Cambodia has a freer press than some other countries in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam, Burma, Laos or Singapore. The only absolute limitation on what we can say is a constitutional prohibition against criticizing the King.
To understand our current situation, it helps to know a bit about our history.
Cambodia's long history in Southeast Asia, dating back to the Angkorian empire and beyond, is well known.
Unfortunately, Cambodia was torn by a series of wars between 1970s and 1997, and has survived much political turmoil. But now, peace and democracy have been restored.
Our first experience of a free press came in the 1960s under then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk. There were 13 daily papers, two weeklies and three monthlies, several supplements and summaries as well as a daily journal of criticism. Most of these publications supported the state.
In 1965, however, Prince Sihanouk barred all Western journalists, especially those with the US-based Newsweek Magazine. Mr. Krisher was in Cambodia Daily, the newspaper, which I work for.
In 1970, General Lon No1 overthrew the Sihanouk government, and clamped down on press freedom. Four publications were closed and no TV station could broadcast news. He only allowed a single radio station loyal to him to broadcast propaganda. That pattern was repeated in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge came to power.
There was no media at all when the Khmer Rouge ruled the country for about four years. 1.7 million people died of forced overwork, disease, starvation and torture during the regime.
On January 7, 1979, The Khmer Rouge regime was toppled by Cambodian and Vietnamese troops. The media was reborn following a Vietnamese-installed government led by Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
The mass media was totally controlled by the state. No Western journalists were pro-state, including Procheachun Daily, Kongtoap Padevath, Kampuchea Weekly, and Phnom Penh Weekly. There was one known as L'Agence Khmer de Presse (AKP).
Conditions inside Cambodia improved by 1993, when the first-ever national election was organized by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). That was followed in 1998 by a Cambodia-run national election. A third national election was expected in 2003.
The 1993 UNTAC period kick-started a move towards greater press freedom. The UN operated its own radio station to educate voters about their rights. Thousands of small radios were distributed to villagers. The national television network, TVK, broadcast voter education information.
Ninety percent Cambodians voted in 1993. The concept of media as means to disseminate information caught hold; a growing number of Khmer and foreign language newspapers have registered with the Ministry of Information in the years that followed. They include the Khmer (Light of Cambodia). English-language newspapers included The Cambodia Times.
Since the first election in 1993 until today, the Ministry of Information has been unwilling to relax its control over the mass media. That may be because, as a young democracy, Cambodia has many newspapers that are not neutral. More than 40 political parties have been formed over the years, although only three – the Cambodian Peoples' Party (CPP), the Royalist Party (Funcinpec) and former Finance Minister Sam Rainsy's opposition party – have thrived. Each owns its own newspapers. The government, however, retains control of radio and TV, an important advantage in a nation where two-thirds of the people are functionally illiterate.
The ruling CPP controls the Bayon TV station and Bayon Radio. The Sam Rainsy Party has repeatedly been denied a license to broadcast. The Funcinpec party used to have its own Radio FM 99 and TV9 stations, but they were shut down during the 5-6 July, 1997 factional fighting.
Journalists who work for pro-government newspapers are the safest. But those, who work for opposition newspapers, are not safe. The Cambodia Daily, known as an independent and neutral publication, is occasionally threatened with shutdowns by the government.
The Cambodia Daily is one of a small number of newspapers and news services working in Cambodia that pays its employees living wages of between $200 and $800 monthly. Others include Cambodge Soir, the Phnom Penh Post, and wire services including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Kyodo, DPA and Reuters.
Salaries are important in Cambodia, because may Knmer reporters earn too little to live on, prompting some to take bribes in return for 'favorable' stories.
Media is increasingly important in Cambodia, especially those organizations that serve as "watchdogs" in keeping an eye on the government.
The government has provided licenses to 122 national newspapers, 19 bulletins and 41 magazines, plus 45 licenses to foreign NGO newspapers, magazines and bulletins. There is one local news agency and 14 foreign news agencies. There is print media in English, French and Chinese.
There are only two publicly owned and 13 private radio stations. The strongest radio transmitter is 150-200kw. It can be heard in all provinces. There are 127 radio journalists. No law governs radio broadcasting, but the press law is applicable.
The National Assembly passed the first-ever press law in 1995, but the law has not been much help to the journalists. Six papers have been suspended for breaking the press law on January 8, 1998: Neak Tasou (Struggle of Men), Kolbot Angkor (Angkorean Children), Samleng Samapeap (Voice of Equality), Antarakum (Intervention), Kumnit Koun Khmer (Khmer Children's Idea) and Neak Prayuth (Fighter).
From 1993 to 1998, the media faced dangers all the time. Journalists were jailed, exiled or threatened in person or on the phone. At least five journalists were killed in the past decade.
Journalists Tou Chhhum Mongkol, editor of Antarakum Newspaper (Intervention), Noun Chan, Editor of Samleng Yuvachun Khmer (Voice of Khmer Youth), Sao Chandara, Reporter of Koh Santepheap (Island of Khmer Ideal) were killed. Michael Sokhon, a Canadian citizen working as a reporter for Cambodia television was shot dead on the street in 1997 during factional fighting between troops loyal to Then-First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and troops loyal to Then-Second Prime Minister Hun Sen. Journalist Chet Doung Dararith was killed on March 30, 1997, by a grenade thrown at a rally held by opposition party leader Sam Rainsy.
Many others have been injured or threatened. Cheng Sokna, a reporter, who covered illegal logging, was injured in 1998. Thong Uy Pang, publisher of Koh Santepheap was shot several bullets. Ek Mongkul, radio commentator, was injured on the streets in 1996. Nou Kim Y, Editor-in-chief of Nor Kor Thmey, was threatened with death and shot at, but escaped injury.
But in the new millennium, Cambodia is a peaceful country and no longer isolated. Democracy is in place. Cambodia is confident enough to join world globalization efforts and the digital revolution. It is trying hard to join WTO, and is already a member of ASEAN and the UN.
Speaking on 14 January 2002 at the opening of the first Academic Institution for Journalism and other media professions, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the government was committed to a free press.
Even if a newspaper violates Cambodian press law, "I think closing down newspaper is not a solution" Hun Sen said, adding: "The real way to improve democracy and the role of media must be through education and training of journalists."
Peter Koppinger, country representative for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said while Cambodian media outlets, especially newspapers, enjoy relative freedom compared to neighbouring countries, they lack "clear codes of conduct and ethical as well as professional standards in reporting."
New technology is helping to revolutionize communication. Both globalization and digital revolution are making it easier for people to do business, research, study and reporting.
Some people in Cambodia talk about the new technology, but many do not understand such big changes as computer programming, faxes, satellites, e-mail and Internet, and how they make communication much more easier than before.
For Example, in the 1980s, Cambodians could not talk with families in the provinces through mobile phone, so we had to take long trips by boat or car to communicate with them. But now we are able to easily communicate from Phnom Penh to the countryside. Business people no longer need to fly out of Cambodia to contact business partners in other countries. Now they use E-mail or just call. Journalists, students and researchers in Cambodia are able to search for information on websites.
As Peter Koppinger, country representative for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation put it, all Cambodian media including radio and television, the standard of professionalism as well as the ability to use modern technologies in order to involve the public in the information and communication process is still far lower than in some neighboring countries.
It is a perfect time to catch up on new technologies. The richer countries have set up rules for trading through the WTO and the 10-country ASEAN. No longer will small, poor countries be isolated.
Poor countries without clear policies will be losers, unable to compete with other developing countries. Trade will be growing around the world. Cambodia will freely export goods to countries like Thailand and Singapore without export taxes. But trade must be well-managed by the government.
For example, if a Thai businessman exports bananas from Thailand to Cambodia with no import tax, s/he will be able to sell them cheaper than bananas grown by local farmers. So, the local farmers will stop growing them.
So, globalization can both be positive and negative. The digital revolution is expensive, and it can change the culture. Recently, instead of returning to my village my family and pagoda, I just called them.
Flood damaged Cambodia in both 2000 and 2001. Too much felling and more soil being carried away by the rivers as a result may have caused the problem. Logging companies have exported thousands of cubic meters of logs from Cambodia since 1994.
According to the UK-based environmental watchdog group Global Witness, logging generated $92 million for Cambodia between 1994 and 2000. But in 2000 alone, floods cause in part by deforestation cost the country $156 million.
The digital revolution helps track criminals, including human traffickers and drug dealers. Many poorly-educated girls in the countryside have been cheated by relatives and human traffickers. In the last 20 years, thousands of Vietnamese girls have come to Cambodia and work as prostitutes and thousands of Cambodians have gone to Thailand for jobs, especially in the construction sector.
Another transnational issue is drug dealing. Every country in Southeast Asia will be facing a lot more international crime. And now the US is spending a huge amount of money on the war against international terrorism.
Finally, the role of mass media in Cambodia has often been to help business and politicians. Local journalists sometimes accept bribes from politicians, thus losing their credibility.
Most newsmen are underpaid, have little or no training and education. If we want journalists to play the role of a pressure group, then journalists must have proper education and training.
The goal of journalists should be to inform people, educate people and serve people.

Source: Asian Mass Communication Studies and Research Centre

Copyright © 2004 Third World Media Journal A Quarterly Publication of Third World Media Network (TWMN)