Friday, August 19, 2011

Consumption of online news in Cambodia


By Vorn Makara and Ly You Y

IN the past, people would get their news through so-called “traditional media” sources such as newspapers, magazines and radio stations, but the emerging digital medium of online news is beginning to compete with those sources.

In the past few years, the number of people using the internet has increased, spurring the creation of many online news websites. Reading the news online is conven-ient and more timely, as it is constantly updated.

“I read online news every day at work because I don’t want to buy a newspaper,” Van Bun Ang, 24, a deputy translation trainer at International Co-operation Cambodia, says. “Reading news online is fast and convenient, and I can get updated information.”

Ly Rath, a 23-year-old Master’s candidate at the Royal University of Law and Economics, says her father always buys the newspaper to read at home, but she rarely reads it, preferring to get her news online.

Ly Rath believes people like her father enjoy reading physical newspapers because it’s easier on their eyes: “Older people prefer reading newspapers because the type in a newspaper is bigger than the type on a website.”

Because of the march of technology, more and more people are using the internet for communicating, networking and searching for information. It’s even a source of entertainment for some of us.

News websites are a tool for spreading information and a way for emerging media companies to compete with tradit-ional media sources. There are many news websites that focus on Cambodia, such as The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia Express News (CEN), Koh Santepheap, Radio Free Asia, DAP News and many others.

CEN website founder Pen Samitthy says he created his website because he wanted “to serve people who like reading news online, as most people who have access to the internet prefer getting their news this way”. He says his website has, on average, about 1,900 visitors each day.

The DAP news site is also popular in Cambodia. Soy Soph-eap, its director-general, told LIFT: “I worked at a newspaper in Kyoto, Japan, where I learned to disseminate news quickly to the public.

“Cambodia is enjoying a huge increase in internet capacity, which is why I decided to create the DAP website.”

Koh Santepheap editor-in-chief Yin Piseth has similar thoughts. He says the Koh Santepheap website “is for people who like reading news online”, adding that most of his website regulars are young or middle-aged people who are educated and have access to the internet.

Yin Piseth also says news agencies must continually innovate by harnessing technology. “We cannot neglect technology and keep doing things the old way. We have to keep our news agency fresh by putting news online,” he says.

One obstacle online news agencies face is the fact that internet use in Cambodia is not widespread. But Sor Kunthea, a 22-year-old student at the Royal University of Law and Economics, says that even though she doesn’t have internet access at home, she still enjoys reading news online when she can, because it’s cheaper than buying a newspaper.

“If I read news online, I spend only 1,500 riels and I can read a variety of articles on different websites, but if I buy a news-paper, I can only read that one newspaper,” she says.

According to the 2010 Cambodia Communication Review, there were 113,380 internet users in Cambodia as of June last year. Although this number is small, it is widely assumed that it is increasing rapidly.

“In the future, the number of people getting their news online will increase, becase online news is invading newspapers, radio stations and magazines around the world. People can get up-to-the-minute news by accessing the internet through their phone or computer, so it’s a very convenient method,” Pen Samitthy says.

According to a report by the Pew Research

Centre, Americans are more likely to get their news online than from a newspaper.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Experience sharing with AYLP

Today there was a workshop that the American Youth Leadership Program (AYLP) with Department of Media and Communication (DMC). There are around 30 high school students from different states in the United States came to Cambodia to learn about the life of people.

It's a great day for me to have chance sharing experience with them. They are mostly under 18 years old and is study in grade 11 or 12 at high school. I am really impress in what they are sharing to me about their experience with the homestay in the provinces in Cambodia. They said the people are very friendly and kind though they are poor, and they really appreciated the struggle of the youth in the community. People in the community just like one family, because one of them were surprise when they suppose that one little boy who is just a neigbour always come to his neighbor's house, eat food or even sleep there. it's quite nice for me to hear that, but maybe it's only happy in the province or villages, in the city, Phnom Penh, i also don't go to my neighbour's house, mostly i never talk to them, because i leave my house in the morning and come back at night. We just come back and get in the house, only the old people talk to each other, for me, I do nothing but smiling.

Sharing with those high school student, I learn more than what I learn from media and other people. They ask me when you hear about America, what do you think of and I told them taht freedom, and they asked why, I said because most of the parents and children over there just like friend, people are sharing their opinion. They asked whether I want to go to American, and I said who don't want to, and their express is a bit strange and I want to get a scholarship to study there, and they suggested that if Cambodian people have a chance to go there, they should learn or get the experience from there and come back to Cambodia to develop the country. I totally agree with them.

I asked them whether the kids in the USA have lap top and internet access, they said yes but this have blind the children, they mostly always care about the internet, the new technology such as Ipad, Iphone or Ipod, they never know how to survive without this, they said if they were sent to Cambodia with the situation like Cambodia children, they may not survive.


It's really interested to learn from them and i ask them whether you have a lot of freedom to hang out at night, he said it depends on each family, even next door house also have different rule, it's because of the diversity of people in the United States.

Most of them have raised the positivea and negative site of my country. To me, i think compare to other countries in the middle east, Cambodia is far better than them, we are peaceful and moving small step forward to reach the standard like the countries in the Southeast Asia. I feel more postitive than negative about the country. I do hope that I will get a chance to learn or visit the USA one day, and find out more what i want to know.

Like one sentence from my lecturer, he said that "a person who only know how to live on their own is not yet a human, a human should know how to help other, and make the people around them happy". I love this quote.

I will try my best to have a better life so that i can help the people around to be happy also. I am really appreciate what Bill Gate is doing now, he is always sharing or giving his money to charity to help people, I wish there will more people like him in the world. Thanks to anyone who have the willing to help other without asking for something back.