Only take a day off on Saturday
One of the young journalists of that generation is Đức Tuân, Nhật Anh, Quảng Hà, Mỹ Hằng, Tri Thức, and I, born between 1970 and 1974. Đức Tuân and Mỹ Hằng were international reporters, Nhật Anh and Quảng Hà were economic reporters, while the rest of us worked in different specialized departments.
At that time, the Lao Động Newspaper only published 3 issues per week, with one day for the main content and one day for the cover. The newspaper went to work from Saturday to Friday, with Saturday off. The initial confusion of the young group of journalists like us was shared and helped by our seniors and colleagues at 51. From finding and discovering topics to presenting them, we could ask anyone in the office and receive thoughtful guidance.
We always looked forward to the day the newspaper was published. Holding the newspaper with the smell of ink, each of us would open our department's page to see if our articles were published. The first published articles made us so happy that some of us even jumped up. At that time, we were not yet burdened with family responsibilities, so we often stayed at the newspaper office late after working hours to discuss and analyze the articles and news together. The evening stories at the snack shop on Hang Bồ Street were not just about eating and playing, but also about planning where to go for interviews and what to write about the next week.
What we still remember to this day, perhaps like any other journalist of the 7X generation, is that when writing about major topics, we always received support and help from our seniors and colleagues who were experienced in the profession. Every Monday morning, the meeting at the second-floor conference room would bring a mix of excitement and nervousness. We were excited if any of our articles or news were praised, and nervous if we made any mistakes, which would be discussed and criticized during the meeting. However, it was during these meetings that we learned valuable lessons about our profession.
There were days when Hanoi was heavily raining, and trees were falling. We received a suggestion to go to the Hoan Kiem area to take pictures of a large tree that had fallen. My colleague Mỹ Hằng and I loaded the film into our camera and went together. When we arrived, we saw a large tree that had fallen, and we drove our motorbikes onto the sidewalk to take pictures. After taking the pictures, we went to develop them - at that time, after taking pictures, we would cut the film, develop it, and bring the developed pictures and our written articles to the office. Two of my colleagues were happy because they had completed their task, but they were stopped by the traffic police for violating the rule of not driving on the sidewalk. My colleague and I explained the situation, but we were still at fault. What we found both scary and funny was that the traffic police threatened to take our pictures and post them on the wanted list, along with those who were notorious for... public urination.
After that, one of us had to stay at the traffic police station, while the other one went back to the office to ask for help from our seniors. What we found amusing was that when we submitted our article and pictures of the fallen tree, the office secretary calculated that the cost of the film was 38,000 VND, and the cost of developing the pictures was 52,000 VND. Normally, experienced journalists would only take 2-3 pictures, but we took the entire roll of film and developed all the pictures to choose the best ones to submit to the office. Although the payment was not enough to cover our expenses, we did not complain because we learned two valuable lessons: how to take pictures efficiently and the importance of following rules, even as professionals.
At that time, all articles were written by hand and submitted to our superiors. Our superiors would review, edit, and layout the articles, and then send them to the typing department. After that, the articles would be edited and processed by the editorial department, and then sent to the design department. Next, the layout department would arrange the articles, and then send them to the morasse department, followed by the montage department (which was jokingly called the "fat and lazy" department), and finally, the proofreading department would review the final version before sending it to the printing house. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, the newspaper production process has become much faster and more efficient. However, I am sure that anyone who worked at the Lao Động Newspaper during that time will never forget the late nights when our families had already gone to bed, but we were still working hard to prepare the newspaper for printing.
Play anytime
The small room on the third floor, next to the Editor-in-Chief's office, was equipped with a TV with an antenna to receive international TV channels, which was used by the international department to gather news and articles. On our days off, we would sometimes rent a movie and watch it in that room, using the VCR. We would often get so engrossed in the movie that we would forget to eat lunch. It was during those afternoons that we first saw international news programs, which inspired us to learn foreign languages to improve our work.
In 1998, the office decided to produce a special edition of France 98 for the World Cup. Due to the time difference, our team worked late into the night to produce the special edition. Another team worked during the day to collect and process the predictions from readers. After the World Cup, our team was given a break to go on a trip, which was a memorable experience for us, like we had finally grown up.
The first day we stepped into the 51 building was also the first day we started our careers as journalists. During those months, we were lucky to work and live in a reputable and prestigious newspaper, where we received guidance and support from our seniors and colleagues, and where we learned and grew through our hard work. Today, many of us from the 7X generation are no longer working at the Lao Động Newspaper, but we hold important positions in other media organizations. Whenever we meet, we always share stories about our early days as journalists, which were filled with warmth, love, and support under the roof of 51, which helped us become the successful professionals we are today.
