"Lighting up the profession" with authentic slices

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - With the belief that "journalistic works must come from real life", journalist Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy (pen name An Thu, working at the News Department, Thanh Hoa Newspaper and Radio - Television Station) has quietly gone, quietly listened, to collect each story, each fate, to create journalistic works full of life, full of emotions, rich in humanity. For her, journalism is not just a profession, but a journey to tell about life with all her heart.

Reporter An Thu (left) receives an award at the 42nd National Television Festival. (Photo: Provided by the character)

Journalist An Thu's dream of becoming a journalist was nurtured since she was still in school. She said: “When I was in 10th grade, I was selected to participate in a game show of Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station (now Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station). That was the first time I came into contact with journalists; witnessed the professional production process of a television crew; saw the dynamism and enthusiasm of reporters and editors. From then on, my dream of becoming a journalist was formed.”

To pursue her dream, after graduating from high school, journalist An Thu took the entrance exam to the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. After graduating, she entered the profession at the place that ignited her passion - Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station. From then on, with the pen name An Thu, she devoted herself to journalism with the mindset of constantly going, constantly feeling and constantly spreading real stories to create works that breathe life.

Sharing about the process of creating a work, journalist An Thu shared: “I think that the topic is one of the very important factors that contribute to the success of a journalistic work. If we compare the production of a journalistic work to the process of making a cake, the topic is the raw material. Only with good ingredients can the baker make a delicious cake. Therefore, when producing television works, especially high-quality journalistic works, I often pay great attention to finding and choosing the topic."

With 15 years of experience, journalist An Thu is not afraid of difficult, thorny topics and is passionate about cultural and social topics. Talking about the process of creating the work that left a deep impression on her, journalist An Thu shared: “At that time, I had just started working at Thanh Hoa Radio and Television Station. Through reality, I grasped information about a 12-year-old pregnant woman in Thach Thanh district. She was abused many times and gave birth at a very young age. Realizing that this was a “hot” topic with high social criticism, I proposed implementing it. I still remember clearly the image of that day. It was a hot summer morning, in a remote mountainous countryside. In an old, cramped house, the 12-year-old pregnant woman sat holding a tiny newborn baby in her arms. Every time someone asked her, the young mother burst into tears.”

From the sad story of the character, reporter An Thu and her crew created a 10-minute television report titled “The Story of a 12-year-old Pregnant Woman”. When aired, the report had a certain impact on public opinion, contributing to alerting society to the problem of child abuse and its serious, long-term consequences.

Not only leaving her mark with many works that breathe life, journalist An Thu is also particularly "lucky" with journalism awards. Up to now, she has had a rich "collection" of awards with about 50 journalism works winning awards in central and local competitions. Typical examples include the Gold Prize at the National Television Festival in 2016 and 2020; the Gold Prize at the National Radio Festival in 2022; the Silver Prize at the National Television Festival in 2025; the C Prize at the National Press Award in 2021; 10 A prizes at the Tran Mai Ninh Journalism Award and the Golden Hammer and Sickle Award in Thanh Hoa province...

Sharing about how to invest in one of the award-winning works, she shared: “In the process of reality, in the villages I passed through, many people chose to give up their lives by using poison leaves. The story of the Mong people in Muong Lat committing suicide by using poison leaves made me ponder and decide to build the educational film “Ghost Finger”. To make the work, we spent several months searching for characters and building the script. The characters we chose all had tragic stories about human fate. However, approaching them was not simple. We not only spent time but also used sincerity, understanding, and sharing with them to find authentic and valuable documents. From those characters, we reflected the pain of bad customs and the solutions that authorities at all levels proposed to help people overcome superstition and build the village. The work won the gold prize at the National Television Festival”.

Full of enthusiasm for the profession and a never-ending creative process, journalism with love and responsibility to society, these are the precious qualities of journalist An Thu. Thanks to that, her journalistic works not only leave a deep impression on the audience or score high with the judges of competitions, but also contribute to creating the "brand" of journalist An Thu - a person with a solid career, a creative career and a kind heart.

Quynh Chi

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thap-lua-nghe-bang-nhung-lat-cat-chan-thuc-252783.htm