From handwritten news to digital transformation
Throughout 97 years of formation and development, Lao Dong Newspaper has always been present throughout the country. With Ca Mau - a land once considered the most remote and isolated in the country - those who work for Lao Dong Newspaper still persistently stick to the area, reflecting the breath of life and accompanying the development of the locality.
After the Labor Newspaper Office in the Mekong Delta region was established, a network of collaborators in the provinces was quickly built to strengthen information from the grassroots level. I became a collaborator of the newspaper in a period when working conditions were still difficult, when I was still a reporter for Bac Lieu Newspaper.
At that time, the draft was mainly handwritten and sent by post. For information that needed to be transferred urgently, reporters had to bring the draft to the post office for fax to the office. The cost of each fax page was about 4,000 VND, equivalent to the price of a bowl of pho at that time, so collaborators often meticulously wrote very small, taking advantage of each space on paper to write many messages to send at once to reduce costs.
A memorable milestone was when the late journalist Le Thanh Nguyen, Head of the Office of Lao Dong Newspaper - Mekong Delta region, advocated equipping collaborators with network-connected computers. Just a few days after the phone call asking for needs, a desktop computer was delivered from Can Tho to their homes for installation without having to pay any expenses in advance. The value of the machine at that time was equivalent to one tael of gold, and the expenses were gradually deducted from monthly royalties.
That is very special in the context that even many local press agencies are not equipped with computers to serve operations. Thanks to this equipment, sending news and articles is faster and more convenient, opening up a much more modern journalism method than before.
Looking back at that journey, we see that Lao Dong Newspaper had early access to technology and innovated journalism methods very early, before the concept of digital transformation became as popular as it is today.
Also from the predestined relationship with the newspaper, in 2007, I officially became a reporter for Lao Dong Newspaper.
Accompanying the major policies of Ca Mau
Not only innovating working methods, Lao Dong Newspaper persistently pursues many major issues of Ca Mau, contributing to creating a forum for development policies to come into life.
As a locality with 3 sides bordering the sea, Ca Mau has faced serious landslides for many years. Landslide points are often located in deep areas, coastal areas, where people live in fear of losing land and houses. Reporters of Lao Dong Newspaper are present in time at hot spots, implementing series of articles such as: "Runaway hamlets", "WORRY about landslide season", "Sea eats land", "Anxious landslide season"... reflecting the reality and difficulties of the people.
At a time when the locality is looking for solutions to prevent landslides, Lao Dong Newspaper is one of the press agencies that early informed and analyzed the prestressed centrifugal embankment technology combined with mudslide formation. Although there were still many opposing opinions at that time, objective information in the newspaper contributed a scientific voice to the discussion process, and then this solution was gradually deployed widely, promoting its effectiveness in many coastal areas of Ca Mau.
Another highlight is the process of reflecting the crop restructuring in the U Minh Ha forest area. When the policy of replacing a part of the area of low-yield melaleuca trees with acacia hybrid trees was proposed, public opinion appeared with many controversies. Lao Dong Newspaper not only reflected multi-dimensional opinions but also delved into analyzing economic efficiency, inadequacies in forest land management, contracting and forestry production.
Many series of investigative articles such as "Farming and collecting fees at U Minh Ha", "Not allowing farmers to apply for director positions", "Strange taxes at U Minh Ha"... have contributed to clarifying the shortcomings in forest management, and at the same time created a forum for functional agencies to consider and adjust policies. To date, acacia hybrid has become one of the key crops of the production forest area, contributing to increasing income for people, while the management and allocation of forest land has gradually become disciplined.
From a land once called "the end of the Fatherland", Ca Mau today has become the southernmost point of the country with an increasingly renewed appearance. On that journey, Lao Dong Newspaper is always present with articles closely following reality, reflecting people's thoughts, accompanying the government to remove difficulties, and spreading effective development models.
That is also the way the people of Lao Dong Newspaper have been and are contributing to fulfilling the mission of serving readers, accompanying the development of the southernmost land of the Fatherland for nearly a century.
