Media News - Thursday, May 15, 2008

Vietnam media decry reporters’ arrests

The arrests of two Vietnamese reporters for their coverage of a bribery, gambling and corruption scandal have led to a highly unusual confrontation between Vietnam's Communist government and the country's state-controlled newspapers. Vietnamese newspapers are generally deferential to the government, which controls all of the nation's media. But this week's arrests unleashed a torrent of protests from journalists and bloggers, who said the detentions would discourage aggressive reporting on corruption, one of Vietnam's most urgent problems. Sparking their outrage were the arrests Monday of Nguyen Viet Chien of Thanh Nien and Nguyen Van Hai of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. Authorities also arrested one police investigator and interrogated another who were accused of providing false information to the journalists. The reporters are accused of ‘abuse of authority’ for allegedly inaccurate reporting on a major corruption scandal that led to the resignation of the transportation minister in 2006. Tuoi Tre published a story Wednesday saying it was inundated by phone calls, e-mails and letters from angry citizens protesting the government's move — the most it had received in 33 years of publication. (AP via ABC News)

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