Vietnam - Journalists bemoan obstruction in news investigations

The vast majority of Vietnamese journalists have had to cope with deliberate obstruction when trying to cover news stories, according to a recent survey.

Nearly 88% of surveyed reporters and journalists said they had faced obstacles when trying to cover news stories, the survey showed.

The survey results were released at a seminar on the issue on February 14 in the central coastal city of Danang.

The British Embassy funded survey conducted by the Centre for Research on Development Communication (RED) interviewed 384 reporters and journalists across the country.

According to the survey, major obstacles faced by journalists included a lack of information provided, incompetence or deliberate obstruction, offering bribes, seizures of their equipment, threats and assault.

Some of the problems were attributed to journalists making mistakes, primarily due to a lack of experience, poor research work and lack of seriousness in pursuing stories.

Over 55% of the surveyed people admitted to their lack of experience.

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Almost all 22 surveyed reporters and journalists in Danang said they had been deliberately blocked when trying to find out information for their stories, a majority of which were state officials.

In order to improve the situation, journalist Ba Kien from Tien Phong Newspaper and journalist Nguyen The Tinh from Thanh Nien newspaper proposed that municipal government and local agencies should consider employing press officers and issue press releases.

The city’s Department of Information and Communication pledged to take measures to deal with the problems in a bid to support the press in their work.

Khanh Hien – Cong Binh | dtinews.vn

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