Press Release
Recent protests over TV licensing in Cambodia have revealed just how tightly controlled the Kingdom’s broadcast media really is. Starting this Friday, May 2, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, with the generous assistance of the European Union, will make an important stride toward the creation of a truly independent Cambodian news media with the launch of Voice of Democracy Online TV (VOD TV).
All media are invited to attend the VOD TV launch event, which will take place at 3 p.m. on May 2 at the CCIM offices in Phnom Penh. Appropriately, the event falls just one day ahead of World Press Freedom Day, a UN holiday celebrating the fundamental principle of press freedom and promoting media independence.
VOD TV will be streamed online and will air unbiased reporting on breaking news as well as feature stories and investigative reports on human rights, good governance and transparency. VOD TV boasts a team of nine reporters and editors who will cover stories from across the country and news feeding in from CCIM’s extensive network of citizen journalists. Online TV is the newest addition to VOD’s extensive multimedia news platform, which disseminates professional and independent news via radio, news website and social media. VOD is Cambodia’s only independent, Khmer-language news network.
VOD TV is funded by the European Union as part of its project, “Human Rights in the Cyber-Age: Safeguarding the Message and the Messenger.” As part of the project, the EU is providing almost €900,000 in assistance over two years to protect human rights defenders in Cambodia.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Kaing Tongngy, CCIM Communications & Advocacy Officer
Tel.: +855 (0)60 411 777
Email: tongngy@ccimcambodia.org
