CAMBODIA NEWSPAPER WAR: INFORMATION MINISTER FIRES ROCKET AT ROGUE PUBLISHER
May 20th 2008 06:14
CAMBODIAN INFORMATION MINISTER BLASTS PUBLISHER OF THE CONFISCATED BURMA DAILY FOR ACTING OUT OF GREED AND COMPETITIVENESS WITH THE PART-AUSTRALIAN OWNED PHNOM PENH POST
Cambodia’s Information Minister Khieu Kanharith has hit out at a new newspaper, The Burma daily, published initially as an insert in The Cambodia daily newspaper, based on Phnom Penh.
Copies of The Burma Daily were seized on Monday because Cambodian officials said it was unlicensed.
The paper’s publisher Bernard Kisher has tried to make a political issue out of it, but the Minister has steadfastly refused to accept this line, instead hitting out at the paper accusing it of being a product of greed and an attempt to compete with the publisher of the Phnom Penh Post which will go daily in early July and become direct competition to The Cambodia daily.
The information Minister told the Mekong Times newspaper that the publisher of The Burma Daily had been told that the paper needed permission from the Ministry to publish.
The Minister told the Mekong Times. “Before we confiscated the newspaper, we informed The Cambodia Daily, which published The Burma Daily on Friday.
“Bernard Krisher looks down on Cambodian law.”
The Minister also added that the paper had been launched by Krisher to compete with the Phnom Penh Post.
He said, “There is an Australian company which owns the Phnom Penh Post which publishes a newspaper in Myanmar, so he wants to compete with the Phnom Penh Post.”
The Cambodian Daily, while profitable for its publisher, is officially an NGO and the Minister told the Mekong Times,
“Perhaps he wants to seek money from US-based organisations which oppose the Myanmar government to guarantee his income.
“It doesn’t mean that he wants to help the people of Myanmar. A publication in Cambodia will not be able to help Burmese citizens. So, the problem is just related to his greed.”
But publisher Bernard Krisher argued that the paper did not need a license because it was a supplement and the decision to confiscate the English- and Khmer-language daily, which has a circulation of about 5,000, reflected badly on the government.
He vowed to continue to print The Burma Daily for several more days as planned even if it was confiscated, then to revert to it becoming an online and mail publication for distribution in Myanmar.
Krisher said he had not spoken to the ministry about the reasons for confiscating the paper
“I don't have to explain to anyone," he said. "The New York Times does not explain to President Bush."
Cambodia’s Information Minister Khieu Kanharith has hit out at a new newspaper, The Burma daily, published initially as an insert in The Cambodia daily newspaper, based on Phnom Penh.
Copies of The Burma Daily were seized on Monday because Cambodian officials said it was unlicensed.
The paper’s publisher Bernard Kisher has tried to make a political issue out of it, but the Minister has steadfastly refused to accept this line, instead hitting out at the paper accusing it of being a product of greed and an attempt to compete with the publisher of the Phnom Penh Post which will go daily in early July and become direct competition to The Cambodia daily.
The Minister told the Mekong Times. “Before we confiscated the newspaper, we informed The Cambodia Daily, which published The Burma Daily on Friday.
“Bernard Krisher looks down on Cambodian law.”
The Minister also added that the paper had been launched by Krisher to compete with the Phnom Penh Post.
He said, “There is an Australian company which owns the Phnom Penh Post which publishes a newspaper in Myanmar, so he wants to compete with the Phnom Penh Post.”
The Cambodian Daily, while profitable for its publisher, is officially an NGO and the Minister told the Mekong Times,
“Perhaps he wants to seek money from US-based organisations which oppose the Myanmar government to guarantee his income.
“It doesn’t mean that he wants to help the people of Myanmar. A publication in Cambodia will not be able to help Burmese citizens. So, the problem is just related to his greed.”
He vowed to continue to print The Burma Daily for several more days as planned even if it was confiscated, then to revert to it becoming an online and mail publication for distribution in Myanmar.
Krisher said he had not spoken to the ministry about the reasons for confiscating the paper
“I don't have to explain to anyone," he said. "The New York Times does not explain to President Bush."
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For an ongoing critique of the Phnom Penh Post and other Cambodia news sources written by a source independent to the Cambodian media industry, please see www.orble.com/cambodian-news/.