Reporting in Vietnam

I called a foreign reporter here in Hanoi to ask a few questions, but midway through the first one she cut me off and said we should meet instead. The government had listened in on her calls before, she told me later, and she didn't want to take the chance they were listening then. I thought it was a little Deep Throatish, pre-Deep Throat revealing himself to be an old man whose mind is half gone.

Foreign reporters are supposed to register with the Vietnamese government. Six years ago another reporter who didn't register was thrown out of the country after he wrote about politics. The reporter suggested I not register, as it's a long, tedious process, but as a result I can't interview any government officials. I don't consider Nguoi Viet 2, the paper I freelance for, remotely threatening, but the Vietnamese government keeps tabs on everything said about it, including anything from the largest Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) newspaper in the U.S.

Each registered reporter is given a translator/minder who is technically supposed to watch over them. These minders may eventually do the same work as a reporter, but they're known officially as news assistants because Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world to ban its citizens from working as reporters for a foreign outlet. Reporters also must base themselves in Hanoi, even though Saigon is where the economic action is, and they have to get permission to report in other areas. Often the permission is granted, and then revoked at the last minute.

The reporter recommended I stick with social issues, but not major ones like the growing heroin problem. Other advice: Don't interview any government officials, but, say, a doctor at a hospital is okay. Just tell don't tell him it's for some Viet Kieu paper in America. Can I use his name? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how the interview went. It's mind-boggling. And we complain about lack of media access in America...

QUICK NOTE: The guy next to me, who's on IM, has written "I love you" and hit return about 50 times. I think maybe, just maybe, he loves someone.