CamboJA News wins international journalism award 

IMS partner CamboJA News has won the World Justice Project’s Anthony Lewis Prize  for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism 2025 for its investigative reporting and daily coverage of issues undermining the rule of law in Cambodia.

CamboJA News is one of Cambodia’s last remaining independent newsrooms and is committed to delivering rigorous, independent journalism in a country where the lack of press freedom has been a persistently dangerous issue.

The prize, named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning legal reporter Anthony Lewis, is presented by the World Justice Project, a global research and civil society organisation that promotes the rule of law. The award honours “journalistic courage and craft that strengthens accountability, advances adherence to rule of law principles and builds awareness of the foundational importance of the rule of law,” according to the World Justice Project.

CamboJA was awarded the prize this year for its “reporting on civil justice, crackdowns on dissidents, labour rights, organised crime, regulatory failures and corruption for both local and international audiences,” the organisation said in a statement on their website. The World Justice Project mainly focused on two investigations carried out by CamboJA News: an exposé on the efforts by senior politicians to evade sanctions, and a months-long investigation about authorities’ negligence in shutting down scam centers.

This marks CamboJA News’ first major international journalism award. In 2020, its advocacy arm – the Cambodian Journalists Alliance – was nominated for a Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award. CamboJA News serves as the editorial division of the Alliance, which was founded in 2019 to defend press freedom and promote ethical, independent journalism in Cambodia.

IMS supports CamboJA News by helping them build their content production capacity and offering advice about content strategies and business viability.