The Bắc Ninh Diocese: Doing the Journalism Việt Nam’s State Media Leaves Undone

The ongoing land clearance for the Gia Bình International Airport project in Bắc Ninh Province serves as a striking example of the current state of Vietnamese media.

According to state-run newspapers, provincial leaders met with the Bắc Ninh Bishopric “to understand the thoughts and aspirations of the people and ensure the accelerated progress of site clearance.” These reports frequently utilize familiar phrases such as “listening,” “sharing,” “resolving difficulties,” and “building consensus.” [1]

However, those seeking to understand the specific concerns raised by the Church, or the actual experiences of those forced to leave their homes, land, and communities, will not find complete answers in the state press. Instead, these details emerge much more clearly on the information platforms of the Diocese of Bắc Ninh.

The gap between these two narratives exposes a paradox within Vietnamese media life.

State Media is Not Silent, But …

State media is not completely silent on the matter, but its coverage is strictly confined to a “safe” narrative that protects the project’s promoters.

While the press informs the public about the implementation of the project, it fails to illustrate the actual impact on people’s lives. Residents are mentioned, but they are rarely permitted to be the primary narrators of their stories; news reports portray them as subjects who must be persuaded, assisted, or informed into compliance, rather than as individuals with a legitimate right to question policies that disrupt their lives.

This dynamic is unsurprising in Việt Nam, where the press has long been regarded primarily as the voice of the authorities. [2]

The Church Acts as the “Community Journalism”

Stepping into this informational gap, the information platforms of the Diocese of Bắc Ninh are performing a noteworthy function by documenting details that the mainstream media largely ignores. Although they are legally not media organizations, they effectively carry out the social functions of journalism in practice.

By recording events from the perspective of the affected community, these platforms preserve the words, emotions, questions, and anxieties of local residents. [3] They remind the public that behind every major infrastructure project—beyond the planning documents, investment capital, and construction schedules—lie actual homes, farmland, graves, schools, jobs, and religious lives.

In the Gia Bình case, the Diocese revealed the hidden half of the story that belonged to those who were forced to leave their land.

The Diocese’s Unique Position

An independent blogger or a marginalized civil society group can be easily isolated or punished for dissenting against government initiatives, but a Catholic diocese occupies a vastly different position. 

Backed by a structured organization, a dedicated clergy, immense religious legitimacy, and ties to the global Catholic Church, a diocese possesses inherent protections. Moreover, the Church does not need to rely on confrontational political language to exert influence. 

When a bishop asserts that development is meaningful only when human beings are placed at the center, authorities face a moral proposition that they can hardly reject publicly. 

When a priest asks, “If your parents, spouse, and children were in this situation, what would you think,” he is not chanting a protest slogan but posing a question of conscience. 

The state may resent such questions, but it struggles to dismiss them as subversive.

This dynamic does not negate the fact that religion in Việt Nam remains subject to tight state control. [4] Rather, it highlights a dilemma for authorities; intervening harshly against an officially recognized diocese risks provoking a social reaction much larger than action taken against an individual.

Regardless, it is important to note that diocesan information platforms are not fully independent journalistic entities. Their natural limitation as religious institutions means that they do not necessarily represent all affected residents; they predictably advocate more forcefully when Catholic properties, communities, or religious rights are directly threatened.

However, this limitation only magnifies the shortcomings of the mainstream press. If state media actually fulfilled its mandate of public accountability, citizens would not be forced to rely on diocesan websites or community Facebook pages to uncover the truth. 

The Gia Bình case is not just about an infrastructure project; it exposes a massive information gap in Việt Nam’s public sphere, proving that society often finds the most human dimension of a political event in places not traditionally called “the press.”

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Thúc Kháng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 17, 2026. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.