The first revolutionary newspaper published publicly

During the period 1936 - 1939, 'The People' appeared as a unique phenomenon in the history of revolutionary journalism, representing the voice of the Indochinese Communist Party. With content about people's livelihood and democracy, the newspaper aimed at workers and persistently fought for freedom of the press.

The rare period when journalism "blooms"

In 1936, the French Popular Front Government came to power and implemented progressive policies, creating favorable conditions for open press activities in colonial countries, including Indochina.

Dan Chung Newspaper No. 1 published on July 22, 1938 and Spring 1939 issue

Photo: Document

Seizing that opportunity, under the leadership of the Party, our people achieved victory in the movement to demand freedom for political prisoners, in the election campaign and especially in the Party's press activities. The released political prisoners quickly resumed contact, built grassroots organizations and urgently published newspapers openly.

Public journalism exploded across the country, especially in Saigon and Hanoi - the two largest publishing centers in the country.

According to documents from the French archives, in 1936, Vietnam had 277 newspapers, magazines, and journals of all kinds, an increase of 47 compared to the beginning of the year. This number continued to increase steadily over the years: 289 in 1937, 308 in 1938, and continued to increase by 4% in 1939.

'The People' - the revolutionary newspaper that "broke the barrier"

However, by 1938, the Party's Vietnamese and French newspapers were only weekly and local in nature. Therefore, the Party Central Committee and the Regional Committees decided to find every way to publish Vietnamese newspapers as the official mouthpieces of the Party and organizations.

Dan Chung Newspaper No. 1 published on July 22, 1938 and Spring 1939 issue

Photo: Document

The Party Central Committee called on "tribal parties to raise money for the Party to publish a newspaper with national influence and characteristics and to publish it in installments, especially providing world and domestic news to promptly respond to current events" (Party Documents, Volume II, H.1997, pp.282-283).

Within 3 months, General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu and revolutionary Ha Huy Tap directly directed and urgently prepared all work. On July 22, 1938, the first issue of Dan Chung newspaper (without permission to publish) was introduced to readers. For the first time, a newspaper openly challenged the decrees and orders of the colonial government. According to the regulations at that time, all Vietnamese newspapers were only allowed to be published with the approval of the Governor General of Indochina.

Published by three major printing houses in Saigon, Dan Chung was the newspaper with the largest print run at that time. Issue 1 printed 1,000 copies, issue 2 printed 2,000 copies and increased further. To celebrate the 9th anniversary of the Party's founding (issues 40 and 41), the newspaper printed 10,000 copies each. The Spring 1939 issue printed 15,000 copies. Normally, each issue fluctuated around 6,000 copies.

Working here are usually Duong Tri Phu, Tran Van Kiet, Huynh Van Thanh, Hoang Hoa Cuong... They manage assets, edit articles, receive readers, correct printed copies, submit copies, and even take turns going to the market and cooking.

Although not publicly claiming to be the organ of the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party, Dan Chung was still one of two newspapers at that time that published Party documents, along with Le Peuple (printed in French).

During more than a year of existence with 80 public issues, Dan Chung was a mirror that faithfully reflected the political and social activities in Indochina and in the world on the eve of World War II.

The issues that the People are concerned about are also hot current issues related to the fate of the nation and the world, namely: Fascism threatens world peace; the risk of world war breaking out; the struggle of people who love world peace initiated by the Communist International; the strong leadership movements against war, protecting peace, demanding freedom and democracy.

In addition, the newspaper published many popular articles explaining the Party's policies and guidelines in each period, aiming to orient awareness, arouse the spirit of struggle and guide the masses to organize activities demanding freedom, democracy, food, clothing and peace from the colonial government.

The People also mentioned all the issues in the domestic democratic movement: demanding freedom of the press, freedom to form friendly associations and unions, freedom of assembly; demanding the release of all political prisoners, reform of the electoral system and the representative councils, opposing the return of the 1884 Treaty; demanding reform of tax policy, improving the lives of workers, farmers, soldiers and students; improving the lives of the working people. ( continued )

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/to-bao-cach-mang-dau-tien-phat-hanh-cong-khai-185250606225940268.htm