Stick to the Basics

By Gretchen Peters
The cambodia daily

In the early days of The Cambodia Daily, we had only a handful of computers to lay out the paper. So the local reporters hand-wrote their stories on scrap paper, opening with colorful accounts of that day’s weather and descriptions of what top officials were wearing.

When I left the Daily, almost three years later, they would deliver their scoops on computer diskettes—or simply send them through the office network.

The lead would now read more like an AP wire report: “In a stormy session of parliament, opposition legislators voiced concern about the proposed tax law…” or “Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out at critics today….”

Just as the office around us grew more sophisticated, so did our reporting. From a ragtag group slumped over long tables in the dusty attic of the Renakse Hotel, where power cuts would drag the layout process until late in the night, The Cambodia Daily matured into the country’s paper of record, never forgetting its humble origins as the small, feisty new kid on the block.

At times, top officials praised the paper for its balanced reporting in a complex political environment. At times, we were threatened with sudden closure, or having the foreign staff thrown out of the country. We had to move the printing press in the middle of the night, endured mysterious and menacing phone calls.

But through bullying and brownouts, coup attempts and corruption scandals, The Cambodia Daily never missed an issue, either literally or figuratively. These days, I watch Cambodia from afar, but it still gives me great pride to have been part of the team that helped build the paper—and, I like to think, the country’s free press in general.

Now I spend more time in Afghanistan, another country devastated by decades of brutal civil war and a rash of leaders seemingly inclined to fill their pockets and stay in power regardless the cost to their people.

Last year I wrote an editorial for the Kabul Weekly, which started up as the fragile new government of Hamid Karzai was installed, and encouraged the new staffers there to follow the Daily model.
Be fair—get both sides of the story. Be accurate—two sources on anything you don’t see yourself. And whatever happens, just keep on publishing.

Ten years after the first edition rolled off the famous Heidelberg printing press, I have the same message for The Cambodia Daily staff. Keep up the good work. Don’t miss an issue.