Can Cambodian TV news be trusted?
Dara Saoyuth and Sun Narin talk to TVs top newsmen to find out if we can believe what we sees on TV.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Dara Saoyuth and Sun Narin
The Phnom Penh Post
Lift did a survey of 100 Cambodian youth, ramdonly selected at the countries university campuses. Here are the results.
What Cambodian TV station do you watch the most?
CTN: 63Bayon: 17TVK: 8SEATV: 6TV9: 3Apsara: 2TV5: 1
How often do you watch TV news programs?
Every day: 46At lease 1 time a week: 45At least one time a month: 9
Which TV channel do you watch for Cambodian news? (You can choose multiple answers)
CTN: 68Bayon: 45SEATV: 30TVK: 27TV5: 9Apsara: 3TV9: 2
Do you think political stories on Cambodian TV news programmes are bias towards the Cambodian People’s Party (pro-government)?
Yes: 65I don’t care: 20No: 7No answer: 8
Would you like to see news that is more critical?
Yes: 73No: 12I don’t care: 10No answer: 5
* Survey conducted by Dara Saoyuth and Sun Narin
According to a census taken of Cambodia’s population in 2008, 58.41 percent of households own at least one television set. News programmes are what every station cannot do without. Cambodia’s television stations present a variety of both national and international news to their audiences and also produce some other programmes including live reports and news analysis.
Huot Kheangveng, the deputy general director of the Bayon station which is owned by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s daughter, said his station tries to cater to its audience’s needs, adding that the audience likes news which impacts their lives and is a bridge between the government and the people.
Pen Samithy, the president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists and editor of the Raksmey Kampuchea newspaper, said that developing a variety of news for television was good for the people and the country as a whole since people can learn what’s happening around them. He said, however, there were not very many local television programmes and they were not updated.
Information Minister and Government Spokesman Khieu Kanharith said making shows for TV is a big expense, and added that just to get a good camera like the ones being used at TVK costs about $30,000 to $40,000.
He said that privately-owned television stations have to make money, so they are not able to have lots of people capturing the news from all over the country.
“Most of the news focuses on the government’s achievements and is positive,” said Pen Samithy. “I just want all the news that impacts the people.”
Lift conducted a survey of 100 university students in Phnom Penh and the results showed that 70 percent said the news is biased towards the government.
However, Huot Kheangveng said his television station carried both the positive and negative points of the government to let people know about its achievements and also to constructively criticise government.
“We have references, real sources and our reporters do it professionally. We disseminate the truth only,” he said.
Launched in March 2003, the Cambodian Television Network, or CTN, is the most popular station in Cambodia and is now broadcasting news for seven hours each day. Its programmes include the morning news, which has been running for the past year.
“Any bad news has already been reported by some radio stations and newspapers, so we don’t have to follow because it’s not good,” said Som Chhaya, CTN’s deputy director general and news editor, explaining that the market for news is very small and they cannot survive on news shows alone.
“As you can see, some newspapers are still printed in black and white and have not changed to colour printing like the others.”
Som Chhaya also said there are some obstacles he and his crews face in getting news. Getting information is sometimes difficult for him because some departments and ministries don’t have any spokesperson, so he has to try to contact other relevant sources who sometimes cannot be reached.
Now most television stations produce news programmes and analysis, which Som Chhaya compares with having a meal that is delicious after adding the seasoning, more meat and more vegetables, meaning that news analysis provides more detail for the audience to better understand a situation.
Soy Sopheap, a news analyst at Bayon TV, said he always recaps and analyses the important news of the week, but acknowledged that “it’s not correct all the time, but we say what is true and adhere to our profession as journalists”.
However, Khieu Kanharith stressed that news analysis is not news but opinion.
“They have the freedom to express their opinions,” he said, adding that some people are not very professional in their analysis, but the majority of them are.
20 comments:
Those TV news in Cambodian is a cock sucker. I never watch those useless news it useless and always kiss ah Kwack ass.
Those are useless. No knowledge you can get from those shit TV.
No professional staff working at those TV station how can they produce an usefull program to people. They are only SREY SROSS PROSS SAAT with some language knowledge.
For others countries TV program is very important for education to the people only news and political propaganda. In Cambodia political propaganda on TV is at least 40%, 10% news, 30% advertisement&promotion, 20% entertainment.
Just look at Vietnamese TV program in VN you can know how differences it is.
I wanna have some Khmer porn channels? Can i?
What news are we talking about??
Hun Sen is the news breaker he is in every channel telling Khmer people what to do and not to do, that is the news. Even the COURT have to listen to him, it is not just the uni- students.
Hun Sen is the prime minister, the judge and the executioner.
He and his CPP are the TRAITORS and the slaves to the youn.. TRAITORS soon Cambodian people will get you.
TVK is the useless among all.Taste in news presentation is bias and anecdotal inclined.
Soy Sopheap is a news personality of monkey sees monkey does type.He imitated his Som'ach Hun Xen intoxicated gestures as he spoke to camera.Analytically,Soy Sauce of Ampil doss pee ach news is tasteless tabloid gossiper.
តើនាក់ដឹងទេតាំងពី ហុន សេន ឡើងទៅជាសម្តេច រួចទៅតេជោ គ្រាន់តែហៅចំ
ឈ្មោះនាក់ណា នាក់នោះចង់លិចអាច់នឹងលិចនោមទៅហើយ
តែដល់គេជេថាគាត់ក្បត់ជាតិ តេជោទៅជាតេចោ
បានជាគាត់ខឹងចង់ចាប់គេដាក់គុក ឃើញទេគេថាខឹងគោវ៉ៃរទេស ដើម្បីបង្ហាញឱ្យគេ
ដឹងថាគាត់នៅខ្លាំងដដែល គាត់ធ្វើជាចាប់កូន
ផ្កាយពីបីនាក់ដាក់គុកលេងទៅ តែគាត់ដឹងខ្លួនខ្លះ
ហើយថាអ្វីនឹងកើតមាននោះ នាក់ចាំមើលទៅ
ពួកអាក្បត់ឯងមិនដែលហ៊ានមើលទូរទស្យន៍របស់ខ្មែរទេពីព្រោះអាក្បត់ឯងគិតថាពួកអ្នកទាំងនោះមិនស្មើរ
នឹងអាក្បត់ឯង។ពួកអាឆ្កួតឯងចេះតែមើលវិឌីអូរ
ចុយគ្នាទេ។បន្តិចទៀតរាជរដ្ធាភិបាលនឹងចាប់ពួក
អាក្បត់អស់ឯងហ្នឹងយកមកញាត់គុកម្តងមួយៗ
ហើយ។ឥឡូវរាជរដ្ធាភិបាលចាប់ពួកអាអ្នកធ្វើធំក្លែងក្លាយជាមុនសិន។
Cambodian TV have to be improved.
1. Why don't they keep more time to promote Cambodian Culture?
2. Most of the TV channels broadcast untrue information.
3. Your roles is in Cambodia and under Government. But why don't you produce program to teach Your Audiences about how to make Agriculture, Do business,....
4. You play a lot of Foreign film but you kill your youth in this country very silent
Soy Sopheap have done a great job to be a liar.
If he is professional journalist. He has to respect his own Native.
As he is a good speaker and good liar. He made poor people trust and believe that he is talking truly.
But he is worthless. He knows well what he does. He is crying every day and ask himself why he is a liar to kill his own native.
Cambodian TV news for the sake of Cambodians as a whole or their government alone?
To be safe, secured and long-term in operating a local TV station, one has to vow himself in favor of the government or unless that TV station brings positive image about the government and its officers. It is no doubt that such restriction is prospectively wrong or right when the government always prefer the medias to describe it much in positive more than negative or never in negative way. Or maybe it is afraid of something to be spread, felt, learnt or known by the audiences nationwide?
As reported by LIFT, “Cambodia’s television stations present a variety of both national and international news…to cater their audiences’ needs…” it is unclear about “What types of needs?” Need to know the achievements made by the government? How strong, powerful and outspoken the government is? Need to learn the speech admiring the leader’s family and activities? Or need to be informed about the country status in terms of political and economical societies and so on? Why do people need to know? Why nobody asks about these questions?
I got an experience in favor of watching Cambodian TVs mainly CTN when it was just opened. My favorite programs were live report and news analysis hosted by Mr. Soy Sopheap and Mr. Chum Kossal every Thursday night while [to my understanding] other TVs were reluctant or incapable to do so. Through those programs from time to time, I had known lots about the surrounding events related to logging, land grabbing, traffic police, RCAF, corruptions, judges and others in Cambodia. These had brought the light of considerations about what were going on, what solutions were ever made and what had been changed after all. No shorter after a secret silence, all these topics abruptly disappeared from CTN’s TV programs and were substituted by only pro-government snapshots mastered by new presenters. I was extremely disappointed when I could only know repeated limelight from the government side but not anything inside and behind the government especially when I perceived that most parts in the TV programs were far beyond the realities that most of the common people had always notified. The examples are TVs admire great accomplishments of bridge and road constructions but they never tell the stories about land grabbing, evictions, privatized land concession, deforestation, mining and so forth. TVs are happy to broadcast information about economic growth but never do they about thousands of poor people who have lost their lands, jobs and businesses and some of them survive their lives by scavenging at the traffic points, markets, crowded places and along the streets. MKZ, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
There are 7 private TV stations – CTN, My TV, Bayon TV, Apsara TV, TV Channel 9, TV Channel 3 and TV Channel 5 and 1 national TVK. I have no idea that those TV channels never have interesting national topics for people to be curious about until they claim “watching TV or not is no difference” as they only release the news in favor of the government, example, workshops, meetings, seminars, ground-breaking ceremonies and inaugurations to which the head of government or high-ranking officers are invited. For the national interest, example, the stories about border between Cambodia and Vietnam, land disputes which happen everywhere, traffic police, customs officers and smugglings, drug-trafficking and many other social affairs which may be interpreted to the government’s mismanagement and incapability to solve are never televised. It is so boring to watch those repeated activities in different times and places. Those TVs neither have attractive hot news for the national interest nor are their reports professional when compared with foreign TV news programs. I guess they are trained best at admiring but never criticizing through the way they report and the words they use in tendency to the government. MKZ, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Hell NO...Communication in Cambodia is alway most steer away from the telling truth about the Government or It CCP and Corrupted High Official. Lyied You hear nothing about Khmer Rough..most kids dont know that Khmer Rough really happen. when I asked in 2008... alway favor the government
All TV in Khmer alway tell lied if is about the government or Hun Sen. They never talk about Youn taking Khmer land.......Only Thia lately
All the TV reporter that are working for the politic station are Dogs. TVK CTN Bayon etc. They are all ate CPP or Anh Hung Xen shit and they have to listen to Hung Xen and talk good about CPP.
It's a dog always a dog. Good Dog listen to their owner or the people that give them food.
To blame TV stations are good and well but let's look at who is running the Information Ministry presently?
A cliche,you got what you deserved,other word,if Khieu Kannharith still is the minister therefore as a society Cambodia remains incapable and incredulous in information and press media.
Also,the Ministry of Postal and Telecommunication is bearing responsibility as well in informing people of truth.They infringe individual free expression rights in using Internet and communication. Every call or internet connection is followed up and watched over by the Postal ministry.
Grand theft committed every day in every mail received from abroad. Postal workers steal and open mails in hoping to find cash or valuable every day.
Cambodia mail and postal system is still in primitive stage not to repeat on information on media.
Until the authoritarian government removed,Cambodia will still be in the woods and primitive state, just yet.
The most Traitor TV programe are for the traitor Hun Xen ab´nd very foolish programe,destroy the youth's life!!!
These all TV in Cambodia now are very crazy,will find no future for our nation!!!
i support that criticism is good for the gov't and country of cambodia! that's how country reforms, by taking criticism, etc!
គិតទៅពួកអាប្រឆាំងវាមិនចង់ឲ្យស្រុកខ្មែរមានអ្វីៗ
នៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជាទេបើនិយាយឲ្យចំពួកនេះ
មិនខុសអំពីពួកខ្មែរក្រហមនោះទេ។ពួកអាប្រឆាំង
នៅឯបរទេសពួកវាមិនបានដឹងថា៖កូនចៅរបស់ពួកវាតែភាសារខ្មែរមួយមាត់ក៏មិនចេះនិយាយផង
ហើយមកនិយាយថា៖ខ្លួនជាខ្មែរ។គិតទៅអាពួកនេះវានិយាយតែគេតែខ្លួនឯងមិនមើលផងអាពួកនេះបើបានមកនៅស្រុកខ្មែរច្រើនគឺពិតជាបាត់
អស់នៅភាសារខ្មែរវប្បធម៍ខ្មែរគឺបាត់នៅអ្វីៗដែល
ខ្មែរខំបង្កើតមកពីមុនមកអស់ហើយ។
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