Major General Doan Xuan Bo, Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper, the red line must be kept at all costs.

Besides persuasive education and advocacy, there must be a mechanism.

+ It is known that the People's Army Newspaper has been implementing many measures in editorial management to continuously improve professionalism as well as train the ethics of cadres and reporters. Among them is a thematic resolution on building the qualities of journalists and soldiers... Could you please share more specifically about this?

- The thematic resolution on building the qualities of journalists and soldiers of the People's Army Newspaper (QĐND) is an idea that was formed and built since last year. We have established an editorial board consisting of the best writers and most capable people to build the thematic resolution as a basis to help the Editorial Board have measures to preserve and promote the qualities of journalists and soldiers.

We think that the People's Army Newspaper is not the newspaper with the most views, not a hot newspaper on the market, so why do readers come to us? Our strength is honesty! Ethical values show honesty in the profession... Therefore, that is the "red line" that the people working at the People's Army Newspaper must maintain at all costs. This is a Resolution that is close to the journalists, so along with the goals and solutions, there must be specific measures on organizational mechanisms, administration, including economics , royalties, remuneration regimes... all must be gradually built in detail.

My point of view is that in addition to persuasive education and appeals, there must be a mechanism. For example, for the past 3 years, we have applied a very effective reward and punishment policy. The policy clearly defines the extent of the violation, the type of violation, and the level of application, and for the past 3 years, everyone has felt that it is necessary. Applying this policy, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief and the Editor-in-Chief have also been punished for being jointly responsible when reporters make professional mistakes.

Major General Doan Xuan, Secretary of the General Staff of the People's Army, said that border must be protected at all costs. — Editor-in-Chief Doan Xuan Bo. Photo: Son Hai

+ How has the "red line" as you shared been materialized in the editorial office's activities, sir?

- Every day in the morning meetings, we talk about ethical issues by discussing very specific, substantive, and straightforward stories, from periods and commas to working style. The LCH Executive Committee regularly organizes activities, disseminates, studies, and raises ethical stories to work together to solve and overcome challenges and difficulties. All cadres, reporters, and editors must strictly comply with and enforce journalistic discipline; closely maintain all stages and steps in the journalism process.

Even in the Special Resolution, we discussed how, every week and every month, the departments must classify reporters and the criteria must also meet all standards, including all factors: quality of work, awareness, style, compliance with regulations. We highly value standards, and in the future, we will continue to do more strictly to preserve the image of Uncle Ho's soldier reporters through many other mechanisms.

+ I think that the Vietnamese Revolutionary Press today has enough capacity to adapt and develop in a volatile and fiercely competitive information world , partly depending on whether the team of journalists and press agencies can maintain their revolutionary nature and cultural qualities or not... For the People's Army Newspaper, is the "red line" as you just emphasized really difficult to implement in the challenging context of the times, sir?

- The issue of ethics in any press agency needs to be taken seriously, especially in the current context. The mainstream press in general and the People's Army Newspaper in particular are able to assert themselves over social networks because of their ethics. Ethics are expressed in honesty and professionalism, which can lead public opinion. Obviously, how can we be as diverse, rich and fast as social networks, so our boundary is to have culture and ethics. This is also very consistent with the qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers.

In the 10 honorary oaths of soldiers, the first oath is to sacrifice everything for the Fatherland Vietnam, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, to strive to realize a peaceful, independent and socialist Vietnam, to actively contribute to the struggle of the world's people for peace, national independence, democracy and socialism... This is the oath of dedication, to sacrifice everything for the Fatherland Vietnam that every soldier, every Uncle Ho soldier knows by heart. Therefore, as a journalist - soldier, one must overcome difficulties, overcome challenges, overcome temptations.

If you feel that journalism is too difficult and too hard and you need to get rich, we will encourage and motivate you to leave the industry. We do not have one foot in the industry and one foot out of the industry, and we resolutely do not support using the agency as a front to get rich. We believe that maintaining seriously and regularly doing those things can increase the work pressure of the staff, reporters, and editors, but it can also prevent and minimize mistakes and limitations in professional activities.

Since I became Editor-in-Chief more than 3 years ago, there have been no serious ethical violations, only a few oversights in reporting that affected the interests of businesses and citizens. We have to clarify everything, protect the right ones, and punish the wrong ones according to regulations...

The fulcrum is also the pressure

+ And what will be the support to stand firm, survive, and hold our heads high… when the pressures of the profession and the image of soldiers in the hearts of the people change from time to time, journalist?

- For us, there are many "supports" , of which the traditional "support" is the most profound and troubling. I keep thinking, in the past, your generations worked much harder than us, suffered hunger, sacrificed, had no means, no economy, only devoted dedication. Compared to the previous generation, our conditions are many times better, so why not be proactive, not work hard, not willing to go on business trips? Thinking about tradition makes our minds clearer, our souls purer and gives us more motivation to contribute. But of course, that is also a huge pressure for us.

At the People's Army Newspaper, everyone is always asking the question: How can we preserve the glorious tradition? The People's Army Newspaper has been awarded the Gold Star Order, the Ho Chi Minh Order by the Party and the State, twice received the title of Heroic Unit and many other noble awards... The pressure is on how to preserve that glorious tradition. In the past, the context was very different from today. Currently, the policy mechanism cannot keep up with the actual development, the needs of readers are diverse, not just one-way listening to enemy or our radio. If we do not have many solutions, it is very easy to lose the glory, the pride, and that invaluable spiritual support...

+ The Editor-in-Chief just mentioned policy mechanisms. Are those also concerns and worries of everyone, for a new journey?

- Regarding our press in general, I see that this period of press economy is very difficult. The State also supports and cares, but there is no specific policy mechanism. Our People's Army Newspaper has the advantage of being subsidized, providing basic guarantees for reporters. But to improve the lives of our brothers is also a difficult problem, mobilizing socialization, saving expenses, being transparent so that our brothers can see that the editorial office is only like that, so that our brothers can sympathize and share... but it cannot continue like that forever.

In terms of general policy mechanisms, I think it is necessary to continue to implement strong and effective planning, because there are still many overlapping and unnecessary newspapers, so we must boldly reduce them. Some units say that the planning is in form a merger, the number of people remains the same, so how can we support our brothers... There needs to be clear planning to avoid overlapping, too many press agencies... will reduce the strength of traditional press. The State must continue to have investment policies, because if the press operates according to market rules, it will be very difficult. We do journalism not just simply propaganda, but propaganda must have direction, information must have education, entertainment must have struggle...

An Vinh (Implementation)

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