Vietnamese netizens are questioning the authenticity of a VTV24 documentary which details the ongoing conflict in Syria.
The feature, titled “News Feature Story on Syria: A View From Inside the Conflict”, aired on July 23, chronicling lead journalist Le Binh’s trip to the war-torn country, reports Tuoi Tre. Last June, her team spent 13 days in Syria interviewing local soldiers and residents about their story and how the fight against terrorist group Daesh has affected their lives.
The documentary and Binh’s team were lauded by the General Director of Vietnam Television Tran Binh Minh for their “brave and outstanding completion of the assigned task”, according to BBC. However, Vietnamese netizens had their own opinions about the documentary.
Some viewers doubted the credibility of the program as they noticed how Binh’s brightly colored attire and fashionable sunglasses were incongruous with the trip’s somber tone and dangerous nature. Critics also deemed Binh’s reporting unprofessional, citing that the feature lacked factual information while packing in excessive emotional fillers.
Content-wise, some eagle-eyed netizens also pointed out that a few narrative details in the documentary didn’t add up with real life events. An article in Bao Giao Thong questions the timeline and details of the crew's three alleged brushes with death during their trip.
Last Wednesday, in an effort to assuage public anger, Le Binh and her team held a press conference to explain their editorial choices, reports Tuoi Tre.
During the conference, Binh admitted that her choice of attire was “non-professional”, but reasoned that the Syrian guide assured them about the safety of the local city Homs where they were visiting.
However, she defended her choice of including many scenes of her crying, saying that the report “had to be embedded with emotions”.
“We knew people would say that we were ‘acting’ then, but omitting those scenes would have reduced the credibility of our report,” she told Tuoi Tre.
Have a look at the half-hour-long Vietnamese documentary, courtesy of VTV24, below:
[Video via YouTube user VTV24]
