CCIM is implementing a project entitled “Reporting of Social Accountability Issues: Empowering the Journalists and Citizens to Report Social Accountability Issues through the Broadcast Radio” with support from the Philippine-based Affiliated Network on Social Accountability (ANSA). The objective of the project is to empower the Cambodian journalists and citizens, particularly in the rural areas, to report in the media pressing issues on social accountability. This objective also aims to contribute in promoting responsible journalism and in raising the awareness of the public on its role in monitoring and reporting public accountabilities of public officials, including private corporations and NGOs.

Project Activities

1.         Training of Cambodian journalists on social accountability reporting - A one-day training will be held at the office of CCIM in Phnom Penh with around 20 Cambodian journalists. An experienced journalist from a neighboring country will be invited as a trainer.

2.         Training of community activists on social accountability reporting – A similar training will be organized with the participation of around community activists. The training will be held at CCIM office. During and after the training they will be given an opportunity for a hands-on experience in recording and editing of voice report and other routine activities of radio reporters. Upon completion of the training, participants will be recognized as a volunteer-reporter of Radio VOD and will be issued with identification cards, certificate of completion, and a portable radio/tape cassette recorder with Radio VOD insignia. The training will be managed by Radio VOD journalists and is tentatively scheduled on the last week of February 2009.

3.         After the training, a weekly 30-minute radio program will be produced and broadcast for a period of three months at Radio Sarika FM 106.5 in Phnom Penh and Radio Sarika FM95.5 in Siem Reap, both radio stations are operated by CCIM. The format of the program is a live discussion with reporting from the volunteer-reporters and call-ins.  The first two episodes will deal with explaining about the concept of social accountability by inviting experts engaged in social accountability issues. The volunteer-reporters will be contacted and given tasks to collect information on issues related to social accountability and report such information during the radio program.  Their report will serve as supporting information to the discussion of the radio programs, or may be a starting point for discussion.

4.         Aside from the weekly radio program, the trained journalists and volunteer-reporters will be encouraged to feed news or feature reports to Radio VOD for its news programs, which are aired during the morning, noon and evening primetime, and during hourly news break.