Seng Rothsethamony and Phoeung Sovansere from Cambodia realizes the threat of misinformation spread online and are committed to contributing to the advancement of digital literacy. Throughout the 2nd ASEAN Youth Social Journalism Contest 2021, they have launched a campaign called “REAN Digitally”.

What did you do throughout the programme?

Hello everyone, we are the contestants joining ASEAN Youth Social Journalism 2021 from Cambodia. It is such a pleasure to share our stories and experiences regarding the journalism workshop that we have participated in virtually and the campaign that we have initiated which is called REAN Digitally.

We are interested in making a positive contribution to our community, and we want to express our thinking and raise our voices on digital illiteracy that is affecting our local community during the COVID-19 situation. It is like a dream come true that we can finally make this initiative happen.

How would you describe your experience?

The four-day session has taught us more than we thought. During the four-day sessions, we are taught to deliver our message to our target audience effectively. A clear direction is needed so that our main idea of the campaign wouldn’t be lost and it won’t be difficult for us to approach our campaign through new angles. Thus, we need to identify the topics that people are in need and are passionate to read about. So, what do people care about? Well, people do care about time, their life, their safety, their health, danger, money, their choice and entertainment. Conveying messages that build a connection between the journalists and the audience is really important. To grab people’s attention, We learn how to use “SUCCES(S)” models which are Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional and Stories. There are more and more that we have learned and it is very hard to put it into words and we are grateful as well. Moreover, we have learned several other knowledges from our valuable speakers, trainers, and ASEAN team.