When a Journalist Becomes an Advisor: Is the Truth Harder to Find?

The latest episode of LOXO features a dialogue between Duong Do and journalist Khong Loan – former Deputy Managing Editor of Forbes Vietnam with over 20 years of experience in the journalism industry, currently a Spokesperson Advisor & Executive Presence Coach.

When a journalist transitions from the role of “tracking down” what businesses want to hide, to becoming a communications advisor for the powerful; are they helping to elevate true values, or going against their own ideals of truth?

The conversation opens with an inquiry into moral boundaries, when journalistic tools are used to “package” the image of corporate leaders:

1. Discourse: Image Building or Lying?

Duong Do raises a straightforward issue regarding the power of words: “If they possess no profound value, and we help them build an image, are we helping them lie?” He expresses concern that media engineering could become a mask concealing internal emptiness.

Conversely, Khong Loan believes that words have the ability to construct reality. Selecting the best values for communication is an act of “betting on innate goodness.” When a leader dares to publicly declare noble ideals, they place themselves under an integrity commitment, forcing themselves to self-correct every day to live up to those statements.

Image from the LOXO Podcast recording session | Credit: Thang Bina

Discourse can act as an advanced standard to drive human evolution. Truth, therefore, is both something that already exists and something cultivated through the responsibility of words.

2. Lack of Success is Not Necessarily Failure.

Prompted by Khong Loan about an unsuccessful experience, Duong Do shares his story about a project in Hue—an endeavor into which he poured immense effort and which received massive community support, but was ultimately halted due to internal value conflicts.

For him: “Technical issues can be fixed, but conflicts in values are incurable.”

. Khong Loan: “When a project is not successful, does it become a failure?”

. Duong Do: “Not quite… It is simultaneously a failure and an accumulation.”

The true value remaining after an unfinished project depends entirely on each person’s internal capacity for transformation. Facing the same challenge, some might collapse and lose faith in everything in life. But for Duong Do personally, after every such instance, he realizes his personal development steps up to a new level, making his resilience and mental health much more robust. Adversity, therefore, brings not only brokenness but serves as an opportunity for accumulation and self-evolution.

3. Mindfulness: Smoothness or Elasticity?

The accumulation from these practical clashes leads to another skepticism from Duong Do regarding the somewhat meditative, gentle atmosphere that journalist Khong Loan pursues. He worries this smoothness might blunt creative resilience—which often stems from collisions and “scratches” in real-world experiences:

“Does living too idealistically make us one-sided?”

Khong Loan redefines mindfulness in a practical way: It is Elasticity. Mindfulness is not about sitting still in a safe environment, but the ability to keep one’s mindset from going off-axis amidst the continuous fluctuations of work and the market. Aiming for the benefit of others and the community is not a moral slogan, but the smartest strategy to protect oneself.

Image from the LOXO Podcast recording session | Credit: Thang Bina

4. Internal Lighthouses.

The dialogue concludes with two self-portraits from both individuals. Khong Loan associates herself with the peacefulness and endurance of the Ly dynasty dragon imagery; Duong Do is explosive energy like a fire jellyfish.

Ultimately, the most solid anchor of communication remains the process of internal self-correction: “Evolve oneself first, help others become better later” is a discipline of action. Only those who dare to be honest with themselves can transform words into power.

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Edited by Toong Editorial.

Content synthesized from the dialogue between Duong Do and guest Khong Loan on the LOXO program.

Watch the full Podcast episode.

WHEN A JOURNALIST BECOMES AN ADVISOR: IS THE TRUTH HARDER TO FIND? | KHONG LOAN

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