Media in Today's Cambodia

Abstract

This paper will prodivde a general overview of the post-conflict media situation in the Kingdom of Cambodia. It will furher discuss the Cambdoian public's attitude towards media and professional media development. Cambodia's media capacity has grown significantly since the UN sponsored elections in 1993. At that time, freedom of expression and democracy were dangerously  flouted and virtually repressed. Now, the country seems tobe experiencing a comparatively better, more open and free press.  This is contributing towards strenghtening democracy a comparatively better, more open and free press. This is contributing toward strenghtening democracy and national development. That said, the cambodian media needs to address certain issues before it can provide the benefits of an open and free press to the society to which it is mandated to serve. A major issue facing Cambodia is the serious lack of both human resources and training following the previous acts of genocide. Another vital matter needing urgent attention is reestablishment of public trust in the national media. A step toward increasing public trust in the media, is through the promotion and implementation of professional media practice and media education qualifications. This issue is currently being addressed at a national level, with the establishment of a recognized university media degree programme, offered by the Royal Government of Cambodia.