Vietnam's media restructuring will lead to more propaganda, critics warn

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — 

Critics pass that Vietnam's ongoing propulsion to restructure the country's media volition let authorities to person tighter power implicit quality outlets and much efficaciously dispersed propaganda.

The media restructuring started successful 2019 erstwhile erstwhile Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed the “National Press Development and Management Planning until 2025” policy. According to the plan, 180 property organizations volition beryllium unopen down, and 8,000 reporters and editors volition suffer their jobs.

Phil Robertson, manager of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, told VOA the media restructuring has go much terrible nether General Secretary To Lam, who took implicit arsenic person of the Communist Party aft the July 2024 decease of his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong.

"There's small uncertainty that this alleged ‘reform’ volition effect successful the Vietnamese radical getting adjacent little existent news,” Robertson wrote successful an email. “This is precisely the way 1 expects an authoritarian similar To Lam to take, doubling down connected authorities power of what the radical perceive and see."

To Lam’s broader ambitions for authorities betterment see consolidating 14 ministries into seven. Under the government’s plan, dubbed Resolution 18, each ministry volition beryllium allowed to person 1 authoritative quality publication, further cutting the fig of quality outlets successful the country. The determination could chopped the fig of quality outlets successful half, immoderate analysts say.

The authorities plans to ore resources into six nationalist media conglomerates. The six outlets see Nhan Dan — the paper of the Communist Party — arsenic good arsenic the outlets of the Defense Ministry and Public Security Ministry.

Vietnam Television volition go the sole nationalist tv channel, absorbing smaller broadcasters. On Jan. 15, broadcasts for 13 channels operating nether Vietnam Multimedia Corporation, oregon VTC, ended, on with Voice of Vietnam TV and Nhan Dan TV. VTC was the country’s second-most-popular tv broadcaster and had been operating for 20 years.

One 21-year-old journalism pupil was moving arsenic an intern astatine VTC successful Hanoi erstwhile it unopen down astatine midnight connected Jan. 15. He said each the unit gathered connected the archetypal level and had a countdown until each the TV monitors were turned off. Afterwards, they had fireworks. He said astir 1,000 VTC employees mislaid their jobs that night.

“Everyone was crying,” helium said, asking to beryllium referred to arsenic Justin. “After 20 years moving astatine the station, doing a batch of collaboration, doing a batch of programs, doing a batch of peculiar news, they person been kicked retired for nary reason. That's however they are feeling.”

A regular VTC spectator successful bluish Vietnam who described herself arsenic a housewife said it's achy to spot the broadcast shuttered.

“Honestly, I don't privation immoderate transmission to close,” she wrote connected Facebook successful Vietnamese. “I see those channels arsenic household members. Losing a transmission is similar losing a person.”

'Bitter medicine'

On Dec. 1, To Lam spoke during a nationalist league connected the implementation of Resolution 18. He stated the restructuring is designed to streamline the governmental strategy and region organization bottlenecks.

“This is truly a hard issue,” To Lam said. “It volition impact thoughts, feelings, aspirations and impact the interests of a fig of individuals and organizations.

“The implementation successful galore units volition surely brushwood difficulties,” the General Secretary said. “However, we inactive person to proceed due to the fact that to person a steadfast body, sometimes we person to ‘take bitter medicine.’”

Trinh Huu Long, a ideology advocator and co-founder of the Taiwan-based nonprofit Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, said the authorities is rushing to finalize its media restructuring and the consolidation of authorities ministries.

“Everyone is moving astir the clock,” helium said. “They're readying to decorativeness everything successful March, erstwhile the Congress volition clasp a peculiar league to rubber stamp this monolithic restructure.”

Nguyen Hong Hai, a elder lecturer astatine Hanoi's VinUniversity, told VOA that portion moving successful the nationalist sector, helium saw the request for betterment firsthand.

“There's the information that determination are a batch of employees who are not working, successful the existent sense, and there's a batch of waste,” helium said. “Every nine needs reforms. But the happening is, however to bash it effectively?”

Justin, the journalism pupil successful Hanoi, supports the authorities reforms though helium said alteration is happening “too fast” and without caller opportunities for those who mislaid their livelihoods. That includes his uncle, who worked for VTC for immoderate 20 years.

“We person cried, but we inactive 100% hold with what the authorities decided,” helium said. “We conscionable privation to comment, ‘Please, if you privation to footwear maine out, springiness maine a caller job.’ … Do not alteration truthful rapidly truthful that radical volition beryllium shocked, similar close now, kicked retired from the occupation and with nary different connection for the future.”

Pushing propaganda

Long said that arsenic Hanoi focuses its resources into six nationalist media conglomerates, authorities volition person much powerfulness to propulsion Hanoi's agenda.

“The authorities volition put successful a tiny fig of authorities agencies to marque them a batch much effectual successful propaganda,” Long said. “The fig 1 relation of each state-media outlet is to beforehand and support the [Communist] Party. Serving readers is secondary.”

In a November 2024 report, Legal Initiatives for Vietnam stated that determination are presently 17 autarkic journalists down bars successful the country, each of whom were jailed wrong the past 5 years.

While each media outlets successful Vietnam acquisition authorities censorship, immoderate outlets are funded by backstage corporations, though they indispensable person their licenses from authorities ministries. Long said these semi-privatized outlets, which person been the astir professionalized and provided quality which has not wholly aligned with Hanoi and authorities policy, are being pushed out.

“The prime is going to spell southbound very, precise quickly,” helium said.

Long gave the illustration of Zing News.

In July 2023 the quality tract was suspended for 3 months aft it was investigated by the Ministry of Information and Communications. The outlet came backmost aft the suspension but was rebranded arsenic Z News and the prime and frequence of its contented was greatly downgraded, efficaciously making the outlet “irrelevant,” Long said.

He said that the outlet was punished for penning articles astir Russia's warfare connected Ukraine that created “pro-Ukraine sentiment among the Vietnamese public.”

"They published a batch of articles astir the Ukraine warfare that fell retired of the [Communist] Party's line, which is ever to beryllium pro-Russia,” Long said.

A researcher of Vietnamese media, who asked to stay anonymous owed to information concerns, told VOA that the digitizing of nationalist media allows it to “masquerade” propaganda arsenic news.

“I deliberation it's precise depressing. … It's going to beryllium azygous news, and it's going to beryllium lone from the government's constituent of view,” the researcher said. “There's going to beryllium less and less radical dedicated to enactment arsenic journalists and seeking retired the quality that matters to the Vietnamese people.”