Sovann Dara is not a journalist. But he thinks he has pretty good news sense.
The owner of Battambang province’s biggest Internet cafe said he has seen many major social problems “intentionally” ignored by reporters assigned to the province—a side effect, he says, of the corruption and unprofessionalism of many Cambodian journalists.
Among other issues deserving of attention, he has noticed an excessive electricity price hike, a popular rain-watching game and the opening and closing of a small casino. All have gone unreported in the media.
The sudden rise in electricity prices, he said, affects his family and many others. At a computer school with eight computers, he got an electric bill for more than $30, while another business with the same number of computers was charged about $100. “What a huge difference in price,” he marveled.
“Most of the people here are unhappy about this problem. They want to protest about it, but they feel too intimidated to do that.
“Unfortunately, our concerns are never heard by the media. Maybe reporters do their jobs differently from what I think,” he said.
At least two dozen reporters, correspondents for Phnom Penh newspapers, work in Battambang—a province with plenty of issues of interest to journalists.
Problems as varied as human trafficking, car and goods smuggling and fisheries can all be readily seen in the province that houses Cambodia’s second-largest city.
A news agency reporter agreed with Sovann Dara’s criticism, saying most of the reporters stationed here are being bribed to stay away from reporting things that local authorities think will show negative images to the public.
If they don’t comply, the local reporters face harassment from local authorities and officials, he said. Many feel they have no choice but to take the bribes because of their tiny salaries.
In Battambang, he said, reporters can earn up to 500 Thai baht (about $12) per month for staying away from reporting some issues to Phnom Penh newspapers, especially the rain-watching game, in which rich businessmen and officials gamble on rainfall.
Rich Battambang residents gather to gamble during the rainy season, from May to October. They bet on whether a piece of paper will be soaked. If even a drop of water registered, those who bet it would stay dry lose.
Some place bets on whether rainwater will drop into a specific container. One chip costs 10,000 Thai baht (about $233), and some gamblers buy up to 10 chips, while smaller bettors join small-change pools.
So far, there has been no crackdown on the gambling, although unlicensed betting is technically illegal, Battambang district Police Chief Thuch Ra said.
The rain-watching game is certainly gambling, he said, “but it’s so hard for police to find hard evidence. They just have a piece of paper, and they aren’t handling money like a casino.”
Last Thursday, Battambang district police closed a casino that had been operating for just 10 days. Thuch Ra said the proprietor opened the small establishment atop an apartment while police were busy ensuring the area’s security for the two-week-long Pchum Ben festival.
The closure came after journalists who knew about the casino asked around among local officials. Fearing for their reputations if the news got to Phnom Penh, the officials told the reporters to keep the news to themselves, the agency reporter said.
Thuch Ra said his officials never bribed or threatened reporters not to report on the issue. “They have the right to report,” he said.
He acknowledged that he often gave reporters gifts and money but considered these “gifts of sentiment.” He said some reporters begged him for money to buy gasoline.
Um Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists, said that in the major provinces, groups of local reporters often join as a team to ask for money from officials suspected of corruption.
He said they lack professionalism and don’t make enough money to support themselves. They can’t report the news anyway, since doing so would get them in trouble with the authorities, so they try to benefit from the situation.
“In the provinces, [journalists] are followed closely by local authorities, and it is not like in Phnom Penh where they are well protected,” he said.
The only solution to reduce “envelope journalism,” the association president said, is to pay reporters sufficient salaries—a development that looks to be a long way off.
“Once the economy improves, advertising [in the media] will increase and readership will too, so the newspaper business will become more prosperous. And reporters will be better paid….They won’t live on subsidies from political leaders,” he said.
Poorly paid reporters both in Battambang and Phnom Penh have said they don’t want to take cash from officials for their coverage but are forced to do so by material need and peer pressure.
Pen Samithi, chairman of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, agreed that unethical bribe-taking or extortion of officials is still prevalent.
“This situation still persists in Cambodia,” he said, adding that journalism groups are seeking ways to improve the standards of the profession.
He pointed to the Philippines as a model, saying small, local newspapers there had merged to create bigger papers with greater clout and resources in many regions of the country.
“If they just open a [small] paper to compete in national markets like in Phnom Penh, I think those papers have no way to challenge major papers as Rasmei Kampuchea and The Cambodia Daily,” said Pen Samithi, who is also the editor of the top daily Khmer-language newspaper, Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia).
