APIA: 18 December 2012 --
How to be
a Cambodian journalist
A reporter from the The
Cambodia
Daily, the English speaking newspaper founded by US
Bernard
Krisher in 1993, will share his experience of journalism with
the
students of social communication and journalism from the Don
Bosco
schools in Sihanoukville and Kep on January 10.
Khuon Narim is no stranger to the group. It is the school of
journalism
where he was introduced to this world that requires a real
attitude of
vocation, courage and discipline to report on a country like
Cambodia.
Khuon Narim, 24, belongs to the first group of Don Bosco
communicators
in the school created by Colombian journalist and Salesian of
Don Bosco
author of this article, in 2007 at the Sihanoukville port. An
orphaned
teenager of 18 he came, like many others, to try out in any of
the Don
Bosco technical sections and chose Sihanoukville because his
village in
Riem was just a few kilometers from the port city. Thinking in
the
beginning that it was just a section to study computer and
English, he
was attracted by what was called the social communication
section.
The young reporter likes to visit his original school of
journalism and
many things have changed in his life over the last five years.
He looks
now like a reporter that has gone through all the Cambodian
stories,
including the conflicts and dreams of a country fighting for
its own
development, in many cases at significant cost. His English
has become
also fluent thanks to his daily contact with foreign
journalists from
Ireland, England, US and Australia working at The Cambodia Daily, one
of the most
popular newspapers in Cambodia.
He will be visiting the newest Don Bosco technical school in
Kep City
on Thursday 10th January to meet the students of communication
from
both Sihanoukville and Kep, who will listen to how a farm boy
became a
Cambodian journalist in an English speaking newspaper. 'People
think
that being a journalist is not easy and it is what I will
explain to
the students, so they get an idea, but to encourage them also
to
continue,' he said by email.
Khoun Narim is one of a group of 64 past pupils of the Don
Bosco
schools of communication operating since 2007. The schools
stress
journalism, communication skills, audiovisual and web
development, and
most of the past pupils are working in those areas with few
exceptions.
In addition to myself, (I come from Colombia, a country where
journalism also needs courage), the school relies on the same
Don Bosco
past pupils and the ongoing participation of foreign volunteer
experts
in the area. In 2012 senior German radio reporter Wolfgang
Bauernfeind
and Dutch television journalist, Charles Schwietert, have
dedicated
their time to training the students in Kep and Sihanoukville
respectively.
