In the development of revolutionary journalism, President Ho Chi Minh's valuable lessons on journalism remain relevant for generations of journalists today and in the future…
In the field of journalism, President Ho Chi Minh was the founder of the revolutionary Vietnamese press – a press considered to be of the future, given that the Vietnamese press before 1945 operated in a colonial environment. He was also the first revolutionary journalist; his journalistic activities began not only with the birth of revolutionary journalism through the newspaper Thanh Nien (1925), but even before that, while in France, he wrote for newspapers like Le Paria and Humanité as a communist of the Communist International. He was not only an outstanding journalist with a highly combative and nuanced style of commentary, rich in realism and cultural depth, but also a talented journalist with a masterful art of propaganda.
The revolutionary press of Vietnam during the period 1925-1945 included two newspapers that were published at different times, both playing a crucial role in the Vietnamese revolution's struggle for national liberation. Both were founded and directly supervised by Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh). These were Thanh Nien (Youth), published in 1925, and Viet Nam Doc Lap (Vietnam Independence), published in 1941. Although these two newspapers were published nearly 16 years apart, they share several interesting similarities.
The Youth Newspaper – the origin of revolutionary journalism…
In the early 1920s, the second phase of French colonial exploitation of Vietnam, carried out on a large scale and in depth, led to profound social stratification. Numerous classes emerged and developed, with varying degrees of conflict over political and economic interests. The working class, though most heavily exploited, was also the fastest growing in both numbers and quality. They not only recognized the insidious nature of French capitalism but also became aware of their role in the nation and the country. Many patriotic young people crossed the border to Guangzhou, China, to embrace new ideas and participate in the world revolution. Some young people, such as Ho Tung Mau, Le Hong Son, and Le Hong Phong, founded the Tam Tam Society with the aim of "uniting everyone, gathering collective opinions, bravely moving forward, restoring the stolen human rights, and striving for national happiness." The bomb dropped by young Phạm Hồng Thái at Sa Điện, targeting the wicked Governor-General of Indochina, signaled the beginning of a new phase of struggle.
During this time, Nguyen Ai Quoc was in the Soviet Union. Given this situation, the Communist International immediately sent him to the revolutionary base in Guangzhou (China) to directly lead the movement. In June 1925, he selected a group of young fighters from the Tam Tam Society to establish a revolutionary organization with a Marxist orientation: the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League. Following Nguyen Ai Quoc's initiative, the General Headquarters of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League published the newspaper Thanh Nien (Youth), serving as the propaganda organ for the League's policies, goals, and action program. On June 21, 1925, the first issue of Thanh Nien was published, and this date is considered the birth date of revolutionary journalism in Vietnam. The Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper was the first revolutionary newspaper because it was the voice of a proletarian revolutionary organization, founded by a communist fighter of the proletariat, and importantly, Vietnamese revolutionary journalism began to operate according to Lenin's views on journalistic activity:The press is a collective propagandist, a collective promoter, and a collective organizer.
In the early days of the newspaper, Nguyen Ai Quoc also served as the editor-in-chief, directly supervising and writing important articles, as well as editing and illustrating them. The main content of the Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper focused on several fundamental points: "To deepen the people's hatred of the foreign invaders; to study domestic and world history on how to bring the Vietnamese revolution to complete victory; to propagate Marxism-Leninism, gather forces and build an organization to establish a political party strong enough to lead the masses in revolution," and five years later (1930) this became a reality.
Under the leadership of Nguyen Ai Quoc, the Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper introduced to our people a revolutionary path, a revolutionary method, and a new type of revolutionary person. The newspaper equipped us with a new philosophical way of thinking. A new worldview and philosophy of life began to penetrate Vietnam. The newspaper actively propagated a new revolutionary path, which was the combination of Marxism-Leninism with the Vietnamese workers' movement and patriotic movement.
…to the Vietnam Independent newspaper – “knowing the things to do, knowing how to unite to fight the French and the Japanese”
Sixteen years later, after the French colonialists were defeated and lost their homeland, the Japanese fascists invaded Indochina and, together with the French, exploited our people to the bone. At this time, Nguyen Ai Quoc was in Southern China, trying to establish contact with the Central Committee of the Party to prepare for his return to Vietnam to directly lead the revolution. In the spring of 1941, after 30 years of wandering abroad, he, along with a number of secret party members, returned to his beloved homeland, which was bleeding day and night under the brutal oppression of the imperialist fascist wolves.
It should also be added that during World War II, the socio-political context of our country was extremely complex, with many different political trends and ideological and cultural activities. However, the Indochinese Communist Party still saw the path of the Vietnamese revolution in the dark night – a path full of challenges and opportunities. That revolutionary path was outlined by the 6th (November 1939) and 7th (November 1940) Central Committee Conferences and affirmed at the 8th Central Committee Conference (May 1941) chaired by Nguyen Ai Quoc, which set out the immediate task of the entire Party to prepare to lead the "armed uprising to seize freedom and independence," with the task of national liberation placed first. He initiated the establishment of the Vietnam Independence League, abbreviated as the Vietnam Independence League.Viet Minhand planned a phased uprising, leading to a general uprising. More than two months later, on August 1, 1941, he founded the newspaper Vietnam Independence, serving as the propaganda organ of the Viet Minh in Cao Bang province. The newspaper's mission and purpose were clearly stated in its first issue:"The main goal is to rid our people of ignorance and cowardice, to educate them, to foster unity, so that they can fight the French and the Japanese for an independent and free Vietnam."
Similar to the Thanh Nien newspaper, in the first thirty or so issues of the Vietnam Independence newspaper, Nguyen Ai Quoc was directly in charge, writing articles, editing, and drawing illustrations.
Articles in independent Vietnamese newspapers, regardless of their format, aimed to call for national unity and to strengthen the armed forces of the Viet Minh Front. The newspapers focused on propagating revolutionary awareness among the masses, denouncing the crimes of the invading enemy, exposing their brutal conspiracies, deepening the people's hatred of the enemy, and highlighting examples and lessons of solidarity and unity in achieving great things. The newspapers also provided guidance on the organization and operational direction of the various organizations within the Viet Minh Front, in accordance with the Party's established goals and guidelines.
The art of propaganda
As mentioned above, both newspapers, established at two extremely crucial points in the Vietnamese revolution, were founded, directly supervised, and directly produced by Nguyen Ai Quoc in their early stages. Both newspapers were published secretly, written with a steel pen, and printed using rudimentary methods. Furthermore, the propaganda style of both newspapers strongly reflected his personality.
First and foremost, the art of propaganda is clearly demonstrated in the linguistic style. It is a concise, simple, and easy-to-understand writing style, deeply rooted in national identity yet very modern, possessing the power to inspire and persuade readers, especially revolutionary masses. The author often uses specific numbers and events to illustrate his points, thereby generalizing the issues. Therefore, the writing not only possesses high theoretical and political value but also has the authenticity of information. In denouncing the brutal exploitation of French colonialism, the author wrote in the Thanh Nien newspaper:"In 1925, the French took away 1,319,648,916 kg of rice from us; the export fees alone amounted to 4,609,933 dong and 84 cents."The caller said:My fellow countrymen! Freedom is a gift from God; those who are not free would rather die. Wake up, wake up, break free from the cage the West has imprisoned us in!"Denouncing Japan and calling for unity among compatriots," the Vietnam Independent newspaper wrote:Our people have been exploited by the French no less than by the Japanese. Now they are being exploited by the Japanese as well. How can we survive under such double yoke? If we want to survive, we must quickly unite to drive out the French and the Japanese and reclaim our independence and freedom.The Thanh Nien newspaper meticulously explained the propagation of Marxism-Leninism and the revolutionary line and principles of the proletariat:Revolution is about transforming evil into good; it is the sum of actions by which an oppressed nation becomes strong. Revolution must go through two periods: destruction and construction.”
The art of propaganda was also demonstrated in the way these two newspapers used various journalistic genres such as news, feature articles, commentary, and editorials on domestic and international issues. In particular, they used many forms to effectively convey propaganda content, such as rhyming verses, poetry, and illustrative drawings. This was vividly demonstrated in the independent Vietnamese newspaper. Each issue typically featured two rhyming verses as the title for the propaganda content of the issue, such as the first issue, number 101:Troubles may arise, but people of the same nation should love one another.; or number 105:The Viet Minh is the root of the movement. To achieve liberation, one must join the Viet Minh.Illustrations were also a common tactic used by these two newspapers. In Thanh Nien newspaper, the author drew a cartoon satirizing the compromises with France in the National Reform policy. The cartoon depicted two people: a Frenchman holding a stick and beating a Vietnamese man in a turban and long robe, one hand scratching his ear, the other holding out a piece of paper with the Chinese characters "French-Vietnamese harmony" written on it. In the "Literary Garden" section of Vietnam Independence newspaper, there were illustrations such as "The Big Stone," "Everyone Reads Vietnam Independence Newspaper," etc., or long poems like "The Peasant," "Song of the Soldiers," "The Fox and the Beehive," etc., to call on people to unite and work together for revolution.
For nearly 90 years, the contributions of the two newspapers, Thanh Nien (Youth) and Viet Nam Doc Lap (Independent Vietnam), to the revolutionary cause of the nation have been recorded in history. In the process of developing revolutionary journalism, President Ho Chi Minh's valuable lessons on journalism remain relevant for generations of journalists today and in the future.