RFA Journalists Chun Chanbot Appears in a Show Killing the Fake News
As he had been away from his daily show for several weeks, a viral claim circulating on social media last said Chun Chanbot – the U.S.-based journalist working for Radio Free Asia (RFA) – passed away due to cancer. The claim has been widely shared, reacted to, and commented on by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, the journalist’s return to the daily show proves the claim is false.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A claim that went viral on social media last week said Chun Chanbot – the Deputy Director of the U.S.-fund Radio Free Asia – passed away due to cancer last Thursday.
Many Khmer-speaking social media users had shared, reacted to, and commented on the claim, questioning if the claim was true.
Below is the capture of the claim posted on social media by a Facebook user on February 01, 2024, saying “May your soul rest in peace. The RFA Khmer journalist Chun Chanbot died a moment ago in a hospital in the United States of America due to cancer.”
The same claim was shared with social media groups just some minutes after the claim was circulated on Facebook.
Below is the capture of the claim which was shared with a Facebook group that has a lot of individual accounts as members.
The claim was circulated by other Facebook users who had questioned whether the claim was true.
Below is the capture of the claim circulated by a Facebook user who asked “Is this true?” and credited this to the original post above.
The same claim can be seen through links and archived links here 1 (archived), 2 (archived), 3 (archived), and 4.
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim above by interviewing sources who have a close relationship with the journalist and the spokesperson of the Nation Power Party (NPP) – a newly form political party. Then, we found out the facts below.
The claim was originally circulated by a Facebook page named “ព័ត៌មានកម្លាំងជាតិ” (NPP News) that uses the NPP’s logo.
Responding to Fact Crescendo Cambodia via Telegram last week, the NPP’s spokesperson Chea Mony denied the claim, saying the social media page is not owned and administered by the political party’s news group.
Below is what Chea Mony told Fact Crescendo Cambodia on February 01, 2024, following the viral circulation of the claim.
Mony added the NPP has only two Facebook pages; one is “គណបក្ស កម្លាំងជាតិ - Nation Power Party” and another one is “គណៈកម្មាធិការប្រតិបត្តិ គណបក្សកម្លាំងជាតិ” – the Executive Committee of the Nation Power Party.
Responding to an inquiry from Fact Crescendo Cambodia, a RFA journalist Yang Chandara told us to tune in the radio’s daily show in Thursday evening.
Mr. Chun Chanbot appeared in the daily show live on Facebook page that evening after he had been away from the show for a month.
In the show, Chanbot showed the scar of the operation left on his neck, and his right cheek was still edematous. He said he lost 14 kilograms of weight after the operation.
He added he was ready to return to the daily show and weekly podcast a day after his first appear last week despite he has not fully recovered.
Because of his long break, another claim saying he died after the operation was circulated on social media two weeks ago. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim was also false. See the full story here.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim mentioned above was false. The U.S.-based RFA journalist Chun Chanbot is still alive. He appeared in the daily broadcasting on Thursday evening last week after he had been away for a month. Speaking in the show, Chanbot clarified his health is much better and was going back to the daily show on Friday last week.
Title:RFA Journalists Chun Chanbot Appears in a Show Killing the Fake News
Written By: Jay UdomResult: False
