Say Mony, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
“Journalism is crucial for the democracy of the country.”
Cambodian youth are not so keen on journalism careers, believing the job to be dangerous and underpaid, a journalism mentor says.
“Some young graduates still fear that they might be in danger, or face legal consequences, if they work as journalists,” said Tieng Sopheak Vichea, director of the Cambodia Communication Institute, which offers the country’s only four-year journalism program.
Since the program’s inception, 10 years ago, only about 20 of its 120 graduates have gone on to pursue work as actual journalists, Tieng Sopheak Vichea said, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday.
“The job markets for journalism do not pay as well as other careers, either,” he said. “This too discourages most journalism students from taking on a job [in journalism] after graduation.”
Still, he said, the environment has improved recently, with fewer journalists facing complaints, jail time or other threats.
“You can protect yourself if you stick to journalistic principles when performing your work,” he said. “As a journalist, you work for the people, not for any particular group.”
The problem, he said, is that the ranks of Cambodian journalists need replaced by the young, as older journalists leave the industry. “Journalism is crucial for the democracy of the country,” he said.
3 comments:
Sadly for many Cambodians, it is usually the money is the overriding motivation. The mindset is, if the profession does not pay that much why get into it?
What about a love for journalism profession just because it has the power to influence?
This shallow mindset is ingrained in most Cambodian oversea and in the motherland.
Money is the driving factor, but i think its Death threat is the underlying problem in the journalism field that drives away our young future.
So many journalists have died and other scared for life from death threats, jail imprisonment or jail fines, that its not worth a job.
How can we be a democratic country, if the Ruling Party have the control to take away lives as easily as the Pol Pot Regime?
there are always journalism and journalists in cambodia, maybe not in the thousands, but they will always exist in cambodia, believe it or not, you know! it's good for cambodia to have some journalists, etc, really!
Post a Comment