News story about the launch of Khmer-language 'Radio Australia' programmes on 'FM 102', the radio station of the Women's Media Centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, written by Grant Goddard in May 2004 for Radio World magazine.

1. NEWS: RADIO AUSTRALIA
LAUNCHES KHMER FM SERVICE
IN CAMBODIA
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
May 2004

2. Radio Australia's Khmer-language programming is now broadcast live on FM
in Cambodia for the first time. The daily half-hour show, which comprises
news, current affairs and features on health, agriculture and education, is
produced in Melbourne by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and sent
via the PanamSat 8 satellite to independent Phnom Penh radio station "FM
102" for broadcast at 0600 and 1200 local time.
A memorandum of understanding signed 28th April at the Women's Media
Centre in Phnom Penh extends the previous four-year agreement whereby
Radio Australia has e-mailed scripts of international news stories to FM 102
five times a day for inclusion in its news bulletins. The signing ceremony was
attended by Jean-Gabriel Manguy, Head of Radio Australia, and Karen
Lanyon, First Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh. Both were
interviewed live on-air about the new arrangement.
Manguy explained that Radio Australia's "Partnership Network" involves co-
operation with 180 radio stations in 25 Asia and Pacific countries. He told
listeners: "We feel very pleased and very honoured that the Women's Media
Centre recognises that programmes from ABC provide useful information. On
1st May, FM 102 becomes the 32nd station to receive programmes live by
satellite from ABC."
Manguy was keen to stress the similar editorial perspectives of Radio Australia
and FM 102: "What we do is to provide good, reliable information, just like the
values that the Women's Media Centre is trying to promote. Many of our
objectives are common. Perhaps what is most important is that we are both
independent organisations - independent of commercial influence and political
influence."
Karen Lanyon emphasised the importance of co-operation to strengthen the
relationship between Cambodia and Australia. "This initiative is the fruit of a lot
of work between the Women's Media Centre and Radio Australia, with the
support of the [Cambodia] Ministry of Information and the Australian
government," she said. "We are impressed by the increasing professionalism
in the Women's Media Centre's coverage of current affairs."
After the signing ceremony and on-air interview, the Women's Media Centre
threw a celebration party in the car park adjacent to its studios, directly
beneath its 10,000 watt FM transmission tower. The Australian guests, station
staff and guests from the Ministry of Information were entertained by karaoke
singing, Khmer dancing and an extensive buffet.
The Women’s Media Centre is an independent non-profit organisation that
uses the media to promote social change in Cambodian society. It was
founded on International Women’s Day 1993 by five Cambodian women,
following the United Nations-sponsored national elections held that year. Over
the last eleven years, its impact on the general Cambodian population has
been immense, despite existing in a part of Asia where freedom of the media
is not guaranteed, and women’s position in society is still far from equal.
News: Radio Australia Launches Khmer FM Service In Cambodia page 2
©2004 Grant Goddard

3. News: Radio Australia Launches Khmer FM Service In Cambodia page 3
©2004 Grant Goddard
The Centre launched FM 102 on International Women's Day 1999, and its 16
hours per day of educational and socially informative programming reaches
60% of Cambodia’s population in 12 provinces. Audience research
commissioned by the Danish Institute for Human Rights in 2003 found FM 102
to be the most listened to radio station in Cambodia, a testimony to its success
in producing programmes that touch the lives of ordinary people. The Women’s
Media Centre has been supported by overseas governments and international
broadcasters, and has been visited by many dignitaries, including HRH
Princess Anne. A 1000-watt FM relay station has recently been added in the
provincial town of Kompong Thom.
FM 102’s Mission Statement is “to use the media to raise awareness of social
issues in Cambodia and to improve the situation of women for the benefit of
Cambodian society” as well as “to improve the participation and portrayal of
women in the mainstream media." The station employs 15 full-time staff (14
women and 1 man), including Station Director Ms Chea Sundaneth who
worked as reporter and producer of women’s programmes for Radio UNTAC,
the national AM radio station run by the United Nations Transitional Authority
in Cambodia from 1992 to 1993.
Radio Australia's Khmer programmes are produced by four staff in Melbourne,
with assistance from two stringers in Phnom Penh. The Khmer service
resumed broadcasts to Cambodia in 2001 via shortwave transmitters in
Singapore after a four-year interregnum. Under the new agreement, Radio
Australia provides FM 102 with satellite receiving equipment and covers the
"operational costs" of the relay. Radio Australia joins several other international
broadcasters - the BBC World Service, Radio France International, the Voice
of America and Radio Free Asia - whose programming is broadcast within
Cambodia, and has plans to extend the live relay of its Khmer programme to
five or six provincial FM radio stations in Cambodia.
[First published in 'Radio World' magazine as 'ABC Adds To FM 102 Programming', September 2004, p.10]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk