VietNamNet Bridge – The national television of Vietnam (VTV) has been involved in a scandal after broadcasting a reportage that included arranged scenes.

A scene from the clip.

On May 3, a video clip entitled “The broom to sweep vegetables” was aired on the program “Morning Coffee with VTV3” of VTV.

 According to the clip, some vegetable growers in a commune in Thanh Hoa province used a bamboo broom to sweep through vegetable fields in order to scratch leaves to make buyers believe that the vegetables had been eaten by worms, meaning that the vegetable were safe.

As safe food is the top concern of Vietnamese people today, the clip attracted public attention. Because of the clip, vegetable farmers could not sell their products.

However, on May 11, a four-minute video clip was shared on the Internet featuring a woman, who is believed to be a VTV reporter, standing in the meeting hall of Vinh Thanh commune, Thanh Hoa province, offering an apology to vegetable farmers and local authorities for making up the story and arranging some scenes in “The broom to sweep vegetable”.

She wished to have a chance to redeem her mistake, by returning to the commune on May 12-13 to shoot a video clip to prove that the vegetables planted here are safe.

On May 11 VTV suspended the reporter, who is said a probationer named Pham Thi Phuong and sent an apology to Vinh Loc district and the people who were in the video clip.

Earlier, VTV officials listened to Phuong’s explanation and came to the conclusion that this reporter seriously violated the professional ethics as she wrongly reported the fact and arranged some scenes in the clip. VTV said they would announce sanctions on the reporter soon.

On May 12 the Ministry of Information and Communications asked VTV to report the case by May 13.

Le Thu