PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The Phnom Penh Post, a newspaper founded in 1992 to help Cambodia reestablish stability and democracy after decades of war and unrest, said Friday it will cease publication in print this month. The announcement was the latest blow. To this country’s declining independent media.
The Post was founded in 1992 as an English-language biweekly magazine. A Khmer version was later added and it began publishing daily in 2008.
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The company wrote on its social media accounts that it would stop publishing both the English and Khmer versions by March 29, citing a decline in advertising revenue due to the pandemic-related economic downturn, as well as the spread of social media and other new developments. The reason for this was that financial difficulties had worsened due to the current economic situation. technology.
Although not mentioned in the announcement, the newspaper’s current CEO and publisher Lee Theisen confirmed in a text message to The Associated Press that it will continue publishing online.
Local newspapers Phnom Penh Post (left) and Khmer Times (right) are sold at a newspaper stand on a sidewalk near the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 1, 2024. In 1992, as Cambodia sought to reestablish stability and democracy after decades of war and turmoil, Cambodia announced on Friday that it would cease publishing print editions this month, but this was reported by independent media. It was the latest blow to the country’s decline in sales.
In 2017, then-Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government cracked down on independent media. The Post’s competitor, the Cambodia Daily, was forced to close down after being presented with a huge tax bill that appeared to have been offered for political reasons.
The Post faced similar political pressure as it lagged in advertising revenue, and in 2018 it lost its Australian publisher to a Malaysian investor widely seen as representing the interests of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. was sold to. Several senior staff members have resigned and most of the aggressive independent reporting that was once a hallmark has ceased.
The Post was published by Americans Michael Hayes and Kathleen O’Keeffe at a time when Cambodia was rebuilding with United Nations support from the devastation caused by the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. was founded with little capital. The Khmer Rouge continued to pose a military threat in the late 1990s, and much of the early coverage focused on the conflict, with support from multinational staff and freelancers.
Its journalism flourished in competition with Cambodia Daily, which was founded in 1993 and was staffed largely by young Westerners. Both newspapers served as a kind of training ground for young journalists early in their careers.
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The Post, never very profitable, was sold by its founders to an Australian-led media group in 2008. By then, all independent media outlets were under increasing pressure due to the tightening policies of then Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party. He seized power and tried to silence most of his critics. Hun Sen resigned last year after 38 years as prime minister and his son Hun Manet succeeded him.
Last year, Radio Voice of Democracy, one of Cambodia’s few remaining independent media outlets, ceased operations after President Hun Sen ordered it shut down after it allegedly defamed his son in an article.
