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Media asked to cooperate in fight against corruption

Vice President of the Lao PDR Mr Bounnhang Vorachit stated that corruption is dangerous, has an adverse effect on the economy and society, and asked the media to play a part in addressing the problem.

He was speaking at the Eighth Congress of the Lao Journalists' Association yesterday at the National Culture Hall in Vientiane after the association's members elected their new executive committee.

He said the media could contribute to educating people about the dangers of corruption. We used to say it was difficult to use a lotus leaf to cover the smoke. The smoke might not be visible at present, but it might emerge in the future, he said.

Mr Bounnhang praised those who were retired but wrote to him about the problems people were talking about every day.

He suggested that newspaper reporting should involve detailed research to ensure a stronger fight against social problems.

We have many enemies, he said. They include outdated practices. We have to make sure that people remain patriotic. To lose our culture is to lose our country, but we have to shed the parts that are old and outdated.

He said that reporting should be done in a constructive way to encourage people to take up better jobs that would increase productivity, such as abandoning slash and burn cultivation. In addition, the media should report the achievements of outstanding people to encourage them to do better and to set examples that others could follow.

Writers have to encourage people to implement Party policy and we need to provide interesting and comprehensive information to create trust among the public, he said.

Journalists should also encourage younger people to inherit the task of promoting the Party and fostering national development.

Mr Bounnhang said the media played an important role in promoting Party policy and the laws of the State, encouraging solidarity and love of the new regime.

He urged media workers to study hard, as information technology was growing fast. They should try to provide information that was relevant to people's everyday lives. He noted that current reporting by the Lao media was more comprehensive than in the past.

As the world grows more complex, the media is an instrument to provide understanding of current events as well as contributing to the nation's development.

But, he said, the media could either be of benefit or have a negative effect. Used in the right way, it would serve the nation, but used wrongly it could cause harm.

The government acknowledged the importance of the role played by the media by creating favourable conditions for the fulfilment of its objectives in providing the right kind of information.

By Vientiane Times

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