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In the past, I've always been interested in telling stories about disadvantaged groups during my three years in the newsroom, and two years as an independent documentary filmmaker, I used to reports issues like elderly workers, illegal sand mining, discrimination, and LGBT communities. When I make this content, I am always proud that I have "give a voice to the voiceless.” But turn out, all of that work can do more harm than good because it makes viewers only zoom into the personal story to cry for the unfortunate and forget to zoom out to define the root cause.
Problem 1: Diagnosis of the symptom but not a cause
When researching the topic, I want to understand what problems they have, how they feel, and how they cope with that situation. Then, I find a way to tell a compelling story with plot and drama. While it is necessary to investigate the subject thoroughly, it is dangerous just to stop there. As in cancer treatment, the doctor not only needs to assess symptoms but also identify a tumor in the body before it spreads.
In many reports that I made, I mainly showed a touching side of the stories instead of the cause of the problem. In the farmer’s story to prevent illegal sand at Cồn Dơi, Bến Tre, I mentioned a lot about the nostalgia of their lost land and the heroic aspect of fighting against illegal sand mining. On one hand, this cultivated sympathy of the viewers. Still, it is easy to misguide the viewer only they feel sorry for them and not define the problem in businesses model and local governments responsibility. Like how the Vietnam newspaper covers flooding in the Central region, viewers feel sorry for them and donate a lot of money to help victims but do not question the state's disaster management system.
Problem 2: Personalize the problem
Personalizing the problem is changing the narrative from a system problem to personal responsibility. For example, women have to compromise with the discrimination & sexism they have to endure, such as when out on the street, women have to dress more modestly to defend against harassment. Personalizing the issue creates victim-blaming, but it also helps to sustain the system power and distracts the community from the main point.
The mistake I made in the illegal sand mining video was praising their actions. This video is part of the We Choice series, a program about inspirational stories broadcast by VTV on national television. Treating them as heroes can make the characters and viewers think this is something worth maintaining. In reality, their action comes from the helpless feeling when they watch all of their lands lost to the river from the illegal sand minding without local government action or protection. Sand mining businesses and government departments need to be responsible for ensuring people's property or adequately compensate for damage. Instead of making the change, the one in power gives the people the sweet candy to forget the pain, give the medal in honor of what they have to endure.
Ironically, I was the one who produced that medal. I convince the farmer that I am doing good with the thought of "give a voice to the voiceless". I listened to their thoughts and feelings then find a way to portray them most dramatically on video. What they have a medal in hand, but they still lost their land into the river. The man in this photo continues to have to shovel rocks every day with the fear that the dyke will break and the river will wash away his house, and I'm back in the city with all my comforts, and I feel good about myself because I thought I’d done something good.
19/07/2021 by Hoang Long
This article is inspired by chapter 4 of Winners take all by Anand Giridharadas (2018).
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"Part II: A healthy society needs public intellectuals” will be updated on Wednesday, 21/04. In this piece, I will discuss the need for public intellectuals and my role in society as a student. Here is a quick look
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