Bao chi va tham nhung policypaper mediacorruption

The United Nations Development Programme Viet Nam Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption Anti A Series of Policy Discussion Papers MEDIA AND CORRUPTION How has Viet Nam’s print media covered corruption and how can coverage be strengthened? Catherine McKinley The views and opinions expressed in this policy discussion paper are those of the authors and not necessarily January 2009 reflect the official fficial views or position of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (UNDP) UNDP is the United Nations’ global development organization, a network advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners The series of Policy Discussion Papers on Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption is lead and edited by Jairo Acuña AcuñaAlfaro, Policy Advisor on Public Administration Reform and Anti AntiCorruption at UNDP Viet Nam The series aims to analyze tr trends in Viet Nam regarding the implementation processes and options in specific public administration reform areas In order to confront the social, economic, political and environmental challenges facing Viet Nam, policy makers need to be informed by evid evidence These policy papers aim to contribute to current policy debate by providing discussion inputs on policy reforms – thereby helping to improve Viet Nam’s development efforts Three principles guide the production of the policy discussion papers: (i) evidence-based based research, (ii) academic rigour and independence of analysis, and (iii) social legitimacy and a participatory process This involves a substantive research approach with a rigorous and systematic identification of policy options on key public administration reform and anti anti-corruption issues United Nations Development Programme 25-29 Phan Boi Chau Ha Noi, Viet Nam Alfaro, Policy Advisor Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, Public Administration Reform and Anti Anti-Corruption jairo.acuna@undp.org www.undp.org.vn The views and opinions expressed in this policy discussion paper are those of the authors and not necessarily reflect the official fficial views or position of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (UNDP) Table of contents Acknowledgement Executive summary Introduction .5 The Vietnamese Media’s Role in Fighting Corruption What can the media do? How does the state see the media’s anti-corruption role? Where the media’s loyalties lie? .8 Investigative Journalism in Viet Nam Concentration of reporting power Practitioner Skills Tools of the trade 11 Constraints Limiting Investigative Reporting 12 Information gathering and processing 12 Political and legal controls 14 Editorial controls 15 Ethical constraints 16 Media coverage of corruption: the evidence presented 17 Overall coverage of corruption 17 Coverage by sector 19 Coverage by value 20 Coverage by administrative level 21 Coverage by geographic location 22 PMU 18 Case Study 24 The case 24 Coverage by Nhan Dan and Thanh Nien 25 The government’s response to coverage 26 Media reaction to the arrests and implications for future AC reportage 27 Conclusion and Policy Recommendations 29 Conclusion 29 Policy Recommendations 30 1/ Laws pertaining to media operations 30 2/ Access to information 31 3/ Journalists’ skills 31 4/ Salary and financial management reform 32 5/ Editorial freedom 32 Appendices 34 Appendix 1: Research Methodology and Media Monitoring Matrix 34 Appendix 2: Raw Media Monitoring Data and an Explanation of the Breakdown of Stories within Each Category 37 Appendix 3: Major Corruption Cases Covered by the Media in 2006 and 2007 42 Bibliography 44 Endnotes 46 Acknowledgement The author would like to thank the UNDP in Ha Noi for funding this research and supporting its development, in particular Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, Policy Advisor on Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption She would also like to thank her fellow researchers, who provided much of the data used in this report but who wish to remain unnamed in it, and the many media practitioners who took the time to talk to her and her colleagues about the way they work and the institutional and legal systems within which they operate All errors are the authors own The views expressed in this report not necessarily reflect the official views or positions of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Executive summary As in many fast developing economies, corruption, at all levels within the public administration, is a problem in Viet Nam In fact, the fight against corruption has become one of the highest priorities for Government of Viet Nam since mid 1990s as it threatens the credibility and survival of the regime As such, exposure of corrupt practices is officially welcomed by the state However, in practice, a hesitant attempt to uncover corruption seems to be underway The ‘toolkit’ used in this fight contains a number of tools, ranging from self criticism by officials discovered to have taken part in corrupt practices, to the creation of centralized bodies (such as the Government Inspectorate and Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption) charged with uncovering graft and punishing those found guilty of it The media is also in this toolkit Viet Nam’s media is wholly or partially owned by the state but has been asked to uncover corruption within it – a task that requires significant detachment and in other countries is carried out by non-state media As a result, the Government of Viet Nam’s (GoV) efforts to liberalize editorial freedom are taking place in a correspondingly ad hoc manner After several years of increasing freedom through the mid-2000s, 2008 saw what most observers consider to be a ‘reversal’ on media liberalization In 2008, two journalists who had covered a high-profile corruption case were arrested and at least seven others (senior reporters and editors) were denied their reporting credentials On December 31 the editors in chief of Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre, two high-profile corruption-fighting newspapers, were removed from their posts Based on interviews, most journalists remain comfortable within the state infrastructure and continue to report only those stories for which they or their editors receive prior approval However, a small number of media practitioners now believe it is their duty to expose corruption and were increasingly willing to ignore reporting ‘guidelines’ offered by the state when writing about the issue But because investigative reporting is new in Viet Nam, its practitioners often lack the requisite skills and resources to conduct it well, meaning that although anti-corruption reporting grew – probably significantly – in scope and quantity, its quality often remains poor This combination of power – the media can name names and point fingers, often with limited redress for those affected – and weakness – its low skill levels mean it may not use such power correctly – have bred fear both within the state that ostensibly controls it and among the people reporters must talk to when researching a story This research aimed to study how five different news organizations, ranging from highly investigative (by Vietnamese standards) to totally controlled by the CPV, covered corruption in 2006 and 2007 It used three data sources – literature, interviews, and media content analysis – to analyze coverage and understand how reporters work in this new and sensitive area • • The study found that: Coverage of corruption was substantial and wide ranging (across sectors) Viet Nam’s media offers a full complement of anti-corruption coverage, including exposés of new cases, monitoring of government actions, and space for public debate about corruption However, despite a desire to focus on the first of these • • • • and a widespread belief that the media actively exposes corruption, most coverage identified through the content analysis process took place within the ‘monitoring’ category Reports focusing on corruption at or below provincial level appear to be reasonably ‘safe’ but those that discuss higher-level corruption receive greater censure and / or reprisal Anti-corruption coverage, especially of medium-sized or large corruption cases, is carried out by a few large, urban newspapers and, within those papers, largely by a small group of high-profile reporters Their work is complicated by a number of difficulties, including lack of access to reliable information, poor (but improving) reporting skills, and a weak understanding of the ethical issues that surround anti-corruption reporting.1 The problems associated with information access make it easy for political and business interests to manipulate the media, as the release of information by them may be linked to the settling of scores about which journalists are unaware By publishing the information, reporters become unwitting ‘hit men,’ or pawns in a fight for power, and their coverage becomes necessarily biased While clearly dangerous, this manipulation of the media by those in authority will, at the very least, ensure that someone is always willing to support the media’s work by providing information about corruption Further hindering reportage are political, legal, and editorial constraints that limit what can be written and threaten reprisals if a reporter oversteps unclear editorial boundaries These boundaries, and the reprisals that hinge upon them, are vague enough to inspire fear within the media but, until recently, were also vague enough to facilitate manipulation by more aggressive reporters Interviewees believed such manipulation – to nudge higher the limit beyond which reporting is forbidden – will resume once the impact of the 2008 crackdown dies away If viewed from within the prism of change since the 1990s, journalists’ skills are improving, their resources growing, and their freedoms expanding Yet smooth progress is hindered by the on-again-off-again approach to media liberalization Based on the findings outlined above, this report offers a series of recommendations: 1/ Viet Nam’s complex legal framework must be clarified so that journalists are fully aware of the limits within which they operate and the sanctions they will face if such limits are breached 2/ Access to, and the use of, information must improve so that journalists are less reliant on sources that may intentionally (or otherwise) mislead or misinform them, and so that they can more easily judge the validity of information provided by sources Greater access will facilitate basic reporting responsibilities - such as fact checking - that can now prove extremely difficult 3/ Journalistic skills and ethical standards must rise to facilitate more and higherquality anti-corruption reportage If quality rises, fears that the media might wrongly implicate or damage the name of innocent officials may fall, and opposition to media coverage of corruption may decline 4/ Salary and financial management reform and training are required to allow news organizations to raise salaries and reduce the probability of corruption within the media: something that will undermine the media’s anti-corruption efforts as long as it persists 5/ Editorial liberalization of the media will be extremely difficult to achieve but it is a pre-requisite to effective media coverage of corruption This need not be associated with private ownership, and indeed members of the Vietnamese media and external observers have argued that private ownership would not necessarily facilitate improved coverage of corruption in the Vietnamese context Introduction Since the launch of its Doi Moi economic reform program in 1986 Viet Nam has struggled to contain corruption: legal and regulatory loopholes are abused by civil servants and state officials, a dual economy (both planned and market mechanisms exist) creates incentives for corruption within the state and the private-sector financial resources to fund it, and low state-sector salaries raise the temptation to demand bribes (Gainsborough 2003) A National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Corruption Towards 2020, currently in draft form (hereafter referred to as the ‘draft strategy’), notes that ‘corruption has become a major obstacle for the success of (the) Doi Moi process…threatening the survival of the regime.’ (Government of Viet Nam 2008, pp 1) Corruption in Viet Nam is widespread, flourishing where state and private sector or individual interests collide Grand corruption is thought to be substantial but evidence of it is rarely bought to light, making it impossible to measure Petty civil service corruption is thought to be endemic, impacting ordinary citizens trying to access healthcare, education, and other public services, thus efforts to combat corruption may need to target not only officials and bureaucrats but also individuals who expect to pay extra for a service (because of a belief that service quality will fall if no bribe changes hands, citizens may pressure an official to accept a sweetener even if he or she does not request one) Numerous efforts have been made to combat corruption, with limited success to date Early campaigns targeted state officials and encouraged them to offer ‘self criticism’ in return for lenient treatment, while later campaigns have attempted to use newly established anti-corruption organizations to weed out corruption Recently, the media was highlighted as an anti-corruption ‘tool’ which the GoV said must help these agencies uncover corruption In 2005, it published an Anti-Corruption (AC) Law which identifies the media as a partner in the fight against corruption, stating that ‘press agencies shall have the responsibility to participate in corruption prevention and combat.’2 As a follow up, the GoV issued Decree 47/2007/ND-CP detailing a series of mechanisms and roles for press agencies in the fight against corruption And more recently, the draft AC strategy also emphasizes the role of media, noting as an objective the need to ‘step up proactive participation of…the mass media…in preventing and combating corruption.’3 However, because of its state ownership, which keeps journalists tied to members of the state they are being asked to expose, the extent to which the country’s media can play this role must be questioned Nonetheless, anecdotal evidence and recent literature4 show that media coverage of corruption has grown in recent years as editorial constraints imposed by the state have loosened and donor-funded programs have developed journalistic skills Several important cases of grand corruption have been uncovered and investigated, and anecdotal evidence suggests that coverage of petty corruption is also growing Although 100% private ownership of editorial departments has been ruled out by the government, non-state investment in advertising and other non-news media entities or departments is allowed under the Law on Media5 and is being phased in to ease the state’s funding burden Greater financial independence may, over time, raise editorial freedoms by reducing news organizations’ reliance on the state Growing access to the internet and international news broadcasts is also broadening professional horizons for media practitioners and raising expectations among their audiences Yet despite the sector’s increasing freedom and the audience pressures placed upon it, Viet Nam’s media remains under state control The arrest in May and sentencing in October 2008 of two high-profile anti-corruption reporters,6 the withdrawal of several other journalists’ media credentials in August, and the replacement of the editors in chief of Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre in late 2008 suggest the government is becoming less willing to countenance independent investigative journalism The reason for this unwillingness remains the subject of speculation but has been linked by members of the media and other observers to the weakening of Viet Nam’s economy – which has made the government less willing to air its dirty laundry – and genuine concerns over the quality and accuracy of media coverage of corruption A number of constraints, ranging from poor access to information and legal protection to weak ethical and reporting standards, constrain journalists’ ability to offer balanced and accurate coverage of corruption in Viet Nam and limit the degree to which the media can play the anti-corruption role it has been assigned This report documents those constraints and analyzes their impact on the media’s ability to investigate, uncover, and report incidences of corruption It also records coverage by five major news sources over the past two years, analyses the findings and offers recommendations for change It draws on 35 qualitative interviews and research conversations with reporters, editors, journalism trainers (Vietnamese and foreign), and foreign donors Quantitative data, in the form of media content analysis, adds concrete evidence of coverage through 2006 and 2007 The Vietnamese Media’s Role in Fighting Corruption What can the media do? Media organizations play three key roles in a country’s fight against corruption: a/ expose cases of corruption, b/ monitor and publicize government efforts to combat it, and c/ offer the public a forum for debate through which people can transfer opinions to each other and to the state.7 To expose corruption, strong investigative journalism skills and ethical standards, backed by a fair and comprehensive legal/regulatory framework able to support the media’s work and ensure high standards, are required As discussed in this report, neither of these requirements is fully met in Viet Nam, where reporting standards are often lax and the regulatory environment confusing and contradictory Investigative reporting is a critical part of any media’s attempt to combat corruption yet it is the most difficult, requiring substantial input from experienced and ethically motivated practitioners and strong support from and cooperation with the state (which should both provide information to the media and act on its findings) Monitoring government efforts to combat corruption entails publicizing anticorruption initiatives and monitoring their effectiveness In Viet Nam, where the media has long been a propaganda tool and the government is keen to propagate its anti-corruption efforts, publicizing initiatives may be a relatively simple process Indeed, Article 86.2 of the Anti-Corruption Law states that ‘the press shall have the responsibility to commend…positive deeds in corruption prevention and combat…(and) participate in propagating and disseminating the law on corruption prevention and combat.’ Fair coverage of the state’s success or failure in combating corruption, however, may be more difficult thanks to the media’s relatively frail analytical skills and the political/editorial constraints that are likely to be imposed by the state if an initiative proves ineffective The data collected for this research suggests that Viet Nam’s media offers substantial coverage of government, police, and other state actions with regard to corruption but has not yet begun to analyze the success or failure of anti-corruption policies or expose major cases of corruption not brought to light through information provided by the state Providing the public with a forum for debate is the third way in which the media can contribute to an anti-corruption strategy Many of Viet Nam’s larger and more assertive news organizations already this, offering call-in radio programs, TV chat shows, and newspaper pages dedicated to readers’ letters Interview data suggests that while their content is monitored and sometimes censored, freedom of public expression through these forums is growing.8 Interview data also suggested that media audiences place substantial importance on the media’s exposure and debate roles, and have less interest in its capacity to monitor state activities: “investigative features have the biggest impact,” said a reporter in Ha Dong city For this reason, several reporters said they try to focus their attention on the investigative reporting that is required to uncover corruption, despite the challenges faced by journalists and discussed through this report The decision to provide print or broadcast space for public debate is made at senior editorial level and cannot be readily influenced by reporters or news editors How does the state see the media’s anti-corruption role? Viet Nam’s Law on Media states in its opening article that the media is the ‘mouthpiece of Party organizations, State bodies, and social organizations…and a forum for the people.’ The GoV has offered no sign that 100% private media ownership will be allowed in the foreseeable future but does appear, in fits and starts, to be facilitating a more inquisitive and editorially independent media within the realms of full or partial state ownership.9 Media organizations will therefore continue for some time to operate within the state and be subject to the constraints that accompany state ownership Accordingly, this report assumes state media ownership and tailors its recommendations accordingly.10 Various pieces of legislation highlight the media’s role as an anti-corruption agency within the state’s anti-corruption toolkit: the Anti-Corruption Law, Decree 47/2007/ND-CP and draft strategy note the participation of the media as important to the GoV’s overall AC work The Law on Media specifies the ‘fight against illegal and other antisocial activities’ as one of the media’s responsibilities.11 Countering these calls to action, however are legislative restraints that limit the media’s ability to cover corruption while remaining within the law The Law on Media, for example, states that practitioners must ‘contribute to political stability,’ ‘abstain from disclosing state secrets,’ and ‘abstain from disseminating information which is…harmful to the reputation of organizations or the reputation and dignity of citizens.’12 These clauses might put investigative reporting of corruption in conflict with a reporter’s legal duty if his or her report leads to public discontent or demands disclosure of information deemed by a state-run court to be a secret.13 Interview data reveals that government and many media practitioners are concerned about the quality of AC coverage and believe that skills and ethics must be Appendices Appendix 1: Research Methodology and Media Monitoring Matrix Methodology This research, and the conclusions and recommendations within it, are based on a desk review of relevant government, donor, academic and other documents, the analysis of interview data, and print and online media content analysis By combining these three methodologies, the author intended to triangulate different information sources and reduce the potential margin of error in the data-gathering process.51 The desk review covered government laws and decrees relating to media operations and anti-corruption, analysis of the media’s role in combating corruption (both within and outside Viet Nam), and other relevant documents, as outlined in the bibliography The interview process, from March to November 2008, gathered substantive qualitative data through 13 semi-structured interviews with journalists, editors, and other media practitioners from print, broadcast, and internet media groups in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Da Nang Additional qualitative data was obtained through 22 research conversations with practitioners in Ha Noi, HCMC, Ha Dong, Da Lat, and Buon Ma Thuot, foreign media professionals in Ha Noi and HCMC, and foreign donors based in Ha Noi and Sweden.52 Interviewees discussed the following issues: • • • • • The role of the media: Its position as a government anti-corruption ‘tool,’ media loyalties to the state and/or the people of Viet Nam, and the ways in which media can combat corruption Journalistic skills: Information gathering, fact checking, contextual/background knowledge, writing skills, interviewing, etc Ethics: Ethical practices and expectations, corruption within the media, etc Limitations impacting anti-corruption reporting: Legal, policy and editorial constraints, resources, access to information/official cooperation, etc Policy recommendations: What changes would better equip Viet Nam’s media to cover corruption? The content analysis process offered quantitative data on media coverage of corruption by five news sources (print and internet) To facilitate access, stories published in print newspapers were accessed via online archives The news sources studied included: print newspapers Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre, Lao Dong, and Nhan Dan, and internet-based VnExpress.53 Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre and VnExpress were chosen because of their acknowledged anti-corruption credentials These newspapers are owned either by mass organizations which have been shown by previous research to be less heavily influenced by government and/or state media controls than those owned by the GoV54 – or by state-linked businesses.55 Lao Dong, which is owned by the National Labor Union, was added to the list to study coverage by a news organization with closer links to policy makers (the Labor 34 Union, though a mass organization, is considered less progressive than those that own Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre) Nhan Dan, the CPV’s mouthpiece, was included because its coverage of corruption can be expected to most closely reflect the degree to which AC reporting is officially sanctioned and vetted The content analysis process studied reportage in 2006 and 2007 and characterized stories by sector, financial value, administrative level, geographic location and type of coverage (monitoring or exposure) A degree of research bias is acknowledged in the content analysis process and this must be borne in mind when drawing conclusions from its findings Bias may have resulted from: • The selection of stories by data gatherers: Two media analysts monitored the newspapers and each may have interpreted differently guidelines regarding the selection of stories Triangulation of the interview and monitoring data through this report suggests that researcher bias may indeed have impacted the monitoring process, particularly with regard to monitoring of stories relating to petty corruption Initial plans to standardize the selection process by using key words to identify relevant coverage was abandoned because of fears it would fail to include a significant number of stories that dealt with corruption but did not contain the necessary key word Data collection from Nhan Dan and Thanh Nien was conducted by one researcher, with collection from Tuoi Tre, Lao Dong, and VnExpress conducted by a second • Data translation: Several thousand pages of data were translated from Vietnamese into English and it is possible that some translations failed to truly represent a news story’s content or accurately translate/transcribe details.56 • Data analysis: A degree of analyst discretion was required when categorizing and grouping stories Although the author attempted to ensure that the same standards applied to categorization of all stories, it is possible that a degree of subjective error crept into the analysis process The study of stories by sector may have been particularly impacted by such error, as many stories could have been grouped in a number of ways 57 Monitoring Matrix The matrix below was used by data gatherers while recording coverage of corruption by the five newspapers under study A separate list of sectors was provided in the interests of simplicity An early desire to analyze the findings by ‘actor’ and ‘government response’ was deemed impossible once the data had been collated, as it was decided that further analysis of each story would be necessary to ensure such analysis was fair and accurate and this would have required researchers to return to all 2,320 news stories for further study 35 36 Appendix 2: Raw Media Monitoring Data and an Explanation of the Breakdown of Stories within Each Category A/ Total number of stories relating to corruption, by newspaper and month Month Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06 Nov-06 Dec-06 Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 2006 Total 2007 Total Total Newspaper Thanh Nien 10 20 14 21 10 11 16 5 7 6 124 59 183 Tuoi Tre 22 22 21 27 30 27 27 28 43 44 36 23 27 24 35 20 24 28 12 16 8 11 17 350 230 580 Lao Dong 17 31 41 39 57 28 74 77 76 24 37 50 42 25 60 26 33 45 35 45 32 49 34 40 551 466 1017 VnExpress 16 27 10 26 18 15 34 30 18 21 10 12 27 17 16 10 13 10 15 15 227 158 385 Nhan Dan 15 20 14 11 11 0 8 10 2 3 100 52 155 Total 54 86 124 110 148 80 137 142 169 103 104 98 94 69 135 74 70 100 65 81 58 73 67 79 1355 965 2320 B/ Corruption coverage by value Newspaper Thanh Nien Tuoi Tre Lao Dong Nhan Dan VnExpress Total Total No of stories < VND 10 mln VND10 mln - bln >VND bln Not known or not given 124 29 37 55 2007 59 18 17 19 2006 350 22 67 95 166 2007 230 17 57 63 93 2006 551 10 93 194 254 2007 466 11 88 157 210 2006 103 19 69 12 2007 52 22 17 13 2006 227 54 89 79 2007 158 42 53 58 2320 81 489 791 959 Year 2006 37 Classification by value: Stories were divided into four categories: 1/ under VND10 million (around US$1,650), 2/ from VND10 million to VND billion (US$1,650 – US$60,606), 3/ above VND1 billion, and 4/ ‘value not given.’ The first three categories intended to represent petty corruption, medium-sized cases, and grand corruption as reported in Viet Nam A more detailed categorization was not possible given the resources available for this study, but future research would benefit from it It is arguable that the first category should have covered stories worth more, as many of those categorized in the second group related to relatively small cases of individual abuse of power, rather than group or institutionalized corruption The decision to break each category into the monetary values noted above was based on suggestions made during the interview process Examples of stories recorded in each category (taken from VnExpress, 2006) include: 1/ ‘Head of Thanh Xuan district office in Ha Noi accepted bribes’ (VND5.5 million) – July 25, 2/ “Construction inspector received bribe in Ha Noi’ (VND20 million) – Feb 22, and 3/ ‘Unreasonable printing costs of telephone directories in Nghe An and Ha Tay post offices’ (over VND 16 billion) – Feb 21 Over 41% of stories offered no indication of monetary value, but of these many included information about the value of land lost or, in a few cases, gold embezzled Qualitative analysis of the data shows that many of the unclassified stories focused on land and included a ‘value’ in terms or hectares or other land units Thus, although these stories were not classifiable, it is probable that many would have fallen within the small- or medium-value categories if land values had been translated into monetary ones C/ Corruption coverage by location News Source Thanh Nien Tuoi Tre Lao Dong Nhan Dan VnExpress Total Year Total no of stories National 2006 124 59 59 22 2007 2006 350 37 2007 230 46 551 93 2006 466 55 2007 2006 103 58 52 21 2007 227 45 2006 2007 158 40 2320 476 Ha Noi 35 23 63 47 46 20 252 Other North 64 48 90 91 18 12 54 45 437 Location Center 13 15 42 26 113 100 5 16 340 HCMC Other South 11 25 7 74 98 36 51 73 119 72 101 39 27 32 16 354 461 Classification by location: This process intended to show how evenly AC coverage takes place around Viet Nam in light of the skills limitations and other impediments to such coverage discussed in earlier chapters Most skilled AC reporters and editors are thought to be based in Ha Noi and HCMC and this section analyses the extent to which they are able to extend coverage beyond major urban centers or reporters outside these centers are able to cover corruption Provinces north of but excluding Thanh Hoa (and also excluding Ha Noi) were classified as ‘northern Those from (and including) Thanh Hoa to Dac Lac/Khanh Hoa were 38 classified as ‘central,’ while those south of (and including) Lam Dong and Minh Thuan (but excluding HCMC) were classified as ‘southern.’ Ha Noi and HCMC were categorized separately These divisions were taken from the website of the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington which offered an official breakdown of the country’s geography by region D/ Coverage by administrative level News Year Source Thanh Nien Tuoi Tre Lao Dong Nhan Dan VnExpress 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 Total Level City, town, district (or below) 26 85 79 127 150 14 58 42 599 Total no of stories 124 59 350 230 551 466 103 52 227 158 2320 Provincial / Municipal 40 27 227 107 327 259 30 23 124 72 1236 Central / National 58 23 38 44 97 57 59 20 45 44 485 Classification by administrative level: Stories were divided into three categories: 1/ national level corruption, 2/ corruption that took place at the provincial or municipal level, and 3/ corruption reported at lower administrative levels (from city down to commune) The use of these categories intended to demonstrate the degree to which journalists are able to report corruption at different levels of seniority within the state’s apparatus E/ Coverage by type News Source Thanh Nien Tuoi Tre Lao Dong Nhan Dan VnExpress Total Year 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 Total no of stories 124 59 350 230 551 466 103 52 227 158 2320 Coverage Exposure 11 41 43 11 128 39 Type Monitoring 113 58 339 228 500 423 95 46 216 157 2175 Other 0 10 0 0 17 40 10 8 10 12 12 69 21 Urban Planning and management Tourism Transport Trade Telecoms Taxation Sport Public Administration Poverty Reduction & Disaster Relief Police & Government Inspectors Other Oil & Gas Media and Publishing 0 3 0 0 Law & Judiciary 0 1 0 Land & Real Estate 0 14 0 65 18 18 0 61 4 109 15 20 146 14 16 0 0 27 0 32 13 473 76 69 Labor Mineral Exploitation 2 2 1 11 10 19 2 20 24 11 15 23 27 5 6 16 7 11 83 123 31 40 IT Health Energy Education Customs Construction & Infrastructure Banking & Finance Aviation 11 4 11 18 29 21 20 38 38 23 24 29 11 0 10 10 16 97 13 112 162 Manufacturing & Business Thanh Nien 2006 124 59 2007 Tuoi Tre 2006 350 2007 230 Lao Dong 2006 551 2007 466 Nhan Dan 2006 103 52 2007 VnExpress 2006 227 2007 158 2320 Total Agriculture & Agribusiness Total number of stories Year News Source F/ Coverage by sector 47 1 1 29 30 10 16 35 23 11 22 10 30 13 58 24 64 50 14 36 0 40 0 1 11 35 12 32 0 2 18 11 30 91 33 228 39 84 26 128 257 17 11 Notes on classification of stories by sector • Construction and infrastructure – all non-real estate related construction stories or those relating to public infrastructure • Energy – electricity or other energy-related stories not including oil & gas • Land and real estate – all stories relating to the sale, development or ownership of land and real estate • Manufacturing and business – stories relating to corruption in the private sector, not involving state officials or companies • Public Administration – stories relating to the abuse of administrative authority, but not involving a third party (such as falsification of budgets for personal gain) Where a public official was involved in a case relating to another sector, the story was classified under that sector Classification by sector: Where possible, stories were classified by the single sector in which they took place In the majority of cases, however, at least two sectors were involved and it became necessary to use subjective analysis when categorizing the data Where public officials were involved in a corruption cases that did not involve a second sector (for example, manipulation of the budget that he or she oversaw for personal gain, or abuse of authority to promote a relative or friend within the administration), stories were categorized under ‘public administration.’ Where other sectors were involved, the story was placed within the relevant sector category The majority of reports involved public officials in some way, although a few focused purely on business-sector corruption Where this is the case, tax avoidance was common enough to warrant a category of its own, while other abuses of corporate authority, such as the misuse of company funds for personal use, were classified together under ‘manufacturing and business.’ Major cases, such as PMU 18, were placed in a single category (in this case, ‘transport’) to facilitate analysis, even if individual stories relating to the case focused on another sector (such as the misuse of authority over land title by PMU 18-linked officials) Where a story addressed corruption in more than one sector, a judgment call was required to assess where most of the focus lay, and the story was placed in that category For example, a story touching on construction-related corruption within the transport sector would be categorized according to whether the case dealt with the abuse of a construction contract (usually the case) or with an issue more closely linked to transport itself 41 Appendix 3: Major Corruption Cases Covered by the Media in 2006 and 2007 Details of these cases are drawn from the media monitoring data used in this report Construction of Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument: The monument was intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary, in 2004, of the North Vietnamese defeat of French forces in Dien Bien Phu A contract for its construction was awarded to a company that was unable to uphold its contractual obligations and instead subcontracted a second company to carry out the work This company used scrap metal instead of high-quality copper to build the monument and embezzled over VND2.5 billion The monument subsequently collapsed, causing further financial damage Do Son land scandal: Eight officials were found guilty in a June 2007 trial of illegally distributing to friends and relatives 33 plots of land taken without compensation from farmers in Do Son town, near Hai Phong city (Northern Viet Nam’s main port city) In an earlier trial in 2006, just two officials were found guilty of the crime and were asked to pay miniscule administrative fines The trial was assumed to have been fixed Media lobbying forced a re-trial in which eight defendants were sentenced to from three to seven years in jail Garment and textile export quota sale: Officials within the Ministry of Trade were found to have sold export quotas to garment and textile companies wishing to export their products but bound by quotas agreed with the US Vice Minister Mai Van Dau was sentenced to 14 years in jail for his role in the scandal (in which over a dozen other less senior officials were also implicated and charged) HCMC Electrical Power Company meter scam: Officials at the state-owned company were accused of buying sub-standard electricity meters from a Singaporean supplier that had not met all tender demands They were indicted in late 2006 of tax evasion and production of fake goods, in a case that is thought to have cost the state round US$10 million PMU 18: A scandal surrounding the misuse of foreign donor funds – largely for betting on European football matches - by officials in the Project Management Unit (PMU) 18 within the Ministry of Transport The case forced the resignation of the transport minister, arrest of his deputy (who was later cleared of all charges) and jailing of several other ministry officials Media coverage reached higher into the political establishment than ever before, suggesting at one point that CPV Secretary Nong Duc Manh’s son-in-law was involved Many reporters covering the case were later questioned by police, who demanded to know their sources In October 2008, two high-profile reporters and two of their sources were found guilty, respectively, of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’ and ‘intentionally disclosing state secrets.’ The verdicts have chastened the media and worried Viet Nam’s foreign development partners, who saw PMU 18 as a test case for media freedom in Viet Nam PMU 112: An estimated VND195 billion in funds allocated for the nationwide computerization of government offices was misallocated by the Ministry of Education and Training’s Project management unit 112, which was in charge of the system’s development The program failed and was closed by the prime minister, who asked PMU 42 112 to account for its spending The resulting exposure of corruption within the unit implicated, among others, members of the Prime Minister’s Office Postal equipment purchase scam in provincial post offices: Officials working at post offices in various provinces (particularly Nghe An, Ha Tay, and Ninh Thuan) inflated the cost of printing for telephone directories and other post office publications, embezzling several billion VND from the state The case was discovered in 2005 and reported through 2006 and 2007 until May 2008, when a 26-year jail term was handed down to the ring leader and lesser sentences to over 20 other state officials involved in the case 43 Bibliography Press Reports and Releases (accessed online) ABC Online, October 16 (2008) ‘Jailing of Viet journalist a blow for press freedom.’ Agence France Presse, October (2008a) ‘Vietnam to try journalists over graft reports.’ Agence France Presse, October 16 (2008b) ‘Vietnam trial for journalists who exposed state corruption.’ Agence France Presse, October 16 (2008c) ‘Vietnam Convicts, Imprisons ‘Whistle Blowing’ Reporter Who Found Government Corruption.’ British Broadcasting Corporation, October 14 (2008) ‘Vietnam trial tests media freedom.’ Deutsche Press-Agentur, October 29 (2008) ‘Vietnam Communist party takes tough stance against critical journalists.’ Financial Times, October 16 (2008) ‘Vietnam journalist jailed for exposing scandal.’ Reporters without Borders (2008b), ‘Trial of two journalists will be test for press freedom and the fight against corruption.’ Reporters without Borders (2008c), ‘Newspaper reporter’s two-year sentence deals severe blow to press freedom.’ Reuters, October 15 (2008) ‘Vietnam jails journalist in graft reporting trial.’ VietNamNet Bridge (VNA), November (2007) ‘Vietnam to put anti-corruption lessons into education syllabuses.’ VietNamNet Bridge (VNA), October 25 (2008) ‘Vietnam rejects wrong views on former journalists’ trial.’ Publications Elmqvist, M., Fredriksson, G (2003) ‘A Performance Analysis of the Swedish Support to Media Development in Vietnam’, Independent Monitoring Mission for Swedish Embassy, Ha Noi: SIDA Elmqvist, M., Luwarso, L (2006) ‘Media in Vietnam 2006: Looking Back, Going Forward’, Independent Monitoring Mission for Swedish Embassy, Ha Noi: SIDA Embassy of Sweden, October 17 (2008) ‘Statement by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the Sentences Given to Two Vietnamese Journalists.’ Gainsborough, M (2003) ‘Corruption and the Politics of Economic Decentralization in Vietnam’, Journal of Contemporary Asia Volume 33, No.1, London: Routledge Government of Viet Nam (1989, amended 1999) ‘Law on Media’ Government of Viet Nam (2006) ‘Anti-Corruption Law’ Government of Viet Nam (2008) ‘National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Corruption Towards 2020’ (Draft, 07/09/08) 44 McKinley, C (2007) ‘The Press in Vietnam: To what extent does the state-owned press combat corruption?’ Masters’ dissertation, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London McKinley, C (2008a) ‘The Role of Media in Monitoring and Exposing Corruption: International Experiences’, United Nations Development Programme Policy Note McKinley, C (2008b) ‘A Study of the Vietnamese Press’ Coverage of Land Issues as they Relate to Poverty Reduction (Offering Recommendations Regarding Foreign Assistance to the Media to Strengthen its Coverage)’, funded by the Ford Foundation Norland, I (2007) ‘Filing the gap: The Emerging Civil Society in Vietnam’, United Nations Development Programme, SNV Netherlands Development Organization Poroznuk, A (2006) ‘Investigative journalism: exposing corruption’, Transparency Watch: the ebulletin of the anti-corruption movement Reporters without Borders (2008a), ‘2008 Annual Report – Asia: Vietnam’ Sehgal, I (2007) ‘The role and conduct of media in accountability’, speech for the International AntiCorruption Day, Dec United Nations Development Program (2008) ‘Asia Pacific Human Development Report: Tackling Corruption, Transforming Lives’, McMillan India Ltd Vietnam Journalist Association (2007) ‘Presentation by Vietnam Journalism Association at Periodical Dialogue on Anti-Corruption,’ Anti-Corruption Dialogue, December World Bank (2004) ‘Vietnam Development Report 2005: Governance’, World Bank Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region Web sites American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE): http://www.asne.org BBC World Service Trust: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust Transparency International: http://www.transparency.org 45 Endnotes These include both weak ethical reporting standards and corruption within the media, which is widespread Anti-Corruption Law (2005), Article Draft Strategy (2008: Section 2.2.5) Elmqvist and Frederiksson (2003), Elmqvist and Luwarso (2006), McKinley (2007), (McKinley 2008b), Reporters without Borders (2008), various foreign and domestic press reports GoV, Law on Media (1989, amended 1999 and currently under review for further amendment) Nguyen Viet Chien of Thanh Nien newspaper and Nguyen Van Hai of Tuoi Tre newspaper were arrested in May 2008 on charges of spreading ‘false information’ when reporting the PMU 18 corruption case, in which a transport ministry official was discovered to have embezzled foreign aid funds and used the money, among other things, to bet on football matches The case led to high-level arrests, resignations and police investigations A two-day trial in October found the journalists guilty of a new charge: ‘abusing freedom and democratic rights to breach the interests of the state.’ Chien, who pleaded not guilty, received a two-year jail term Hai, who pleaded guilty, received a lesser two-year non-custodial sentence Details of this case and its implications are given in Chapter McKinley, C (2008a: 4) As discussed later in this report, readers’ letters often provide the tip off that reporters use to begin investigations into a corruption case, particularly at the petty corruption level Before Chien and Hai’s arrests and the withdrawal in August of credentials from other reporters, editorial freedoms appeared to be at an all time high 10 Most media organizations are wholly or largely state owned, although a few - such as VnExpress – are dominated by private interests VnExpress is majority owned by FPT Telecom Company 11 Article 6.4 12 Articles 6.2,10.3, and 10.4, respectively 13 Viet Nam publishes a list of state secrets but the list is regularly updated and it is difficult to know at any given time exactly what does or does not constitute a secret, leaving the system open to abuse Interview data gathered after the arrest of journalists Chien and Hai suggests the GoV is both willing and able to use such legislative contradictions to reign in the media when it becomes uncomfortable with reportage Historical evidence (offered in Elmqvist et al, 2003 and 2006, and McKinley 2007, and pertaining to coverage of corruption cases through the 1990s and the first half of this decade) supports this suggestion 14 Section 5.3 15 The CPV’s Department of Ideology and Culture sets the principles guiding media AC coverage and the ministry issues and implements legislation based on those principles 16 In which, as noted before, the media is answerable both to the state and to the people 17 McKinley 2007: 19 18 As mentioned, low-level coverage may be higher than the data suggests Nonetheless, coverage of highand medium-level corruption is strong and interviewees believed it could be prominent enough to worry members of the establishment with vested interests 19 Such as Da Nang Dong A University and Pham Chu Trinh University in Hoi An, among others 20 This is because journalists are state employees and are paid according to salary brackets decided by the state 21 Under the Law on Media’s Article 17c.1, ‘media organizations may carry out commercial activities and services…to create additional sources of income to re-invest in the development of the media,’ and the GoV is encouraging organizations to so in order to reduce pressure on its own already-stretched budget 22 Cited in McKinley (2008b) 46 23 Decision 77/2007/QD-TTg 24 Resistance may arise if officials fear misrepresentation of the information they provide, failure of journalists to abide by pledges of source anonymity, or other skills- and ethics-based weaknesses identified by interviewees and in the literature as existing within the Vietnamese media 25 Viet Nam’s Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that evidence cannot be disclosed if it relates to an ongoing trial Article 58.3d, for example, states that a defense lawyer shall ‘not…disclose investigation secrets they know while performing the defense; not to use notes taken and/or copied from the case files for the purpose of infringing upon the State's interests.’ Article 124 adds that ‘investigators, procurators, participants in the procedure or witnesses who disclose investigation secrets shall, on a case-by-case basis, bear penal liability under Articles 263, 264, 286, 287, 327 and 328 of the Penal Code.’ With regard to non-written evidence, Article 64.2 states that acceptable evidence includes “evidences,’ ‘exhibits,’ ‘testimonies,’ ‘expert conclusions,’ and ‘minutes of investigating and adjudicating activities, and other documents and things [sic].’ Article 65.2 adds that “participants in the procedure, agencies, organizations or any individuals may all present documents, as well as matters related to the cases [sic],’ but Article 74 appears to suggest this evidence will be accepted only if it proves an offense, not if it disproves it: ‘Exhibits are articles which have been used as tools or means for the commission of crimes; items carrying traces of crimes, things being the targets of crimes, as well as money and other things which can be used to prove the crimes and criminals [sic].’ 26 He did not identify the directives But, a case in example and according to foreign diplomatic and media interviewees who attended the trial of Chien and Hai in October, recorded verbal evidence supporting Chien’s claim that the stories for which he was accused of inaccurate reporting had fairly presented the facts given to him by senior police officials was not submitted as evidence despite requests by his defense lawyers that it be allowed 27 Details of possible amendments were not immediately available, but it is expected a new draft will be submitted to the National Assembly for comments at the spring 2009 session and subsequent approval at the autumn session 28 They were among the seven journalists whose credentials were withdrawn 29 Such envelopes contain cash, often several hundred thousand dong (US$1 = c.VND16,500), and are expected by most journalists The envelopes are ostensibly offered to cover travel and other conferencerelated expenses but there is usually an expectation of favourable coverage as well 30 It is common in Viet Nam for journalists to take a second job, often within a public relations agency or as a corporate communications officer Such jobs put the reporter in a position that may create conflicts of interest if, for example, news emerges that the company they work for is corrupt or will publish weaker financial results than expected 31 It was not possible to quantitatively assess the degree to which AC coverage offered original material pertaining to new cases or simply contained updates to previous stories or repetition of those published in other newspapers However, qualitative analysis suggested this was sometimes the case 32 Viet Nam limited garment and textile exports (in order to avoid anti-dumping charges from its trading partners) by issuing export quotas to garment and textile producers It transpired that these quotas were being illegally sold to the highest bidder Mai Van Dau, then vice minister of trade, was implicated in the scandal, as were less senior officials within the ministry 33 Forty-two out of a total of Nhan Dan’s 103 corruption-related stories in 2006 referred to PMU 18 34 Analysis of the size of corruption cases covered is given later Many Lao Dong stories did not offer an indication of the value of the corruption cases under investigation, but qualitative analysis of the data suggests many involved fairly small amounts of money 35 It is possible that some researcher error is evident here Both Nhan Dan and Thanh Nien were researched by the same person, who may have included for analysis fewer stories than the researcher who analyzed the other three newspapers 36 Such as PMU I8, the garment and textile quota case, the sale of fake electricity meters in HCMC, the misallocation of land in Do Son near Hai Phong and the corruption within Project Management Unit 112 (in which funds were misused in the Project for Computerization of State Administrative Management) 37 As discussed in Appendix 47 38 Land use rights determine how a plot of land can be used, and residential rights are valued more highly than agricultural rights Land classified as residential can therefore be sold at a higher price than land classified for agricultural use 39 Such as arrests, court cases, sentencing, issuance of government legislation, etc 40 On November 1, 2008, Thanh Nien newspaper reported that parliamentary deputies asked on October 31 why “many cases of corruption (are) being exposed by the press and the public, not by the agencies wherein they actually happen.” 41 Twenty stories were chosen at random from each news source and all of Thanh Nien and Nhan Dan’s coverage of the PMU 18 case – totalling a further 100 stories – were studied 42 The Central Committee comprises around 150 members It elects a 15-member Politburo which is charged with overseeing the CPV’s operations and issuing legislative guidelines 43 Article 258 44 This failure to use the media law to sanction members of the media brings into question the law’s ability to protect journalists from prosecution if the state decides it wishes to prosecute Any adjustment to the media law, which is now under review, should consider the extent to which journalists – and the state when dealing with journalists - are bound by it, and the circumstances under which other legislation might override the media law In addition, journalists should understand their responsibilities vis-à-vis defamation and libel 45 The decree set fines of up to VND3 million (c.$190) to be paid by reporters basing stories on anonymous sources, banned articles that reveal party, state, military or economic secrets, and required reporters to have all articles reviewed by the state before publication Yet it also clarified fines for hindering journalists’ activities and threatening their physical safety (McKinley 2007: 10) 46 ‘Corruption in General Education in Viet Nam’ (2007), Dr Nguyen Dinh Cu, Institute of Population and Social Studies, Viet Nam National Economics University 47 The other two being ‘monitoring’ and ‘exposure’ as discussed earlier 48 For example, the US offers protection under its Free Flow of Information Act (known as the ‘media shield law’) to journalists being asked to name confidential sources or turn over information they have gathered during the course of investigations Australia has a similar shield law These laws are controversial, as some opponents fear it allows journalists to avoid the accountability demanded of other citizens It is not we are suggesting a “media shield law” as in other countries, but given the current discussion on the revised draft media law in Viet Nam, it might be time to discuss and consider adding specific mechanisms to protect journalists from political and arbitrary prosecution 49 Often, young reporters in high-profile news organizations travel overseas on journalism scholarships but return to a news organization that is unwilling or unable to absorb the ideas they bring home 50 Viet Nam Journalism Association (2007: 2) 51 The political sensitivities surrounding the Vietnamese media sector and the GoV’s call for it to increase coverage of corruption made gathering reliable data extremely difficult 52 Semi-structured interviews took place from March to July, with research conversations continuing to November 53 Coverage by VietNamNet, a second online newspaper known for aggressive AC reporting, was also analyzed but the data set developed was not considered complete enough for inclusion in this study 54 McKinley, C (2007) 55 Thanh Nien is owned by the National Youth Union, Tuoi Tre by the HCMC branch of the Communist Youth League, and VnExpress by FPT (the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology), in which the state holds a very minimal stake (0.1% of equity with 7.21% of voting rights, according to FPT’s 2007 annual report) 56 It is possible, for example, that both researcher and translator error may have led to the use of the word ‘million’ instead of ‘billion’ where the value of each corruption case was involved 57 For example, a story about the construction of a road and involving corruption within the local administration might fall under ‘transport,’ ‘construction, or ‘public administration.’ 48 ... to the ‘value’ of the case in terms of gold, land, or other variables that could not be re readily adily compared and are therefore classified as ‘value not given’ in Graph Graph 4: Value of... coverage Coverage by value Stories indicating the value of the corruption ccase ase under investigation were categorized to identify the size of each case receiving media attention Values are given... (2008), various foreign and domestic press reports GoV, Law on Media (1989, amended 1999 and currently under review for further amendment) Nguyen Viet Chien of Thanh Nien newspaper and Nguyen Van