CambodiaThe Khmer Kingdom

Michelle | Rangsey | Peter | Kai Yuan

About CambodiaForm of Government

Constitutional Monarchy

GDP Per Capita: US$1900

Population

Over 14 million

Language

95% speak Khmer

English is 3rd most used

Geography

Land Area of 181,035 sq km

Neighbours with Thailand,

Laos & Vietnam

Capital: Phnom Penh

Internet Penetration: 0.51%

About Cambodia

Traditional Media122 national newspapers, 1 local and 14 foreign news

agencies. 2 publicly owned and 13 private radio stations

Mass Media in Cambodia

Support businesses and politicians

Affected by political bribes

Journalists caught in Cambodia’s violent political history

Recent attacks on March 2, 2009

Digital Media in CambodiaInternet Penetration rate :

0.05% (2000) to 0.51% (2008)Internet censorship vs. ‘Details are sketchy’

(http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/)

Chat and social networksHi5, Khmeryou.com, Soksabai, etc

Language Used: Englishdue to its international prevalence and difficulty in typing Khmer

In 2006 Google released Cambodian domain with Khmer fonts

The “Cloggersphere”

• ‘Clogger’ society growing rapidly: grou.ps

• Tightly knitted group of individual bloggers

• Initiated by former King, Norodom Sihanouk

• Major events:

• Cloggers Summit

• BarCamp Phnom Penh (2009)

• Has initiatives to spread social media through education

Interviews with the netizens

• Preetam Rai: Social media promoter

• Kalyan Keo: Early Clogger ( Cambodian blogger )

• Samphors Sambo: Clogger

• Chakrya Chea: Employee at the Department of Media and

Communication & active netizen

• Santel Phin: Avid and most followed Clogger

• Eat Sophea: Deputy Head of Cabinet at the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and International Cooperation & passive netizen

• Infrastructure mostly contained within Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

• Government increase accessibility by opening more ISPs & lowering

costs

• Infrastructure development by help from the S. Korean government

• Popular Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, Gmail chat, and Skype

• User Demographics: mostly between ages 13 and 25

• Preferred Language: English

• Usage: Social & Entertainment (50%), Education (35%), General

information (15%)

Interviews with the netizens

Productive uses of Social Media:

• Rally support and organise activities

• Discussing governance, gender, education issues

• Open platform for expression

• Improved access to print news media

• Benefits NGOs and government cooperation

• Exposure to knowledge from outside Cambodia

• Easier contact with family and friends abroad

Interviews with the netizens

For Businesses: Social media unexploitedFor Government: Used for internal & external communication but not extensivelyDisadvantages of Social Media:o Abuse of platformso Addiction to online gameso Low privacy & information securityo Believed by some parents to be harmful for children

Interviews with the netizens

Case: Suitcase Campaign

Started by Beth KanterProfessional Blogger, Trainer & ConsultantFocuses on using new media tool to support NGOs

Aims: • Educate Cambodian users about the internet• Advance social media usage in Cambodia• Raise US$4000 in funding• Leverage on Twitter, ChipIn, Blogs for fund raising

Beth Kanter’s Footprints in Cambodia

• Train-the-trainers workshop

• Keynote welcome

• A conference workshop on blogging and video blogging techniques

• Identify and interview 3-5 outstanding Cambodian Bloggers

• Bring a suitcase of donated technology and non-profit T-shirts

• Document the learnings from this personal fundraising campaign

Case: Suitcase Campaign

The Cambodian Media Landscape

• Digital media still at an early stage

• Accessibility limited to few major cities

• Netizen population still small, but gradually growing

• Traditional media is still strong

Useful Links

General information• News

• Forums• Videos

Tourist Guides

Wiki travel

Backpackers guide

Our Wiki: http://comm215.wetpaint.com/page/Cambodia