Ethics, courage and social responsibility of journalists today

Journalism is a special profession, no matter where and at what stage, the intelligence and personal emotions of journalists are still extremely important factors. In the digital age and the strong socio-economic development today, which are posing great challenges and temptations, focusing on cultivating ethics, training fortitude with a pure heart, and demonstrating good social responsibility of journalists becomes more important and necessary.

Honesty, objectivity, respect for copyright

Every profession values ​​ethics and journalism is no exception. Journalism ethics can be seen as the eye that reflects the heart of a journalist. The Press Law 2016 stipulates that journalists have the right to exploit, provide and use information in journalistic activities according to the provisions of law.

Accordingly, the right to exploit information of journalists is understood as the right to discover, research, survey, investigate, and collect information sources. The right to provide and use information is the right to publish and present to the public the information content that journalists exploit to achieve certain goals. With such professional characteristics, journalists are the ones who create public opinion and guide public opinion.

Uncle Ho is the great teacher of Vietnam's revolutionary journalism. (Painting of Uncle Ho reading Quang Ninh Newspaper by artist Nguyen Hoang)

Therefore, the purity of mind and professional ethics of each journalist are extremely important. Reflecting on Uncle Ho's teachings, the first and most important virtue for each journalist is honesty. He taught: "If you don't know clearly, don't understand clearly, don't say, don't write. When you have nothing to say, nothing to write, don't say, don't write nonsense" and "If you haven't investigated, haven't researched, haven't known clearly, don't say, don't write".

Honesty, objectivity, and respect for the truth are mandatory criteria for every journalistic work. Quang Ninh is a province with a vibrant press environment, along with the Provincial Media Center (which brings together all four types of press: Radio, Television, Electronic and Print Newspapers of the province), there are also 54 Central and local press agencies with representative offices and resident reporters in the province, with the number of reporters and journalists working regularly reaching hundreds of people.

In recent times, journalists in Quang Ninh have devoted themselves, with high awareness and responsibility for their profession, to vividly and truthfully reflect all aspects of political , economic, cultural, social, security and defense life of the locality. Unfortunately, in recent years, some journalists have not been able to control themselves, violated professional ethics, leading to violations that must be handled according to the law. This is a warning, a lesson that every journalist needs to seriously review, reflect on, and learn from for their future work.

Sharing at the seminar "Quang Ninh journalists learn and follow Ho Chi Minh's journalism style in the new era" held last May, former Chairman of the Provincial Journalists Association Nguyen Chi Thiet affirmed: Uncle Ho taught that journalism is politics, without ethics, one cannot participate in journalism activities. Journalism has many temptations, journalists must first have self-respect, and with self-respect, one cannot allow oneself to do what is not allowed...

Journalists of the Provincial Media Center researched and discussed the works of previous generations in Quang Ninh newspaper.

Journalists today have entered the digital age with strong developments in content, form and transmission methods, bringing rich and diverse sources of information to the public. Technology opens up opportunities, but on the contrary, the issue of maintaining professional ethics of journalists has new challenges. Talking about this, Member of the Provincial Journalists Association, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Thanh Tung analyzed: The explosion of the Internet and social networks has posed many challenges, especially the issue of protecting copyright of journalistic works and maintaining professional ethics. Sharing and reusing images, videos and information between reporters, between platforms and between newspapers and social networks is increasingly popular, leading to the risk of violating content copyright, whether intentionally or unintentionally. At the same time, the issue of professional ethics also needs to be taken seriously, as the line between "spreading information" and "inappropriate quoting" is becoming more fragile than ever.

Thus, the professional ethics of journalists now do not only stop at reporting truthfully and objectively, but also include respecting intellectual property rights and not infringing on the copyrights of others. In my opinion, to do this requires not only the responsibility of press agencies, but more importantly, each journalist needs to raise their sense of responsibility and strictly comply with regulations on copyright and professional ethics.

Show the qualities of a journalist

Quang Ninh is a province with a fast pace of economic and social development, so there are many conflicting issues and conflicts arising in various fields. Reflecting on these issues is a challenge for many reporters, requiring skills, experience and high caution when working.

Reporter of the Provincial Media Center on a working trip at Bai Tu Long National Park.

Talking about the process of writing articles related to the conflicts between residents and the Lideco Ha Long apartment building management board in 2022, journalist Hoang Nga (Current Affairs Department, Provincial Communication Center) recalled: At that time, the conflict between the two sides had lasted for a long time, reaching its peak. People had filed many lawsuits to the Provincial People's Committee and Ha Long City, they even hung up banners and protest signs, the apartment building management board cut off water and electricity to residents... Residents were upset, the management board did not contact, made it difficult, even wrote a lawsuit against reporters, so it was very difficult to approach and find information. We had to go back and forth many times, meet many people, collect a lot of evidence, then review and compare policies with relevant agencies to thoroughly find each issue. Thereby, we came to the conclusion that the apartment building management board had many violations, through articles asking the government to intervene to handle it, ensuring the legitimate rights of residents.

On the way of working, just like journalist Hoang Nga, journalists certainly have encountered and will encounter countless different events and situations, including multi-dimensional and complex issues, requiring hard work to learn and practice to accumulate knowledge, experience, and hone their professional skills. Over the years, Quang Ninh journalists have always struggled, researched, and gone through many difficulties to bring to the public many articles and reports on thorny, conflicting issues that are prone to negative reactions from those being reported, such as violations in food business, production causing environmental pollution, not ensuring labor safety, etc.

Talking about the mettle of journalists, former Chairman of the Provincial Journalists Association Nguyen Chi Thiet analyzed: Journalists need to have political mettle and professional mettle to avoid deviation in their career orientation. Journalism requires high autonomy, self-operation, self-study and self-responsibility in their work. You write articles, your viewpoints, and the details, you yourself must take responsibility and cannot rely on anyone else. Therefore, journalists need to study and practice regularly to gain a comprehensive knowledge base, so that in addition to professional knowledge, they must grasp and understand all social fields to a certain extent. Life always has many changes, each time is different, if you do not practice and study regularly, you will surely be eliminated...

Shouldering social responsibility

Up to now, nearly a year has passed since the 3rd storm of 2024 made landfall, causing heavy damage to Quang Ninh. At that time, journalists stationed in the province were present on all front lines, vividly and truthfully reflecting the terrible devastation in the places the storm swept through. In Quang Ninh, perhaps the forests and seas suffered the most damage. For those who live off the forests and "throw money" into the sea, seeing their properties devastated is a heartache that cannot be fully expressed in words...

Mr. Nguyen Sy Binh (front) - a fisherman mentioned in the work "Sea Life", has made efforts to stabilize production and aquaculture after storm No. 3 in 2024.

Therefore, journalists have had many works reflecting and sharing with people working at sea after the storm. Among them, the reportage "Sea Life" by journalist Viet Hoa (Special Topics Department, Provincial Media Center) and colleagues was awarded the Silver Medal at the 2025 National Television Festival. Talking about this work, journalist Viet Hoa shared: The character in "Sea Life" is just a representative of people working at sea in Quang Ninh, not even necessarily the one who suffered the most damage. The most common thing about them is living with the sea and accepting natural disasters and losses like gambling with the sea, it is very painful but still trying to overcome, still clinging to the sea without leaving, not giving up... Attached to the agricultural sector, we have made efforts to propagate promptly, accurately the situation, as well as the thoughts and feelings of people after the storm. When published, the work also contributed a voice to the current policy shortcomings and, more importantly, expressed sympathy, understanding, and sharing with farmers in such a great natural disaster...

Before the storm No. 3 in 2024 - the biggest storm in the past 30 years - hit the East Sea, Quang Ninh was also heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. And journalists here did not hesitate to rush into the epidemic area, using the voice of the media to comprehensively reflect the policies and guidelines of the Party, the State, and the province, spreading meaningful work in the epidemic center; at the same time, refuting incorrect information and fake news that caused public confusion, contributing to strengthening people's trust.

Reporters from the Provincial Media Center work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only showing responsibility in natural disasters and epidemics when survival is urgent, social responsibility is always the ethical foundation of journalists in general, and Quang Ninh journalists in particular. That responsibility is not only to reflect on negative and contradictory issues, but also to highlight examples of good people, good deeds, noble and praiseworthy actions. Talking about the social responsibility of journalists, President Ho Chi Minh required that journalists, in all cases of praise and criticism, must have pure and objective motives, and cannot write articles for personal, selfish, or profit-seeking purposes. Thus, a responsible journalist, no matter what content they reflect, needs to have a deep awareness of the impact of each piece of information they convey, truthfully reflect social life, propagate the Party's policies and the State's policies, and arouse good values ​​in the community...

Nowadays, the development of information technology and social networks has profoundly changed the way journalism operates, while posing many great challenges for journalists in fulfilling their social responsibilities. As Dr. Phan Thi Hue, Vice Principal of Ha Long University, said at the seminar "Quang Ninh journalists learn and follow Ho Chi Minh's journalism style in the new era", although technology has developed, it cannot completely replace journalists. Because technology does not have a heart, ideals, goals, ethical values, or social responsibility. And when journalists master technology, digital journalism solutions are integrated into their journalistic works, the spread, appeal, and reliability are very high. Journalist Bui Tien Cuong, Head of VOV Northeast Reporters, affirmed: Regardless of type, regardless of geography, as long as the heart of journalists is always towards the people, journalism will always be a powerful tool of truth and trust...

Ngoc Mai

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/dao-duc-ban-linh-va-trach-nhiem-xa-hoi-cua-nguoi-lam-bao-hom-nay-3361399.html