View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. National Newspapers
September 5, 2017updated 07 Sep 2017 3:03pm

Cambodia Daily: Beacon of independent journalism shut down by government

By Dominic Ponsford

The first English-language newspapeer in Cambodia has announced its closure with a defiant front page which warned the country was facing a “descent into outright dictatorship”.

The title launched in 1993 and has been a beacon of independent journalism in a country which is ranked 137 out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index.

RSF reports that Government hostility towards independent media increased in 2016.

The title has been forced to close after being hit last month with a $6.3m tax bill which it was given until yesterday (4 September) to pay.

Cambodian prime minister of three decades Hun Sen described the publishers as “thieves” and told them to pay the bill or else “pack up and go”.

The Daily believes the tax dispute is politically motivated.

Owner Deborah Krisher-Steele said: “In an ordinary process, matters in dispute would be resolved after an audit and private negotiations.

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution

“Instead, the Daily has been targeted for an astronomical tax assessment, leaks and false statements by the tax department and public vilification by the head of government before an audit, much less a legal proceeding.”

US ambassador William Heidt said: “The Daily’s closure removes an important, independent, and daily internationally known voice from Cambodia’s media scene.”

The EU delegation to Cambodia said in a statement: “The enforced closure of the Cambodia Daily represents a significant blow to Cambodia’s media diversity.”

The title was founded by former Newsweek Japan correspondent Bernard Krisher and has a circulation of up to 8,000 copies a day five days a week.

Its masthead promises “all the news without fear or favour” and describes the title as “the daily newspaper of record”.

Writing in The Times today Catherine Philp recalls working for the paper in 1997 during the final collapse of the Khmer Rouge communist regime.

She said the paper was “a labour of love and an incubator for would-be foreign correspondents as well as a legion of Cambodian journalists now reporting on their country for the world’s biggest news agencies”.

She wrote: “Over the years there were many threats to close us. The most memorable, for me, was delivered in person by an apoplectic Hun Sen, who spat in my face as he dressed me down for the misdeeds of the Daily on the tarmac of the airport as we awaited the arrival of King Sihanouk.”

She said the final edition has sold out with home-made photocopies being made to keep up with demand.

Former associate editor at the paper, Alice Foster, told Press Gazette: “I am mourning the loss of The Cambodia Daily.

“For the brave staff who tirelessly kept reporting the news without fear or favour despite facing closure by the government. For the loyal readers who have left touching messages about how the newspaper helped them to learn English and get independent news.

“But perhaps most of all for Cambodia. This shutdown is a dark moment for press freedom at a time when the country needs it most.”

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network