The COVID-19 era has pressed the fast-forward button in the media’s shift to online journalism – and the digital mindset. This book offers trainers, news managers and journalists tools and tips for this new normal. By Reporting ASEAN founder Johanna Son for the Fojo Media Institute.

Click to download the report on the results of Reporting ASEAN’s survey among editors in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, The gems in this in formation-gathering exercise lie in the editors’ evaluations of how familiar their organizations and journalists are with ASEAN issues, what news priority they give to ASEAN- related coverage, their assessments of the strengths, weaknesses and needs of their journalists, as well as what they identify as the toughest reporting challenges in covering ASEAN’s role, relevance and impact.

#VoicesfromCLMV is the hashtag that journalists from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam created for this story series they are part of in the Reporting ASEAN program, its founder/editor Johanna Son said at the April editorial workshop of the CLMV Integration Series. She also said it was not possible to discuss storytelling related to ASEAN without paying tribute to former ASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino, who passed away earlier in the month.

Reporting ASEAN welcomes Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF) Southeast Asia as a partner in its (CLMV) Cambodia-Lao PDR-Myanmar -Vietnam Integration Series 2019, a media training-and-reporting program for journalists looking into stories related to ASEAN integration and regionalism.

In recent years, Cambodia has been criticised for not investing enough in ASEAN. But this analysis by Chheang Vannarith makes the case for Cambodia viewing ASEAN as the catalyst of regional economic integration and economic diversification, a shield to protect its sovereignty and independence, and a platform to promote its national identity and prestige.

In this commentary for Reporting ASEAN, Kavi Chongkittavorn makes a case for why the acronym ‘CLMV’, which sets Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam apart, is increasingly out of place some two decades after they became full members of ASEAN.

The Reporting ASEAN program has a new media skills-building program around reporting fellowships and training with the aim of understanding ASEAN integration and issues better, for stronger storytelling from the perspective of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, also known as the CLMV countries. Watch out for our stories.

In the first episode of our Teashop Talk, Reporting ASEAN’s Johanna Son talks to senior media trainers about where coverage of ASEAN issues is in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Vietnam, and what skills would help local journalists report more creatively and confidently about regional matters.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been an ASEAN member country for two decades, but many Lao people don’t feel very connected it. However, they generally believe that being part of the ASEAN family as it deepens linkages within can only benefit the country, Vannaphone Sitthirath explains in this Reporting ASEAN feature.

The ASEAN Community is hard enough to sell to the ASEAN-6 member countries that are already on board. But it’s even more of an uphill climb when it comes to the newer member states, the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), due to three hindrances: lack of awareness, little enthusiasm by a weak private sector, and the public sector’s limited capacity to lead and manage regional cooperation activities. Economist Myo Thant explains why in this commentary for the Reporting ASEAN series.