Tricks of the Trade

By Yun Samean
The cambodia daily

We hid at a corner of a table and thought of ideas for news stories. The only senior reporter to notice us was Saing Soenthrith, who broke off a piece of bread and handed it to me. “Eat the bread, then I will teach you to write the story,” he said.

The day I started work as an intern at the Cambodia Daily, then-associate editor Kay Kimsong asked me in English whether I was Cambodian or Singaporean. I replied that I was Cambodian.

I had been studying journalism at Royal Phnom Penh University and was top of my class, along with my friend Suy Se. Bernard Krisher, the Cambodia Daily publisher, was looking for a new reporter for the paper, and my trainer Jeff Hodson selected Suy Se and myself to apply.

When Krisher called me for an interview, he didn’t ask many questions, and the only one I can recall was, “Why do you want to be a reporter?”

At first, Suy Se and I were very shy. We hid at a corner of a table and thought of ideas for news stories. The only senior reporter to notice us was Saing Soenthrith, who broke off a piece of bread and handed it to me.

“Eat the bread, then I will teach you to write the story,” he said.
It took me at least a week before I felt at ease in the newsroom atmosphere. My initial job was to accompany foreign reporters to news conferences and translate for them.

This was around the time of the commune elections, and most of the news conferences that Suy Se and I attended were about the electoral process.

I tried to cover the election stories, but all the reporters were busy so I didn’t dare ask them for officials’ telephone numbers. I started calling around on my own, asking for the contact details I needed.

Soon enough my efforts bore fruit; Serey Kosal, Funcinpec’s deputy secretary-general informed me over the phone that Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng had insulted Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Serey Kosal invited me over to his office at Funcinpec’s headquarters to tell me more. I remember feeling extremely intimidated at the thought of meeting a prominent member of government face to face.

Before long I was covering crime stories, and every day I would phone police officers all over Cambodia, asking them for information on the latest crimes in their region. I continued to cover crime stories.

During my early days at the paper, I was assigned to cover regular demonstrations by factory workers.

So I changed from sitting in the office to going right to the demonstrations. I would head out into crowds of strikers, quizzing them about their grievances.

I found the workers and their union representatives extremely open, but gleaning information from the factory managers proved to be more difficult.

After three months, I was selected to be a full staff member with a salary. My beat changed fast, and I was assigned to cover news conferences given by Prime Minister Hun Sen, along with government seminars.

Every day I did my best to get to the office before anyone else, so I could check the fax machine for news releases or tip-offs about breaking stories. It took me more than a year to understand the political scene.

Working as a reporter is tough, but supplying readers with the accurate and reliable information they need is always satisfying.

The Daily is an ideal place for a fledgling Cambodian reporter to learn the trade, and to study how independent newspapers can function in Cambodia. After two years here, I have much improved both my English and journalistic skills.

Through the Daily, the government has been able to improve its standing in the eyes of the international community, as the paper’s existence bears witness to Cambodia’s commitment to democracy and free expression.