AP Photo

When security forces tried to evict a family of fish farmers from their land in Tien Lang district in northern Vietnam, they weren’t expecting to be met with guns and land mines. The ensuing battle ended up with six officers in the hospital and four men charged with attempted murder.

The case was explosive in more than one sense of the word. In a rare move in a country where news is strictly censored by the government, reporters were allowed to thoroughly investigate the case. Indeed, one former Western diplomat said at the time he had never seen local media cover a story to the same depth as bloggers.