Through in-the-field reporting, Cambodian journalists are bringing the reality on the ground to the public. - Photo: Supplied
PHNOM PENH: As fighting raged along Cambodia’s northern and western borders, Cambodian journalists moved toward the front lines, not away from them, risking their lives to document civilian suffering and counter what officials describe as a parallel war of disinformation.
Minister of Information Neth Pheaktra said national and international reporters were deployed directly to Oddar Meanchey, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces — areas hit by heavy shelling and bombings during what has been described as a 21-day war of aggression by Thai military forces.
“Cameras and pens are powerful weapons on the information battlefield,” Pheaktra said.
“Under the leadership and coordination of the Ministry of Information, domestic and international journalists conducted on-the-ground reporting at the affected sites,” he added.
He noted that the government was grateful to the relevant authorities for facilitating access to these areas.
“The truth is revealed through the cameras and pens of journalists,” he said.
Veteran reporters say that access came at a personal cost.
Vann Saray, vice CEO of Fresh News, said he went directly to the battlefield from the first hours of the conflict, repeatedly placing himself near active combat zones to collect firsthand information.
“In the first war, on the afternoon of July 24, I went to Samrong town in Oddar Meanchey province and continued reporting from Sraem commune in Choam Ksan district, all the way to the Mom Bei area,” Saray said.
During the second conflict, he said he travelled to Veal Veng district in Pursat province before continuing on to Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey.
His mission: go where the bombs fell, document what happened and let the evidence speak for itself.
Saray said his reporting focused on civilian evacuation and the destruction of homes, monasteries, schools, bridges and other public infrastructure caused by artillery fire and aerial bombardment.
While authorities issued safety instructions, he said journalists were largely not barred from reporting. The sole exception, he noted, was the day Thailand returned the 18 Cambodian soldiers, when access to the handover site at the Pailin border crossing was restricted.
“Covering the battlefield is a high-risk affair,” Saray said.
He acknowledged that both authorities and media organisations imposed safety rules, but admitted he sometimes defied his own newsroom’s instructions.
“I violated the organisation’s instructions to get real information and images to publish. During the war, if we dared to take risks, we still had opportunities to report the truth,” he added.
Sreng Dara, CEO of Cam Post, echoed those accounts, saying journalists faced no formal restrictions during nearly a month of battlefield coverage before, during and after the fighting.
“The authorities, the forces and the information minister instructed journalists to take personal precautions for safety,” Dara said.
He stressed that reporters were not prevented from working, except in active combat zones where shelling and bombing posed immediate danger.
As a frontline reporter, Dara said he documented bombed civilian sites, including homes, schools, pagodas, roads and hospitals, often under the sound of gunfire and explosions that forced residents to flee.
“Even the sounds of shelling, the dropping of bombs and the intimidation that forced people to evacuate were widely reported,” he said.
Dara also highlighted unprecedented unity among Cambodian media outlets, both large and small, in disseminating verified information domestically and internationally during the three-week conflict. At the same time, he urged caution over foreign narratives.
“I request that Cambodian media, both domestic and international, not broadcast news sourced entirely from Thailand, where outlets spread false information,” he said.
For Cambodian authorities and journalists alike, the conflict underscored that modern warfare extends beyond territory and troop movements.
It also plays out in the global information space, where images, eyewitness accounts and verified facts can shape international understanding. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
