Daily was known for its coverage of local news and particularly for its investigative reporting on illegal logging and its coverage of corruption and human rights abuses, including land grabs and forced evictions. Award-winning reporting The Daily has won a number of awards for its investigative reporting and feature stories. In 2017, Daily journalists Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter won an Excellence in Investigative Reporting from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) for their article "Still Taking a Cut," which exposed the involvement of the Cambodian military in the country's illegal logging trade. In 2016, Daily journalists won a SOPA Excellence in Feature Writing award for their article, "Moving Dirt: A lucrative dirt trade is leaving holes in communities". Somaly Mam investigation Cambodia Daily led a years-long investigation into famed anti-trafficking activist Somaly Mam, former president of the Somaly Mam Foundation, over discrepancies in her autobiography, The Road of Lost Innocence, which detailed her backstory as a sex slave in Cambodia, becoming an international bestseller. The Daily first began reporting on inconsistencies in her public comments and claims made in her book in early-2012, and in October 2013 published results of its investigation into claims of trafficking made in Mam's book that reporters found to have been fabricated. A Newsweek exposé by former Cambodia Daily editor Simon Marks in May 2014 focused international attention on the alleged falsifications, and Mam stepped down from her foundation just days after the article's publication. The New York Times credited The Cambodia Daily with first pointing out that Somaly Mam's stories of her childhood were false in 2012 and 2013. Print closure The Cambodia Daily published its final issue on September 4, 2017, announcing its immediate closure. According to the owners, the closure was the result of a dispute with the Cambodian government over an arbitrary US$6.3 million tax bill, which was disputed by the newspaper as politically motivated. The Cambodian Department of Taxation disputed the accusation of political motivation, and commented that the tax bill was aimed at supporting the national budget. The Cambodian government had started a tax reform initiative in 2013 to increase the government’s tax revenue collection capabilities and better regulate Cambodia’s significant informal economy. The paper's final front page featured the headline "Descent into Outright Dictatorship" above its top article on the arrest of Cambodian National Rescue Party President Kem Sokha, and was published amid a "deteriorating" political