G
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."
