2023 was a notable year for journalism in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, in terms of the increased repression, monitoring and attacks we faced in the industry. Cambodia fell 5 places in the World Press Freedom Index between 2022 and 2023, now ranked at 147 out of 180 countries ranked, while the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association reported 29 incidents of harassment against journalists in the first three quarters of this year – a baseline estimate, as many may be reticent to report safety and security issues. For me personally, this was one of my more challenging years as a journalist, due to both government repression and the shrinking support for freelance journalists covering international issues.
I started off the year reporting unexplained and rapid developments at Koh Rong Sanloem island on Cambodia’s coast with a colleague for VOD English. Months earlier, that colleague and I had dealt with a severe security incident, and we both found ourselves shaken to be on an island paradise flooded with military officials in uniform operating heavy machinery.
That story turned out to be our last provincial report for VOD English, as the Cambodian government revoked the media licenses of the entire VOD Khmer and English operations over one seemingly random story. Internet service providers later blocked our archives, as well as several other websites, including the data resource Kamnotra. The rug was pulled out from under me and my colleagues, and at least for myself, it took quite some time to regain motivation and focus.
The closure was especially jarring, because we simultaneously started getting recognition for the work we did for VOD – particularly for our coverage of the online scam industry and the crimes surrounding it. Journalists from abroad cited our work and hired myself and colleagues to assist in reporting on human trafficking and money laundering, and our news outlet won a SOPA award for its “Enslaved” series. But there was only so much we could do to investigate the industry further ourselves: international news outlets constantly refuse or ignore pitches, while there are no local English news outlets where we can easily report these stories without self-censorship or fear. Different ministries – notably the Agriculture Ministry – have tried to “correct” several reports for other news outlets, and warned that they could face a similar case as VOD.
As a result, I now feel uninformed about and disconnected from the news in Cambodia, as most of the news outlets either cover surface level information, repeated word-for-word from official Facebook pages and websites, if not bias themselves in favor of the powerful. Former Prime Minister Hun Sen installed his son Hun Manet as the new prime minister, and yet we’ve had minimal coverage on Hun Sen’s legacy and the actual climate of this new government.
This past year taught me that there are many institutions that will claim they support independent journalism, but as reporters, fact-checkers and editors obsessed with accountability and accuracy, we might not be able to take them at their word. Unfortunately, events this year proved that NGO and donor support are not sufficient methods for backing investigative and enterprise journalism, as their goals and morals are deeply different from those of journalists. This divide led to greater conflicts at a time of crisis. Our industry is still not profitable enough to appease corporate investors: notably, the Cambodia-based Globe Media Asia decided to shutter Southeast Asia Globe magazine due to financial concerns, which I guess trumped the business’s desire to sustain independent media.
Thoughtful, investigative and critical journalism may not be profitable or easily fit your “sustainable development goals,” but it’s increasingly crucial as few others are providing accurate, clear and unbiased information about anything, from land disputes to cybercrime.
As a foreigner working here, I won’t be the one to solve Cambodia’s problems with journalism, nor the global industry challenges of funding journalism and verifying information as generative AI and corrupt interests constantly creating new barriers. But I will certainly keep reporting in Cambodia and Southeast Asia – it would take a lot more than 2023’s events to stop me.