PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has recommended journalists to fulfil their professional roles, dare to report the truth and continue to eliminate opportunists who seek personal gain under the banner of the press, in order to maintain the dignity of journalists and media institutions. He gave this message to national and international journalists on the occasion of the 6th meeting between the Head of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Cambodian Journalists.
The Prime Minister complimented all journalists for their hard work in news broadcasting, particularly on the coverage of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which helped to contain the Covid-19 outbreak in the Kingdom.
Prime Minister Hun Sen urges journalists to continue working hard to maintain peace, political stability, security and social order by urging them to increase their partnership with the Royal Government, to continue to fight inactivity, irregularities, corruption and injustice in Cambodia. He urged for a Cambodia that has a clean, transparent society, and told journalists continue participating in the fight against false information in both national and international frameworks and continue destroying opportunists who take refuge under the label of the press.
The Prime Minister said, "We ask our journalists to join the Royal Government while the government is pushing for state reform to be transparent, which requires journalists to fulfil their professional roles and study issues in depth and dare to release true information. Not fake, not distortions of the truth. And journalists must continue to eliminate opportunists who seek personal gain under the label of the press, undermining the prestige value of journalists and the media."
He added that all journalists' associations must cooperate with relevant ministries and institutions to provide vocational training to their staff and agents to keep up with the development of digital media technology that can help their work be conducted quickly and effectively and create new opportunities to tackle unpredictable future challenges.
Since Cambodia is assuming the 2022 ASEAN Chairmanship and hosting the 32nd South East Asian Games and ASEAN Para Games in 2023, Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the media to participate in covering these events.
The sixth anniversary of the meeting between the Head of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Journalists will be held on Friday, 14 January, in order to increase solidarity and strengthen the partnership between the Royal Government and news media. The Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years prevented the Royal Government from holding this important gathering.