Collector Nguyen Phi Dung on his journey to bring old newspapers to the younger generation

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung currently owns a large number of newspapers with many different publications and genres. He devoted a dedicated space to each newspaper. Among them are newspapers that are hundreds of years old. Or early revolutionary newspapers such as Cuu Quoc, Doc Lap, Co Giai Phong, which have historical value to the country.

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung recalls: “In the 1970s, my father had a daily habit of going to newsstands to buy his favorite newspapers. After reading them, he carefully bound them into volumes to save for his children and grandchildren to read later. Thanks to that, I also had the same habit as him. The amount of my collection increased rapidly over time. Many friends near and far knew that I collected them and sent them to me as gifts by post .”

 

Every day, collector Nguyen Phi Dung still spends many hours reading the contents, classifying, arranging and recording all publications so that readers and visitors can easily look them up. Photo: Le Tam

For Mr. Dung, newspaper is not only the intelligence, responsibility and love of journalists behind the words, but he also inspires the passion for newspaper in the young generation. Through that, he hopes to preserve a part of the country's history.

After decades or even hundreds of years, many of the paper newspapers in his “museum” are difficult to keep intact, and preservation work is difficult. He hopes to open a small museum in the near future to improve the ability to store and preserve publications. Digitize publications to preserve them for future generations.

Wishing that many readers would know the values ​​of Vietnam's revolutionary press, collector Nguyen Phi Dung always maintains the spirit of collecting as much as possible. Whenever he hears about old newspapers for sale, he goes there and tries to buy them. When he brings them back, he spends time arranging them scientifically by time and topic for easy searching and reference.

Receiving and giving away, he tried every way to preserve it in the best way and wondered how to effectively exploit the great values ​​of each publication in his huge collection. Not only did he keep it for himself, he also spent time introducing it to government agencies, especially libraries, archives, research institutes, and museums, to borrow, read, and consult.

Journalist Phi Dung traced back the timeline of the newspaper to find documents in Nhan Dan newspaper No. 23 dated September 2, 1951, the first issue commemorating National Day in Nhan Dan newspaper. Photo: Le Tam

Every year, during holidays such as: April 30; May 1; June 21; September 2…, he still takes time to welcome guests from all over the country who want to learn about issues published decades ago. Even individuals and households who want to access and look up information, he is always happy to welcome and share information.

Taking advantage of social media platforms to bring newspapers to more readers, collector Nguyen Phi Dung recently created TikTok and Facebook accounts to introduce old and ancient newspapers to young people. In it, he introduced press publications with issues that coincide with the date - month - year of birth of young people of generations 7X, 8X, 90X, Gen Z... and immediately many young people contacted, came to and asked the "museum" to help find press publications that were published on the exact day they were born.

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung shared: After the "broadcasts" and posting clips on TikTok and Facebook, there were hundreds of interactive comments from young people. Many young people were curious to see what outstanding events in the country were published in the newspaper on their birthday. Because at that time online newspapers were not yet developed, there was no internet... the events of the country that took place on that day did not have any information or images, only the paper newspapers were kept. Many young people came to ask to buy or photocopy them to give as birthday gifts to relatives.

“In reality, with the development of technology and artificial intelligence today, with so much information and even fake news, a segment of young people are starting to return to paying attention to newspapers, especially publications that reflect the breath of the times,” Mr. Nguyen Phi Dung shared.

Young people enjoy old newspaper publications. Photo: Le Tam

It can be affirmed that in an era where information technology is developing rapidly, there are still people who know how to preserve values ​​and promote the role of Vietnamese revolutionary journalism throughout the past nearly 100 years.

Not only that, they also know how to connect the past and present, technology and media. They know how to apply digital technology to bring newspapers closer to more people and especially to help young people understand more about the proud history of revolutionary journalism and love the history of the nation more.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-suu-tam-nguyen-phi-dung-voi-hanh-trinh-dua-bao-co-den-the-he-tre-post310332.html