AsiaLIFE

Faced with the impending collapse of the U.S. print media, Will looks towards Cambodia for salvation.

I love the Pacific Northwest. I wasn't born here, but I tend to think of it the way most Cambodians think of their home province. The states of Washington and Oregon have their own unique culture and mild climate - even if this part of the world is a little too obsessed with milked-down coffee and flannel. After working as a copy editor for a few daily newspapers in the Northwest, I've always had a half-baked dream of working at one of the great titans of daily newspapers in the Northwest, Portland's The Oregonian, The Seattle Times or the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

And then the Internet started killing the newspapers. On Jan. 9 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, circulation 120,000, announced it would be sold in the next 60 days or cease publication. Not only does that remove a daily newspaper from my list of dream jobs, it also means more than 100 experienced journalists will be on the market competing for a dwindling number of newspaper jobs. And most newspapers are reducing staff, not adding jobs. Where are they going to go? I only have the advice I offer to every problem – go to Cambodia!

Report on This

Cambodia is poor, undeveloped and racked by tension. There's a story for every political perspective. Love free trade? You can report on the rapid export- and tourism-driven economic growth Cambodia's enjoyed over the past decade.

Hate globalisation? There's lots of people working in sweatshops and local officials willing to blame foreigners for all their problems. Think the United Nations is the bane of humanity or its only salvation? You can find anecdotes to back up either belief on the banks of the Mekong, the Sap and the Bassac. Depending on how you look at it, Cambodia is either a success or an example of everything that can go wrong in a country. And many of Cambodia's government officials, unlike in most countries, are only a phone call away. So long as you're a foreigner, there is a remarkable degree of freedom of speech compared to neighbouring countries.

And there are plenty of buyers. As America's newspapers and magazines shed their regular staffers, there are more opportunities for freelancers to sell their work. There are plenty of people who have started their own blogs about Cambodia or even their own print publications.

Teach What You Know

If you can't find someone to buy your stories – I'm biased, but I think the publication you're holding in your hands is a great place to start – you can always put down the reporter's notebook and pick up a marker pen. There's no shortage of schools, colleges, universities and learning centres in Cambodia willing to hire a native English teacher. Some of them even pay. Having journalistic experience might help you get in the door, though as they never bother to check references it doesn't really matter what you say, as long as you say it with a neutral American accent.

If you're not pressed for cash – the rarest journalist of all in my experience – there are many opportunities to volunteer as a teacher in Cambodia, which is what originally brought me there. Years later, I still fondly remember volunteering as emotionally and spiritually rewarding – but not financially rewarding.

Develop Mint

If you can't find a story, and you find the best part of teaching is making your students cry, there's always work with NGOs (non-government organisation – nobody in the U.S. seems to know that acronym while it's the first English many Cambodians learn). Even the smallest development organisations will need an occasional freelance editor or some public relations help. And the best reason to head to Cambodia? Compared with the cool drizzle of Seattle, Cambodia will feel like the Garden of Eden – at least until the first monsoon hits.

Will Koenig lives in Oregon and, as of press time, still works as a journalist. Contact him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it