Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

considerable public attention, but not quite
enough public pressure that the government felt
it had to take action. EMOs learned a number of
lessons during that campaign and in the future
expect to build on the public recognition that was
generated.
Press releases need to be issued as quickly as
possible after an important event has occurred, a
fact that sometimes precludes consensus building.
During CCEL lobbying for example, EMOs tried
to get approval from all of their members before
issuing every press release. The approval process
sometimes took as long as two weeks however, by
which time any window of opportunity to have a
major impact on the public was lost. EMOs learned
from this experience that responsibility for
approving press releases needed to be assigned to
a limited number of organizations in order to get
them out quickly.
Press conferences are useful for generating
short-term attention, but they are ineffective when
not accompanied by other activities. Urban
development organizations learned this during the
Tonle Bassac fires. Although they organized a
successful press conference to protest the
Municipality’s policy of relocating fire victims, the
group was not successful in changing that policy.
In retrospect, urban development leaders believe
that a lack of unity among urban organizations was
one of the factors that lead to a failed outcome,
and that increased media attention would not have
rectified the problem.
Establishing Working Relations with
Journalists
The media’s presence at an event has a direct
effect on government behavior: when their words
are being recorded in print or on videotape,
officials know that they must be more restrained
The NGO Forum’s environmental working group organized a
field trip to Ansachambok, Pursat province for journalists
and NGO staff. The purpose of the trip was to visit an example
of a healthy forest.
in their reactions and more careful about promises
they make as they may be asked to account for
them in the future. Civil society organizations in
Cambodia have clearly understood this
relationship and as a result have made efforts to
develop good working relationships with
journalists and newspaper editors.
For example, urban advocacy groups have
learned that Municipal authorities do not
appreciate front-page pictures of local officials
tearing down street vendor shacks in unplanned
evacuations. For this reason, staff from some
urban groups keep a list of journalists’ telephone
numbers so that they can contact them when a
situation that requires public attention arises.
Interestingly, community leaders and urban
community associations that are organized by
urban development groups are also learning the
importance of keeping in touch with the press. In
one example, a local urban community was
unsuccessful in its efforts to obtain authorization
to build a child care center in a squatter area. In
the face of official intransigence, community
leaders built the center in one night and invited
journalists the following day to attend the opening
ceremony. Given the public attention, local
authorities were reluctant to tear the structure
down.
Building Capacity of Journalists
As lack of technical skills is cited as one of
the reasons for the mediocre status of the
Cambodian press, building capacity of journalists
should play an important part of any advocacy
strategy. More and more organizations are
beginning to include training of journalists as part
of their media strategy. This strategy is very
important because it provides journalists with the
technical information and skills they need to write
about an issue in an informed manner and
helps to stimulate their professional
interest in the issue.
For example, the NGOCRC organized
a workshop for the press on the UN
Convention of the Rights of the Child and
is planning a second workshop as well.
Similarly, the HACC has organized two
workshops for members of the print and
broadcast press. One of the EMOs held a
workshop on commune elections for
journalists, to explain and highlight the
non-partisan aspect of their advocacy
campaign.
Capacity building of journalists does
not necessarily have to be in a formal
setting however. For example, fisheries
advocates took journalists on a field trip
to remote areas so that they could gain a
Increasing Democratic Space
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