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Amid Backsliding on Press Freedoms, Phnom Penh Calls for 'Professional'
Reporting

Chhengpor Aun

   PHNOM PENH / WASHINGTON - Press freedom in Cambodia, in decline since
   the 2017 [1]crackdown on independent reporting, has taken a turn for
   the worse, with an increase in arrests and harassment of media outlets
   during the COVID-19 pandemic.

   Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 144th out of 180 countries in
   its [2]2020 press freedom index, citing Prime Minister Hun Sen's
   enhanced "system for cracking down on dissent."

   But top officials in Phnom Penh paint a different picture.

   "Cambodia has taken a big step toward what we call a 'free press
   regime' in the context of an open and democratic nation, where we need
   journalists who have freedom," said Phay Siphan, Cambodia's top
   government spokesperson.

   "But at the same time, journalists need to be responsible for what they
   speak and write," he warned in a recent interview with VOA's Khmer
   service.

   "Whatever you want to report, do it," he said. "But it must be within a
   basis of truth, neither terrifying nor creating misunderstanding that
   leads to an uprising."

   Asked about reporting on sensitive topics, such as state corruption and
   illegal logging, he said, "I observe that journalists, if they are
   professional, can report on that because there is no reason [not to do
   that]," he said, adding a caveat.

   "At the same time, we urge [journalists] to respect the dignity of
   privacy, to avoid [violating] privacy," he said. "For example, if your
   reporting involves mentioning exact names and displaying exact portrait
   photographs of the person, such that they cannot defend their
   reputation," then that would violate Phnom Penh's official definition
   of "professional" journalism.

   Why?

   "Because journalists are not judges."

References

   1. https://bit.ly/2YoX9qa
   2. https://rsf.org/en/cambodia

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