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Shown in banner: middle. Seanglim Ngeen, reporter; second from right: Raksmey Romas, video editor; right: Chanty Say, radio producer. Credit: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Media Action

Our team recently visited the Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia where three young women who received journalism training through a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Media Action-funded training course are now kick-starting their media careers!

The media centre is located a 30-minute drive south of central Phnom Penh, where the city begins to give way to green fields, and the radio station has been built in a converted house. 

They broadcast twice a day on radio and through Facebook Live, for 17 hours a day in total, across Phnom Penh and three other national provinces, with a focus on reporting on gender and issues that most affect women’s lives.

Over the course of the workshop, eight trainees learned how to formulate and write news articles, about impartiality and editorial decision-making in journalisam, and how to capture content on their phones while reporting in the field, among other skills.

The trainees produced 130 pieces of content that covered topics such as the benefits of keeping girls in school, child marriage, violence against women and indigenous rights, with strong engagement of 1.3 million views, 80,000 likes and 1,000 comments. 

The training was funded by a grant from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Media Action as part of our Klahan9 (Brave 9) SPACE project.

Following the training, five of the trainees are now starting their careers in journalism as interns at the Centre.

Confident in interviewing 

Seanglim Ngeen is one of the interns at WMC. She is passionate about reporting on stories and issues around LGBTQIA+ communities, youth and the environment. 

As a young female reporter, she said she has sometimes felt nervous going to a news scene, having faced harassment and verbal abuse in the past. 

As a result of the training, she said she now feels more confident to go to the scene of a news story, working a camera and conducting interviews. 

A role model for indigenous young people 

Another intern, Raksmey Romas, is from an indigenous community in Mondulkiri Province, which is often marginalised.

"Access to information is limited in my community, and that motivates me to keep striving. Early child marriage and school dropouts are common issues, and as a girl, leaving the community isn’t easy... I'm here as an intern, writing news stories and now taking it a step further by editing videos" she told us.

Now, Raksmey is able to tell the stories of her community and their traditional culture, enabling her to bring their underrepresented stories to the outside world – as well as reporting on global issues for her community. 

Raksmey is able to report in her community’s indigenous language and translate their words and concerns, so that local leaders and service providers can better understand what her community needs.

She is proud to be a role model for indigenous young people, and she reports on issues facing the community including child marriage, the impact of having a family at a very young age, and preventing school drop-outs. 

Reporting on both sides of a story 

Chanty Say, one of the Centre’s interns, says she is also focused on issues that most concern local communities.

"I want news that goes beyond the surface of the issues—I'm striving for stories that are deeply investigated to provide our readers with both sides of a story... Some reporters or outlets focus on only one angle or one side of a story, which can be misleading if all perspectives are not considered," she said.

To ensure balanced reporting, she tries to visit and engage with communities directly, and capture their perspectives firsthand.

As these interns embark on their careers, the Women’s Media Centre – which has been running for 30 years – is facing its own challenges; about 60% of its funding has been affected by cuts to USAID, and some of its plans have been scaled back or cancelled.

Despite the uncertainty, these interns are hopeful for the future.