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

Increasing Democratic Space
better understanding of fisheries conflicts. As the
field trip lasted four days, NGO staff had ample
opportunity to establish good relations with the
journalists.
Disseminating Reliable Information
Advocacy campaigns depend to a great extent
on credible sources disseminating reliable
information in order to change existing public
perceptions about a problem. Information needs
to be collected before it can be disseminated
however, and given their links to grassroots
communities and extensive
networks, civil society
organizations are well
While use of the media
as an advocacy
strategy is growing,
very few of the
organizations and
networks interviewed
have developed a
genuine media strategy
that includes regular
contact with the press.
placed to learn about
problems and collect
information that other
actors may not be in a
position to collect.
As mentioned
previously, surveys
conducted by women’s
organizations since the
mid-1990s have been
critical in publicizing the
country’s domestic
violence problem. More
recently, the publication Feast or Famine,
prepared by a consortium of fisheries advocates,
articulates difficult fisheries management
problems that Cambodia is currently
experiencing, and provides compelling arguments
for change in the fisheries sector. These types of
high quality research publications, however,
continue to be relatively rare.
As elsewhere in the world, the Internet
continues to gain significance and presents an
important avenue for disseminating information.
The Documentation Center of Cambodia has an
excellent webpage, as does the NGO Forum on
Cambodia. These webpages tend to be used mostly
by readers abroad however, who are seeking
information about Cambodia. Within the country,
limited access to computers and low speed
connections limit the usefulness of this strategy.
Analysis of Media Activities
Use of the media as an advocacy strategy in
Cambodia is considerably limited by the current
state of the media industry itself. The objectivity
of the local printed press is generally put in
question, although various training programs have
worked or are currently working to increase
reporters’ skills and promote a culture of reporting
ethics. Other obstacles include the limited literacy
of the majority of the population, which does not
have the luxury of demanding better performance
from the press, as well as a scarcity of advertising
revenue. Finally, because of the limited interest
and capacity of the print and broadcast media,
most media messages related to advocacy
campaigns tend to be self-produced (i.e. HIV
advocates write HIV messages).
While use of the media as an advocacy
strategy is growing, very few of the organizations
and networks interviewed have developed a
genuine media strategy that includes regular
contact with the press. Exceptions include the
NGO Forum and COMFREL. In these cases,
expatriate technical assistance has played a role
in building this capacity. In the case of COMFREL,
the Asia Foundation provided a media advisor
during the election period, while the NGO Forum
had an information advisor on staff for a number
of years.
Although the dissemination of information
for policy purposes remains limited, civil society
organizations are learning to use the media for
public education purposes. For example, the
Women’s Media Center has acquired the capacity
to develop media messages that are very effective
in targeting grassroots audiences.
Use of the media to draw attention to a
problem and restrain government (or other)
action – as in the case of the child care center built
overnight in a squatter area – continues to be
limited to urban areas for two main reasons. First,
it is only in urban areas that a sufficient number
of people’s attention can be drawn to a situation
that then makes actors reluctant to take
controversial action. Second, advocates likely feel
safer using this kind of strategy in urban areas than
in rural areas, where they are less protected.
Because it is a popular form of entertainment
(particularly in rural areas), radio broadcasts
appear to be getting more attention from
advocates. A number of NGOs have broadcast
messages on Radio Free Asia, for example.
For now, the majority of media advocacy
targets the foreign language press, but not
necessarily the local language press. A major
reason cited for avoidance of the Khmer press is
the fee that NGOs are charged in order to get their
stories printed. For example, one provincial NGO
stated that it is reluctant to approach reporters
from Khmer language papers because those
reporters usually charge $5 to publish articles.
Furthermore, when articles are critical of
provincial public officials, reporters sometimes
suppress the articles in exchange for
compensation from the official. Sadly, as long as
newspapers find themselves with limited
advertising revenue, this situation is unlikely to
change.
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