Asian journalist shares experience as media practitioner and UN fellowSaturday, November 24, 2007By Fernelle Rodriguez
Philippine NewsNEW YORK -- Cambodian journalist Khan Sophirom is annoyed about how certain government officials in his country try to avoid the media, especially when there are issues to be clarified.
"They don't want to meet the media. They try to make excuses whenever we call their offices for information about certain issues," he said.
A senior reporter of Cambodia 's largest newspaper daily, Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Kampuchea), Sophirom said it is quite irritating that most government officials in his country have to get permits from higher officials, especially the Prime Minister, to issue statements to the press. Cambodia is a democratic-monarchy government.
But that doesn't stop Sophirom, a socio-economic reporter of five years, from uncovering the truth. Afterall, he said, he has to deliver the news to the people.
In an interview with Sun.Star Bacolod, Sophirom revealed that his paper has not been spared from complaints from government officials because of their reports. "We balance our reports. We want their side to be heard but how can we show their side if they always avoid us?" he said.
Complaints don't bother him, even if the court asks for evidence about the accuracy of their reports. "If you have enough evidences why do you have to be afraid?" he said.
He further said that their paper is published in their native language, Khmer. It has a circulation of 18,000 copies every day.
He said before going into the media business he was a staff administrator of a non-governmental organization in Cambodia . On his first year as a reporter he covered social issues like HIV/AIDS epidemic and human trafficking. Later he was moved to the socio-economic desk where he said he is required to submit two stories a day and an investigative report a week.
As a senior reporter he has four reporters working under him.
"Political issues are the most important issues that our paper covers. The socio-economic issues come in second. We don't get many sports coverage although we feature soccer once in a while," he said.
As a reporter about his country's economic development he said, "We have a 10.5 percent economic growth and a GPD of $400 as of 2007. In 1993, we had a GDP of only $200. Our economy is stable."
Rasmei Kampuchea 's editorial department, he said, is composed of 40 people led by the editor in chief and two managing editors. The number includes the paper's correspondents from 20 provinces of Cambodia.
"Our reporters write their papers by long-hand which is then submitted to the editors for checking. After the editing process the reports are turned over to the encoders," he said.
I wish to share my experience here in the United States to my colleagues back home, especially that we've visited various media corporations like New York Times, Washington, CNN, Bloomberg. We also visited the United Nations headquarters."
Sophirom was one of the 13 print and broadcast journalists from developing countries who were chosen as fellows in this year's Reham Al Farra Memorial Journalists' Fellowship Programme, formerly known as the United Nations Department of Public Information Training Programme. The journalists visited Rochester , New York recently to learn about the city's schools and media institutions.
The other fellows Bay Okakeng Tsimane, Botswana, GABZ FM Radio; Augustin Zuzanne, Chad, N'Djamena Bi-Hebdo; Loulou Said, Comoros, Office de radio et télévision des Comoros (ORTC); Carol Mariela Croussett, Dominican Republic, Clave & Clave Digital; Gisella Bayona Ponce, Ecuador, Teleamazonas; Meerim Sultangazievna, Kyrgyzstan, Radio Azattyk; Mariyam Shuhana Maldives, Miadhu Daily; Claudia David, [Federated States of] Micronesia, V6AH Radio; Vlatko Otasevic, Montenegro, PBS - TV of Montenegro TVCG; Eleutério Dos Santos Neto, Sao Tome and Principe, Rádio Nacional de São Tomé e Príncipe; Miloš Šteric, Serbia, Blic; Maria Zevonia Vieria, Timor-Leste, TLMDC - RTL.
The Programme was renamed for a United Nations Radio journalist, Ms. Reham Al Farra, who lost her life along with 21 colleagues in the bombing of the UN Office in Baghdad in August 2003, a press release from the UN said.
