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ROUP editor of the Cambodia Times T. Mohan spoke on what he saw as the function

of his paper and the press during the FCCC media debate.

He said : "The

role of the papers at this time [in Cambodia] is to ensure that the country

prospers. Yes, the country has problems. Yes the country has fighting. Yes there

is corruption. [But] are we going to destroy democracy before it can even

prosper?"

"The Cambodian Times looks at the [press] situation from [an

Eastern point of view]. We want to accentuate the positive. We want to be a

bridge between the government of the people and the people they

govern."

Far East Economic Review correspondent Nate Thayer said : "What

this country wants in terms of a media is not the Cambodia Times. The Cambodia

Times is not a newspaper. It's job is not to deliver the truth to the people.

It's job is to curry political favor with powerful political interests in this

country. "

Later Mohan said: "Have we instructed our journalists not to

criticize the government? Yes that is the standard rule in our paper. Yes we are

pro-government, we are not here to run-down the government, we need to survive

to make money, to feed our staff."