Discovering the Media: Germany vs. Cambodia
By CARE
I have never imagined how advanced the media in Germany is.
I was trying to experience in the WDR TV studio to see how I look if I appear on TV. (Photo: Sina Stach)
I was trained to be a professional journalist by German teachers. In my university in Phnom Penh I used media equipment made in Germany, but I have never imagined how enchanting the real technical system and the media studios in Germany are.
Last Monday I visited the studio of the 1Live radio station, a public radio station that broadcasts around the clock, focusing on youth audiences. I tried to compare it to the radio studio in my school, but it is incomparable. 1Live uses digital equipment which is expensive but so much more flexible to use. I was longing to touch every machine in the studio and to operate it for the morning show, I wanted to experience it myself and compare it to my schools’ studio.
But this was not all: The tour brought us also to another newsroom. It was the online department of 1Live radio and it runs the website. A staff said that sometimes they run the news first on the website because this medium is even quicker than radio and it reaches more people.
Luck by chance
After the study tour at the radio station, my German friend, Sina and me were walking down the street for a lunch. I just had a glance around, wanting to see the town of Cologne where I have never been before. Accidentally, I saw the logo of WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) (www.wdr.de) on the wall of a building. WDR is a popular broadcast station in Germany. Since a staff member at the radio station told us that WDR also offers tours for the public, we forgot our lunch immediately and went to the receptionist desk asking how to participate in a tour.
Luckily, we were just in time, the tour was about to start. The staff of WDR showed us around the compound, the studio, the newsroom, the concert hall and told us the history of the station. In between, we had a good discussion with the group members about the station. I really enjoyed it even though it was in German and I did not understand a word. But Sina translated for me in English and I could understand WDR’s work, get to know the place and understand how the station became popular.
The tour guide is showing an expensive camera that used in the studio. For one show, they have to hire around 200 staff to work on it. (Photo: Chandara Tith)
Media: Germany vs. Cambodia
After the tour during a late lunch, I started to think of how the media in Cambodia can be compared to the media in Germany. WDR has diversified its program and TV channels such as WDR1, WDR2, WDR3, WDR4, WDR5 focusing on different target audiences. 1Live radio is also a part of this station. Is its purpose to meet the audience’s needs or to run more advertisements from companies?
I contemplate that most of the media institutions in Germany are not inclined to a political party or the government, but rather serve the public interest, no matter whether they are private or public stations.
Cambodia still lacks professional journalist trainings and ethics. Some media firms are likely to lean to political parties and the government. In some cases, journalists in Cambodia find it dangerous to report sensitive news. Some journalists have been killed without a proper reason. For instance, in 2008, Khim Sambo and his son were shot on the street in Phnom Penh. He was a journalist using a pseudonym in a Cambodian language newspaper affiliated with a major opposition party. He was known as a tough reporter, writing hard-hit articles about government corruption, land grabbing and the political situation. Still, an appropriate reason cannot be found until now.
Several journalists have been arrested and sued for deformation which spoils somebody’s reputation, disinformation and some other reasons.
What do you think about this? Is it because the journalists lack professionalism and ethics to report news? Or is it because they are scared? One reason could also be that Cambodia is a poor country and journalists see their profession as a mere job, without any ethics. If they get paid for writing a positive article about a company or government party they do it because they have to feed their families. I have no idea to make such a guess when a proper reason is still invisible.
However, there is some light in the Cambodian media sky: The Department of Media and Communication (DMC) also known as Cambodia Communication Institute (CCI) is the first and so far only department in Cambodia that trains young Cambodians as professional journalists. Because it was just established in 2001 with less than 30 students graduating per year, Cambodia still needs more time to improve professional journalism. But it is on its way.
Becoming a press officer
Although the press officers of CARE always talk for the organization itself, they always keep their professional ethics as a media person. The media department works with all different media outlets, be it TV, radio, newspaper or the internet media.
For example, recently, the CARE press officers are playing an important role in the media work for the Pakistan Floods. My boss, the media director of CARE Germany-Luxemburg went to Pakistan two weeks ago and he acts as interview partner for many media stations in Germany. In the office here in Bonn, we are busy answering media questions, writing press releases, coordinating interview requests and writing articles for the website.
Now that I come here to learn and I had an opportunity to discover how the media works in Germany, I hope that I can get those kinds of images to share with my fellow schoolmates and of course people in Cambodia. Likewise, I expect my generation to advance the media in Cambodia so that we get a better standard of information.
Do you know how important the media is in your everyday life? Do you think you benefit from media?
