Imagining a Free Press in Cambodia

CAMBODIA IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S WORST violators of press freedom.  A recent report from Reporters Without Borders graded the country as number 126 of 178 countries, down from 117 in 2009. 

To encourage the growth and protection of press freedoms, The Media Project will sponsor a seminar in Thailand later in December 2011 for journalists from seven Cambodian media organizations.  It will feature instruction by leading journalist Pichpisey Lem (pictured) who fled Cambodia due to persecution.

“Cambodia's media and press freedom is considered not free and is being restricted by the government,” says Lem, the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the online Free Press Magazine (FPM).

“Censorship in Cambodia can be compared to a chronic disease,” Lem added.

Originally a print magazine since 2007 but later confiscated by the government, Free Press Magazine is now an online resource with many readers. The Editor-in-Chief was forced into exile, and has resettled in Norway.

“Journalists still work in fear and they are often threatened by some authorities, for example military officers when covering sensitive issues such as land grabbing, corruption, deforestation, and drug trafficking, etc. When it comes to huge issues in which some powerful people or their relatives are involved, Cambodian journalists encounter lawsuits against them for defamation or disinformation,” says Lem.

To make matters worse, the judiciary system in Cambodia is seen as political tool of the executive power, and Cambodian journalists are often arrested and jailed in retaliation for alleged defamation and disinformation.

“On 14 November 2011, the premier publicly blasted two American media organizations, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, calling on their journalists in crude language to come out to face the crowd. The verbal attacks by the Prime Minister raised concerns about security among media watchdog and Cambodian journalists,” Lem explained.

Those security issues prompted The Media Project and local partners to move the seminar to neighboring Thailand. The seminar is designed to improve the skills of journalists in Cambodia, where most reporters start  their profession without going through journalism school of any kind. CEO of The Media Project, Rev. Dr. Arne Fjeldstad, will join Lem to address topics including the role of journalists in a democratic society, the power of media, security and censorship, journalism ethics, as well as hands-on training in news reporting and editing.