Cambodia Shut Down The News Paper; Don't Let Trump Do The Same
Having served its readers for 24 years, The Cambodia Daily published its last issue on Monday after the government presented the paper with an ultimatum: pay an enormous tax bill or shut down. Two reporters tell Newsweek what the paper meant to them and to a country whose democratic institutions are under threat.
Leng Len covered social justice and labor migration. She wrote one of the paper’s last cover stories, titled “Maid Home After 12 Years ‘Stranded’ in Saudi”.
Today was my last day of reporting for The Cambodia Daily, after working there for a little more than a month.
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After I heard about the arrest of the opposition leader Kem Sokha in the early hours of Sunday morning (about 12.30am), I found myself unable to fall asleep. In my few weeks working with the Daily, I had been completely imbued with a fearlessness that is characteristic of my fellow journalists and mentors who have been working there for years.
Braving a mild fever and lack of sleep, I went out to the National Police headquarters and covered the breaking story of the arrest. I stood outside for an hour, making several phone calls to the authorities and opposition leaders, and several failed attempts at getting the police security guard to answer my questions.
My colleagues and I worked through the night to fact-check and gather more information about the arrest, well aware of the gravity of the situation, and the urgent necessity of informing the public about this. It was Saturday night, but we told ourselves: “Let’s not sleep, we gotta do the story.”