Youth in Cambodia: Media Habits and Information Sources

"This report focuses on the ways in which youth in Cambodia access and use different types of media and explores media as a source of information for young people. It also looks at how media can have an impact on their levels of civic participation as well as their attitudes."

This BBC Media Action Research and Learning paper describes a knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) quantitative survey and its results to "measure current levels of civic attitudes, knowledge and engagement, assess the impact of this youth media project and capture a snapshot of the ways in which youth engage with a range of media." Known to the public as ‘Loy9’, this "Multimedia Initiative for Youth Civic Education" is a governance project aimed to reach young people in Cambodia. It is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of its Strengthening Democracy Programme.

The programme for youth aged 15-24, started in 2010, offers "key information about democratic institutions and civic participation through this multimedia intervention of TV, radio, online and
mobile content and live events....The weekly radio phone-in show is broadcast throughout the year and two series of a combined TV drama and magazine show first ran from January 2012 to May 2012, while the second series was aired between March 2013 and June 2013....Loy9 has its own website as well as other social network pages." Objectives include "improving knowledge and awareness of opportunities for civic participation, gender equality and the skills required for the empowerment of youth," as well as information on the voting process.

This research report, gleaned from 2,597 responses, focuses on the ways in which youth in Cambodia use different types of media, while a second report concentrates on the attitudes of youth in Cambodia towards a range of civic engagement issues and the level of their exposure to Loy9.

Amongst the key findings are the following:

"Access to traditional forms of media is widespread

• The majority of young people in Cambodia have access to TV (92%) or radio (92%)....The TV audience is much more likely to be watching daily (70%) compared to the radio audience (54%).
• The peak viewing times for TV among young people is in the evening between 6pm and 10pm, though female youth are more likely to be watching during this time than male youth. Urban youth are more likely than their rural counterparts to watch TV at almost all times of the day. The three most watched TV stations are CTN (73%), MyTV (66%) and Bayon TV (38%).
• In contrast, the most popular time for young people to listen to the radio is in the morning between 6am and 8am (43%), followed by lunchtime (33% 12pm until 2pm) and in the evening (35% 8pm to 10pm). Young women are more likely to listen to the radio around lunchtime and during the day, while young men are more likely to listen in the evenings after 8pm.

Mobile phone access is near universal for young people

• Although overall access to mobile phones (96%) is even greater than access to TV or radio, daily access is more limited than to the traditional forms of media (66%).
• Despite frequent use of mobile phones, young people are not using their mobile phone extensively each day. Forty-three per cent of youth with access to a mobile phone report  using it for less than 10 minutes a day. Less than a quarter (23%) report using a mobile phone for more than 30 minutes a day.
• Metfone is the mobile phone network with the most youth subscribers in Cambodia (68%), followed by Smart Mobile (41%), though this varies by location - rural youth are much more likely to use Metfone and much less likely to use Smartphone than urban youth.
• Nearly one-third of youth (29%) use more than one mobile phone network.
• A high proportion of young people who have access to a mobile phone use it to access radio (43%), this is the second most common use of mobile phone after making and receiving calls (98%)

Internet: an urban market dominates

• One-third of youth in Cambodia has access to the internet (34%), though this is mostly among youth resident in urban areas (65% of youth in urban areas report internet access). News and social networks are the most common reasons young people use the internet (73% and 63% respectively).
• In contrast to mobile phone daily use, daily internet use among those with access is often for significant periods of time (49% of internet users say that they use the internet for more than 30 minutes a day).

Media is a key and trusted information source

• Media is a trusted source of information regarding civic engagement issues, and a common source for reported awareness of opportunities for participation. Nearly two- thirds of youth (65%) report TV as a source of information about civic engagement issues and current affairs, and a similar proportion (64%) report radio as a source of this information. Media is also a key information source regarding voting (after senior family members), and its influence is recognized by youth with the majority (83%) reporting that it has at least a small amount of influence on their decision about who to vote for.
• Social contacts such as family members, local village elders and government officials are key trusted sources of information for young people as the high trust in these groups of people remains consistent across all youth - regardless of whether they are media consumers or media dark.

Media has an impact on civic participation and attitudes

• There is a positive association between media consumption, higher levels of civic knowledge and increased interest in civic engagement; this suggests that media can continue to support and reinforce these trends.
• Awareness of civic engagement terms is higher among youth media consumers than media-dark [areas without media reception] youth, and they are more likely to have heard of the National Assembly (80% vs. 39%), commune councils (89% vs. 61%) and democracy (75% vs. 33%). This pattern continues to be seen when moving from awareness to reported knowledge, and youth media consumers are almost twice as likely as media-dark youth to say that they know what each of these terms means.
• Voting and electoral participation are key civic participation indicators and, behind high overall levels of participation, there are also key differences between youth who consume media and those who do not. Youth media consumers are more likely than media-dark youth to report that they voted in the 2013 National Assembly election (67% vs. 56%), and that they are very likely to vote in a future National Assembly election (70% vs. 50%). This in part reflects a difference in perceptions of electoral freedom; youth media consumers are more likely to feel that youth in Cambodia are very free to choose who to vote for without feeling pressured (60% vs. 39%).
• These differences in both attitudes to civic participation and participation in practice between youth media consumers and media- dark youth can also be seen in more day-to-day measures of civic participation. Overall, nearly nine in ten (89%) young people report they had heard about opportunities for participation in their community, however just eight in ten media-dark youth (82%) report hearing about such opportunities.
• Behind the differences outlined in these measures of civic awareness and participation are key differences in the attitudes and perceptions of youth with and without media access. For example, media-dark youth are more likely to report that they do not have the courage to speak out when older family members expect them to follow their views (61% vs. 43% of youth media consumers) and are less likely to report that they are brave enough to say what they think and take action in their community (84% vs. 91%)."

Click here to access this 42-page document in PDF format.