Cambodian broadsheet to stop print publication
PHNOM PENH: The Phnom Penh Post, a newspaper founded more than three decades ago as Cambodia sought to reestablish stability and democracy after decades of war and unrest, said on Friday it would stop publishing in print this month, the latest blow to the Southeast Asian country’s dwindling independent media.
The Post was founded as an English-language biweekly in 1992. It later added a Khmer-language edition and began publishing daily in 2008.
It wrote on social media accounts that it would stop publishing both English and Khmer editions by March 29, citing a decline in advertising revenues due to a coronavirus pandemic-related economic downturn, which added to financial difficulties caused by the spread of social media and other new technology.
Although not mentioned in the announcement, Ly Tayseng, the Post’s current chief executive officer and publisher, confirmed in a text message to the Associated Press (AP) that it will continue publishing online.
The government of then-prime minister Hun Sen cracked down heavily on independent media in 2017. The Cambodia Daily, a competitor of the Post, was forced to close when it was presented with a huge tax bill, which it felt was presented for political reasons.
The Post came under similar political pressure as it also lagged in advertising revenue, and in 2018 was sold by its Australian publisher to a Malaysian investor who was widely seen as acting as a proxy for the interests of the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP). Several senior staff resigned, and it ceased most of the sort of aggressive independent reporting that had once been its hallmark.
The Post was founded on a shoestring budget by Americans Michael Hayes and Kathleen O’Keefe as Cambodia, with United Nations help, sought to recover from the devastation wrought by the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. The Khmer Rouge still posed a military threat into the late 1990s, and much of the early coverage FOCUSED ON THAT CONFLICT, AIDED BY A multinational staff and freelancers.
Its journalism flourished, in competition from The Cambodia Daily, founded in 1993 and also heavily staffed by young Westerners. Both papers served as a sort of training ground for young journalists early in their careers.
The Post, which was never very PROFITABLE, WAS SOLD BY ITS FOUNDERS to an Australia-led media group in 2008. By that time, all independent media was coming under increasing pressure as Hun Sen and the CPP tightened their grip on power and sought to silence most critics. Hun Sen stepped down last year after 38 years as prime minister and was succeeded by his eldest son Hun Manet.
Last year, one of Cambodia’s few remaining independent media outlets, Voice of Democracy radio, ceased operations after Hun Sen ordered its closure for allegedly slandering his son in a story.