Sunday, November 24, 2013

How Fair are the Media in Cambodia?




BY KHMER WATHANAKAM 
khmerwathanak.blogspot.com

There are at least ten TV stations and hundreds of radio stations and news papers In Cambodia, but only few of them broadcast and distribute reliable news for people.  Although the constitution fully guarantees  free press but most media are tightly controlled by the ruling party, especially the TV stations that monopoly gripped by the CPP.  All ten TV stations broadcast the same news and speak the same language of the CPP's propaganda.  If they choose to cover the opposition and people's activities, they try to manipulate and distort the news from black to white and white to black.  As news on the government controlled media are not reliable, now most people turn to social media and Internet networks that mostly are free from the government restriction and very popular among the youths.  To attract more audiences, recently, many government controlled media started to cover some opposition activities, and now Mr. Khanharith, a minister of information, ordered to cut off tedious news from the state-run TVK covering government officials' activities.  However, all these measures fall short to gain trust from the public, for they don't change contents of the news and still heavily bias toward the ruling party.

Nothing unusual, during the election campaigns, every prime time of all the TV stations fully covered the CPP campaigns finished with negative images or distorted news from the opposition.  More than this, there was very appalling to the public when Sam Rainsey returned from his nearly four-year political exile with ten thousands of cheering people came to welcome him from airport without a second news coverage from all TV stations in the country while many prominent foreign news reporters flew thousands of miles to cover this historic event such as ABC, BBC, AFP, Kiodo, and so on.  In a true democratic country, such a great event is a live broadcast to people throughout the country and the world.  The media coverage in such a great event mutually benefits the people to receive true and vivid news as well as the media businesses which make more profit from their advertising sales when they can attract more audiences on their air time.   But no TV station in the country is brave enough to break the CPP's media grip, since losing license to operate the TV is more serious than losing the audiences.

Nevertheless, after election time, the CPP's controlled media started to change their tactics of distributing  news in order to compete with the most popular social media that are independent but bravely devoted to  divulge all truths to the public such as I love Cambodia Hot News, founded by a young brave student, Thy Sovantha, and numerous websites that fiercely speak against injustice in society. The CPP's new tactic by providing some air time coverages to the opposition activities and the people protests make no differences, for the contents of the news on TVs are still very distorted and heavy bias.  For instances, during many the major opposition mass protests against election fraud, all the TVs did not broadcast the important news about the number of protesters, the speeches and grievances of the people or showed large crowds of protesters on the Plaza, instead they focused on traffics and police protecting safety and showed few scattered protesters walking on the sidewalks.  Recently, in an event of violence at Wat Steung Meanchey, the TVs failed to air horrendous pictures of police violence but to show burning police trucks and blamed the protester as opportunists.  But those police brutalities against innocent onlookers and monks were fully covered by numerous social media and some foreign networks.

The media in Cambodia especially the TVs never air reliable and truthful news to the public but full of the government propaganda and distorted news in order to serve interest of the ruling party which has ruled the country over 34 years by manipulating the people from the truths.  A deep reform announced by Hun Sen after creating his new unilateral government is just a facade; nothing is meaningful unless the current regime is changed.  In a country where every national institution under one party control is impossible for the people to receive impartial news from the government's controlled media.  To get some fair share of media coverages in their current struggle, the opposition should own at least one TV and one radio station in order to broadcast their own policies and activities to the public while currently the people rarely see the opposition activities on any TV screen in the country except their negative ones.  


22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't see the whole text.

Jendhamuni said...

I'm testing.

Jendhamuni said...


1:10 AM,

Sorry, I was testing the style sheet earlier. Hope you can see it now.

Jendhamuni

Jendhamuni said...


Still not working on phone.
I'm tweaking the code right now.

Jendhamuni said...


Looks like it's working now. I just set the width of this post to 90%, instead of 100 %.

Anonymous said...

Completely see it, great!!

Jendhamuni said...


I'm sorry. I believe I have OCD!

Anonymous said...

Why would anyone want to watch Viet-controlled TVs like Bayon?

Folks, please don't waste your money and time on these stations.

Anonymous said...

Do you think all Embassies who represent the foreign countries in Phnom Penh have known all these problems. If they know
why some of them still support this illegal government ?.

Anonymous said...

VC is controlling everything in Srok Khmer, it is time to wake up now or elste, thats it!. Hun Sen called 'Hai Phuc' said, 'I am a Viets'puppet and no one wants to lose their land or sea but because we are under their controlled'. Hun/Cpp/NEC/ Court system are all VC's in disguise. It is time for everyone in Cambodia to wake up. There is no law in Cambodia, their (CPP/VC) law is to protect them, to help to countinue to commit more crimes e.g where criminals gotten away and Innocent victims be jailed. VC is making sure that Srok Khmer is under their countrolled, where they put their well train men to be in the lead.

Right now, they already took over everything from Gov't to small business own by the VC and supported by the Chinese. While Cambodia continue to be kind to these two nations, these two nations continue to take advantage of kindness and trumpet it. They owe us everything and now, they turn around and say, we owe them everything. They promised to return Khmer Krom but not, and now, took over the whole Kosh Tral and Srok KHmer. This made is possible because the Chinese needed their money from VN and Viet can not make such repayment, unless they are allowed to rob from from Cambodia and its down fall.

From sucking its natural resources as well as selling our national asset and taking control of everything, so that khmers can no longer get up. They did this before and they will continue to do it again and again e,g they took laos, Chompa, Khmer Krom and now the whole srok khmer. Sooner or later, they are moving into Thailand, which they already did at some points, by using the same old tactics and tricks e.g creating one party after another to let them fight among each other e,g between the Red and the Yellow shirts, similair? KDP (Lon Nol/Sam Rainsy) KR (VC, CPP -Pol Pot/ Hun Sen 'Hai Phuc'.

For the Thai, if they don't recognise this fact now, wait until Viets became their next door neighbour, then you all will know, how wicked both VC and Chinese are. If International community don't recognise this fact now, they too will be at risk in the near future. Both Viets and Chinese have been know as never to keep their words e,g during world war 2 they said to the US to sease fire but not! they helped to kill up to 58 000 US troops.

But the truth is, VC has never won, because the US could have nuke the hell out of their existence just like that but they did not want to because of their special consideration of humanity. Anyway the main perpetrators are of both the VIets and Chinese, who have helped each other to eliminate khmers from being existed. It is time to see this true fact and it is time for international stop believing in them. They need to bring chemical weapons or other mean to destroy them now, before it is too late for everyone in this world.

King Sihanouk said 'I have helped them in every way I could and still, they are criticising me none stop...they are expansionists and they are like crocodiles'. So, they will not stop unless, you stop them first. Right now, they are moving into EU and Africa, trying to destroy them as well, without them knowing it e.g sellling war related weapons to kill one another, while they are busy collecting their debt to feed their 1.3 billion people, how nice!

Anonymous said...

To all khmer oversea...If you love cambodia.. dont support bayon, CTN or KTV..they all tell lied and only good about CPP. IF government is overthrown property belong to the Khmer people.

Anonymous said...

BAYORN TV belongs to HUN SEN"S Daughter HUN MANA of course she serves her father interest, TVK belongs to HUN SEN's supporters A KHIEVE KANARITH of course it serves the Dictatorship HUN SEN and Vietnamese interest, must be blow up with the Big mass destruction bomb one day ?

Anonymous said...

ALL KHMER MUST STAND UP now to overthrow Vietnamese pupet HUN SEN from the Power, otherwise it will be too late to liberate our country from Vietnamese colonialism.

Anonymous said...

Hello 7:21 AM. No I don't support Bayon, CTN, or other Hun Sen's TV stations. I don't subscribe to these Viet's propaganda. Khmers overseas must stop supporting them too.

Anonymous said...


Ah Roleuy Cheam Yiep or Cheam Yuon,

Where is the law that you always talked about ? You hit people and you ran away !! Is that your law ?

Ah Runteas Banh Eung Ngorp Tai Horng soon !!

Anonymous said...

no one is fair in the worlds
included, EU- USA

Anonymous said...

HUN SEN will not step down unless the big mass chemical destruction bomb will be send to his compound in Tang Krasang soon.

Anonymous said...

10:33 AM

You show the whole world your stupidity !!!

Anonymous said...

IF HUN SEN DIE, Vietnamese refugees will go back to their home country automatically, when HUN SEN die, peace, freedom, justice, prosperity and less corruption will be reach to Cambodian hands

Anonymous said...

Khmer never enjoy peace more than 30 years isn't it true? . Raincy and kem will lead us to very wrong direction. Stop using khmere as your political practice tools. Wouldn't it right? Most words raincy and kem preach are a fale words. And fale word is an evile itself and it also connect to evile soul . Wasn't it true. ?. Mike

Anonymous said...

The only thing that is true is that you are absolutely a lunatic, ah Mike! Do you know that?

Anonymous said...

Best wishes and good luck to the CPP and its leaders for their noble efforts to save Cambodia from the loser CNRP. Mike.