Vietnamese Blogger Pham Doan Trang Receives Award For Work to Improve Journalistic Freedom
Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has awarded its 2019 Press Freedom Prize to three female journalists, including prominent Vietnamese blogger Pham Doan Trang, who authored a book on political engagement that angered authorities in Hanoi.
Trang, who has vowed to remain in Vietnam until the country becomes a democracy, was awarded RSF’s Prize for Impact in absentia for her work which “has led to concrete improvements in journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism, or to an increase in awareness of these matters.”
In a video Trang recorded that was played during the award ceremony in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday, the author of Politics for Everyone said that while Vietnam’s Constitution contains language which, among other things, guarantees the protection of human rights such as freedom of speech, “it doesn’t mean anything.”
