Organization
Khmer Post USA
Khmer Post USA (សារព័ត៌មានខ្មែរផុសសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក) is a free biweekly newspaper in English and Khmer, published in Lowell, Massachusetts.[1][2] It is handed out free across Lowell's Cambodian community and is paid for by advertising.[2]
History
The paper's editor-in-chief, Samkhon Pin, told Voice of America in 2024 that it began in 2005 to serve the Cambodian community of Philadelphia.[2] The paper's own team page says Roger S. Pin co-founded it in 2008.[3] Roger Samkhon Pin had earlier founded the Free Citizen News in Cambodia in 1992, led the Khmer Journalist Association of Cambodia, directed the Cambodia service of Radio Free Asia, and founded a Cambodian American radio network in 2004.[3][2]
In 2010 the paper moved its headquarters from Philadelphia to Lowell. Lowell had a larger Cambodian community and more Cambodian-run businesses that could buy advertising. The paper also wanted to reach Cambodian Americans across New England and the Atlantic seaboard.[2][3] Soben Pin, a co-founder, is its owner, business manager and editor; Voice of America named her in 2024 as Soben Ung, the co-founder and publisher.[3][2]
The paper
As of 2024 the paper printed 5,000 copies for a potential readership of about 35,000 Cambodians in and around Lowell. Its small staff includes journalists in Cambodia.[2] Each issue mixes news from Cambodia, local news about Cambodians that the mainstream press does not cover, and features on Cambodian history.[2] Local businesses and government agencies advertise in it to reach Cambodian residents about schools, social services and elections.[2] Even so, the paper has worked under a near-constant threat of closure.[2]
Its website carries news under Cambodia and World headings and feature sections on arts, climate, the economy, health, history and lifestyles.[1][4] Coverage of Lowell includes local arts, politics, education and Cambodia Town. In early 2026 it covered the world premiere of Vichet Chum's play Kween at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and a Khmer Swan Lake at the same theater.[1][4]
Soben Ung counts keeping the Khmer language alive among immigrant families as one of the paper's goals. "As long as the paper reaches their hands, it serves some benefit," she told Voice of America.[2] She credits the paper with helping Cambodians in Lowell take part in local politics.[2]