Cambodia’s pioneering post-Khmer Rouge era Phnom Penh Post newspaper will stop print publication

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The Phnom Penh Post, a newspaper founded in 1992 as Cambodia sought to re-establish stability and democracy after decades of war and unrest, says it will stop publishing a print edition this month, the latest blow to the country’s dwindling independent media. It wrote on social media accounts that it would stop publishing both English and Khmer editions by March 29, citing a decline in advertising revenues due to a pandemic-related economic downturn. The government of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen cracked down heavily on independent media in 2017. The Cambodia Daily, a competitor of the Post, was forced to close when it was presented with a huge tax bill which it felt was presented for political reasons.