Press center opens

Vietnam has a press center! It’s going to be open every day! It will allow unobstructed access to the government by journalists!

I have some personal knowledge of press centers in the US, and I will tell you that they are used for propaganda, even in Western countries. It makes sense. Countries want to show off their best side, not showcase their problems. Reporters are steered to happy stories. That makes sense. No one wants sad stories all the time. I care deeply about climate change, but if I have to read another g*dd$m story about how all species are dying out and soon the earth will no longer be habitable, well…Journalists should write about good stories!

But also journalists need to break news about bad things happening. By the government or by private actors that need to be stopped by the government.

The good thing about a press center is that it may allow journalists to get to know more government officials, and hopefully learn more about what the government is thinking day-to-day. In the US, there is a “bullpen” of reporters that sit in the State Department building that actually works pretty well.

But in Vietnam, I am worried that this will just be another excuse to put government minders between journalists and officials. If that’s the case, then no thanks.