Vietnam’s journalists encouraged to stay on-message

Everywhere, they are followed. At home, in restaurants and on the streets, they are watched. For underground bloggers in Vietnam, state pressure is not only applied online.

Secret agents track potentially dangerous journalists as they move around their respective cities, and frequently subject them to lengthy interrogations and periods of illegal imprisonment, says Shawn Crispin, the Committee to Protect Journalists' senior south-east Asia representative.

Recent attacks by uniformed officials mark a shift to new tactics of repression against the underground Vietnamese press, he says. “Violent acts [against bloggers] are made to seem random, as if they’re carried out by street thugs. There is a sense that the pressure is as high as ever but not as overtly visible. This is a conscious move by the state to assuage fears as it tries to engage more with the West for its own geostrategic interests.”

But Vietnam’s legislative crackdown on bloggers has shown no sign of easing, despite this shift. Last year’s introduction of Decree 72, referred to as “the harshest offensive against freedom of information” since 2011 by Reporters Without Borders, effectively banned blogs and social media users from sharing news articles, though it has proved impossible to enforce.

Other legislation commonly invoked against bloggers includes Article 88, banning “propaganda against the state”; Article 79, prohibiting “subversion of the administration”; and Article 258, used to prosecute those believed to be using press freedom to “infringe upon the interests of the state”.

Writers targeted

Most Vietnamese writers and broadcasters targeted by the government work outside of the state-run media. “There are mechanisms to control journalists in state-run newsrooms,” says Geoffrey Cain, a Fulbright scholar formerly based in Vietnam. “[The Communist Party] can make sure they’re fired, take away their party credentials, demote them, or send them to a new position they don’t want.”

Foreign journalists are tightly controlled. To obtain the required press visa, a detailed working schedule, complete with interview questions and the names of interviewees, needs to be provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at least 10 days ahead of arrival. A ministry-assigned fixer is then assigned to shadow and “provide assistance” for the duration of their trip.

But the rise of social media has provided new platforms for Vietnam-based activists and independent journalists, platforms that have the capacity to fundamentally alter Vietnam’s power dynamics as its internet penetration rate grows. Images and reports shut out by traditional media are shared and commented on by an increasingly plugged-in Vietnamese audience. When freelance journalist Truong Minh Duc was reportedly assaulted by undercover police in September, photos of his injuries went viral hours after posting on Facebook.

Blogs hosted overseas also provide a platform for exposure and criticism of state and police abuses. Dân Làm Báo is just one of these. According to Crispin, it gets its leaked information from state officials-turned-whistleblowers as well as its Vietnam-based correspondents. “Because it’s become so popular, state actors can’t ignore it and some choose to engage with it rather than repress it outright.”

The threat posed by this kind of subversive online media was first recognised in 2008, when several nationalist bloggers instrumental in organising demonstrations over the perceived inadequacy of the government's response to China's control of Vietnamese-claimed islands in the South China Sea were convicted of anti-state charges.

The increasingly important role played by independent online media has put pressure on traditional media outlets. While all Vietnamese newspapers and broadcasting stations are still owned by the party and subject to its control, formerly taboo issues such as low-level corruption and economic equality are more or less openly discussed in southern papers such as Thanh Niên and Tuoi Tre.

The point is laboured by a journalist working with one of the southern newspapers, who spoke under condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job.

“The state media here reports pretty much everything,” he says. “There are some very capable reporters who are willing to be criticised and published under their own name.” For many foreign correspondents, state media is their only window into more controversial stories, he says.

But criticism of government policy and leaders, as well as anti-China commentary, remain in the no-go zone for official media outlets.

Editors are often high-level party members, and hold regular meetings with officials from the Central Propaganda and Education Committee to discuss editorial guidelines. The party also has security agents, or “spies”, in every newsroom, Cain says.

“Journalists I spoke to would say things to me informally that suggested they were disappointed with the government,” he says. “Even in newsrooms that were state-controlled, where everyone was a party member, it was an open secret that people were often opposed to government policies.”

“For people in the West, the incentive is to write controversial stories that will get read a lot and possibly lead to a better-paying job,” my contact in one of the southern papers says. “That incentive doesn’t exist here. Culturally as well, people will think you’re a reactionary if you step out of line.”

While it was perceived to be a good job in the 2000s, “a lot of reporters are now leaving to open restaurants and shops,” he says. “A lot of people in Vietnam are doing that now. Everyone’s just looking to find new ways to make money.”

This article was supported by a grant from the Simon Cumbers Media Fund Student Scheme