam Dan (Nghe An) to Ung Hoa (Hanoi) and many other locations lasted for many days. And on that "western" stretch, the two authors, playing the role of two people going to take refuge, truthfully recorded the situation of the poor people of Nghe An who, because of their ignorance and belief in illusory things, spent time and money on the Hoang Thien Long cult, but in fact, were exploited by the founders of the cult. However, when the things they "saw and heard" above were most truthfully reflected, it was also the time when the group of authors, the Readers' Office and the Editorial Board of Nghe An Newspaper began to face a lot of pressure. The most obvious were the more than 100 petitions sent by followers of the Hoang Thien Long cult.

In addition, many times, members of the organization have gathered at Nghe An Newspaper to reflect the content of the article. But with the truth, with the heart of the journalist, with well-founded and legal arguments, Nghe An Newspaper has persistently defended the authenticity of the article. Besides, with the participation of government agencies and functional forces, up to now, many people who used to follow Hoang Thien Long have recognized the nature and abandoned this organization. Recently, the Provincial People's Committee coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to organize a Conference to deploy solutions to deal with heresy and also highly appreciated the way Nghe An Newspaper did through the incident of Hoang Thien Long heresy. The work was also highly appreciated and awarded 2nd prize at the Nghe An Press Awards 2014. For the two journalists Nhat Lan and Viet Long, the greatest success of this work, not only stopped at the awards but more importantly, "Through it, it has awakened many people, so that they understand that the activities of this organization violate the law and they are being exploited by their own beliefs".

Not only “The journey to find the truth of Hoang Thien Long”, many works that won the Nghe An Press Award in 2013 of Nghe An Newspaper focused on the interests and rights of the people as the main theme, throughout the works. Readers must not have forgotten the heartbreaking tears of the farmers in Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town, who suddenly lost everything overnight due to flooding in a series of articles about flooding in Hoang Mai town by a group of authors Nguyen Khoa, Hai Thuong, Trieu Duong. It is the image of a women's association member who was "unintentionally" exploited under the guise of the campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods" in a series of articles about "Soy milk business of Rong Vang Company" by authors Minh Quan - My Ha. To have these works, the creators had to think a lot, go into every corner, alley to learn, reflect the thoughts and aspirations of the people. At the same time, there were also hardships and difficulties in the process of working. Author Nguyen Khoa has not forgotten the memory of working in the flooded area in Hoang Mai, a whole day and a night following the flood water, he did not have a minute to sleep, did not have time to eat. He was only worried that the information he reported late would affect the rights of the people and the relief process...

This year's awards also recognized many innovations of Nghe An Newspaper, especially in the field of electronic newspapers and video clips. The Third Prize with the work "Truong Bon - Day of Return" by author Dao Tuan is also an unforgettable memory. It is unbelievable that three episodes of Truong Bon with many vivid images, with artistic lighting effects and with emotions, voices, and very real presentations were built from extremely limited working conditions. The political section with articles on "Developing Party members in rural and mountainous ethnic minority areas" (author Thanh Le), "Implementing the project to rearrange the Party's grassroots organization" (author Tran Hong Co) is also an advantage of Nghe An Party Newspaper. Especially after many years, a work on the field of social culture: "Nghe An Tourism: Advantages and disadvantages" (author Thanh Thuy) was also recognized with a consolation prize. This success also shows that 2013 - 2014 is a very exciting year for the journalists of Nghe An Newspaper. And with passion, enthusiasm, and love for the job, we will continue to try, continue to strive, first of all for the readers who have trusted, loved and been attached to the newspaper for more than half a decade...

Song Hoang