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A wind of freedom is blowing through the Burmese media. You can see that justby looking at the Burmese weeklies dislayed on the wooden table serving as anewsstand on a Rangoon street corner. Nobel eace laureate Aung San Suu Kyis faceis on the front age of many news weeklies, often full-age. Covers like this wouldhave been imossible to find just a year ago.

The international community is witnessing an unrecedented democratic transition inBurma after half a century of often very harsh military dictatorshi, during which thearmy turned its guns on the eole on more than one occasion and crusheda Saffron Revolution by B uddhist monks in 2007.

Under ressure from the international community and from oosition grousbacked by the oulation, the military government was forced to ursue the reformsannounced in its roadma to democracy in 2003 and to hold general electionsin 2010 that concluded with the installation of a civilian government.

Renamed Myanmar by the military, Burma is now being led down the roadto democracy by Thein Sein, a former general who has been resident s ince February2011. The destination is still distant, but the road already covered is remarkable.Aung San Suu Kyis visits to Euroe and the United States have been strikingevidence of that.

For 25 years, Reorters Without Borders was banned from visiting B urma.All freely-reorted news and information were forbidden and the countrys leadingjournalists were detained in its 43 jails. For years, the military regime would susendublications for such trivial reasons as a St. Valentines Day advertisement ora reference to Thailand by the ancient name of Yodaya.

The reression sared no one involved in news roduction, not even rinters,some of whom were sentenced to seven years in rison for rinting oems withdemocratic messages. The arbitrary convictions and sentences continued until 2011,even after the first olitical reforms had begun. In October 2011, amnesty wasdecreed for dozens of olitical risoners including the blogger and comedian Zarganar,Myanmar Nation editor Sein Win Maung and three Democratic Voice o Burmareorters.

After being removed from the blacklist at the end of August 2012, at the same timeas Aung San Suu Kyis children and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright,Reorters Without Borders was finally able to visit Burma for the first time and meet

all the generations of journalists it had suorted from a distance, including the well-known Win Tin, who sent 19 years in rison, and those who had been on DemocraticVoice o Burmas list of imrisoned VJs (video-journalists).

Reorters Without Borders was able to see the initial results of the measures designedto loosen the governments gri on the media. But the way forward for the media is farfrom clear at this early stage of the governments reforms. How do the media envisagethe olitical and legal rocess leading to liberalization? Are journalists m anagingto convey their concerns, questions and, above all, their wishes to those in chargeof these reforms ? What are the main challenges for the media in this new oliticaland economic configuration ?

This reort examines the state of the changes carried out by the governmentand offers detailed recommendations designed to imrove resect for freedomof information in Burma and ensure that the imrovements are lasting.

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investigation by benjamin ismal

INTRODUCTIONI

Win Tin is the

former editor ofthe newsaer

Hanthawatiandolitical mentor of

Nobel eace laureateAung San Suu Kyi.

cover : Enigma Images / James MacKay


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BURmaArea

676,578 sq kmPopulation

54 million (July 2011)Language

BurmesePresident

Thein Seinsince March 2011

D

a

B

E

C

Burmas caital since 2005,Nayyidaw is the seat of thegovernment and arliament,

which has to arove the newmedia law.

Burma has more than 300newsaers, of which about100 are based in Rangoonand the surrounding region.The absence of reliableinformation about the ethnicviolence in the western stateof Arakan is a challenge forthe Burmese media.

a

B

fOCUsII

D

E

C A civil war continues in theremote northern state ofKachin. The few journalistswho manage to visit it usuallyenter across its land borderwith China.

Although they have oenedbureaux in Rangoon, most ofthe exile media still haveoffices in the Thai city ofChiang Mai.

By the end of 2012, neitherRangoons notorious Inseinrison nor any of the countrys43 other risons was stillholding any journalists orbloggers.

pREssE fREEDOm

January 2003

journalists imrisoned 15

netizens imrisoned 3

January 2010



September 2011



169eoutof179countries in the 2011/2012Reorters Without Bordersress freedom index.

AFppHOTO/SoeThanWin

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afpphoto/SetnWin

1. Burmese media spring

Reshaing the media landscae

Associations resond to new challenges and threats to media freedom

2. Legislative reform:

ending institutionalized repression

prosecutions encouraging self-censorshi

Stubborn reressive laws

New legislation to rotect journalists

3. A new media market

Licences, distribution, cometitionand other new challenges

New forms of journalism and challenge of sustainability

Agreement on need for rofessionalization

Recommendations

Recent activities by Reporters Without Borders

and the Burma Media Association

sUmmaRyI

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The first ublications to be exemted from monitoring by the governmentcensorshi bureau known as the press Scrutiny and RegistrationDivision (pSRD) were the business and literary weeklies, which lost notime in steing u their activities. The rest of the rint media followedsuit at the end of the s ummer of 2012, when they too were exemtedfrom rior censorshi.

Most of the bigger rivately-owned media comanies are alreadyrearing to launch dailies or even TV stations as s oon as thegovernment gives the green light. Mizzima News is back from exileand has launched a business weekly and a general news weekly, joiningthe hundred or so eriodicals based in Rangoon. The editors of theleading weeklies are already thinking about the next stages in theirdeveloment.

Rangoon-based journalists are already free to talk and work withoutfeeling threatened or watched. I dont send my nights worryingwhether the authorities will come and arrest me or take my husband, Reorters Without Borders was told by Aye Aye Win, who has beenthe Associated press corresondent for more than 20 years. RWBscorresondent, pho La Min, said Burmese journalists are now ableto meet and talk in ublic with reresentatives of internationalorganizations and media without fearing for their safety.

Journalists are receiving more and more foreign visitors in theirnewsrooms, the headquarters of their associations or their homes, andare ready to criticize the government and voice sceticism about certainasects of its reform and even its real intentions. We dont forgetwhat they did to us, Aye Aye Win said, referring to the former militarygovernment, many of whose members are now in president Thein

Burmese media

springThe governments first political reform measures were like

a breath of fresh air for Burmas privately-owned weeklies.

Confident that they could be a lot more outspoken, they tried

to publish articles critical of the authorities but quickly

discovered that the governments red lines had not retreated

as much as they had imagined.

9

Seins civilian government. The government is not yet trusted but mostjournalists are confident that they have more freedom of seech andare determined to use it to exress all their concerns and demands.

The relaxation in government control of the media has beenaccomanied by an increase in Internet activity by both the mediaand the ublic. public Internet access oints, which had already becomenumerous in recent years, no longer seem to be controlled by theauthorities. Asked about this, Internet caf owners said they were notgetting olice visits and no longer needed to kee logs of t he comutersused by clients. Draconian regulations such as a ban on external flashdrives are still officially in lace but no longer enforced and moreand more eole are freely surfing the Internet in ublic laces.

REshapINg ThE mEDIa laNDsCapEFreed from the governments iron gri, Burmas journalists are thinkingabout the directions in which to take their media, the new ossibilitiesthat are unfolding and the ways to realize them. Some media such asthe Myanmar Independentare lanning to ublish reorts in English,esecially online, in order to reach an international ublic, above allin nearby Asian countries that are following develoments in Burmaclosely. But they will need to rofessionalize and rovide technicaltraining to emloyees with no exerience with daily news reortingand little exerience of hoto and video-journalism, until now mainlylimited to hotos and videos osted online.

A total of 17 video-journalists emloyed by the exile Democratic Voiceo Burma were arrested from 2007 to 2010. S ome, like Hla Hla Win,who was 29 in 2009, were given sentences of u to 20 years in rison.Although they are only now just out of jail, DVB s video-journalistsare already seeking ways to become more rofessional and rovidethe ublic with better reorting.

The sense of duty, which never left them while they were in rison,is now being exressed in a desire to be better trained. In their view,their release is a new beginning, and everything still remains to be done.

The latest examle was a two-day conference on ublic service

broadcasting that was organized jointly by Democratic Voice o Burmaand the information ministry in Rangoon on Setember 24 and 25.It highlighted the new links between this reforming government andthe media, and the medias desire to define their own role in the rocessof democratization. Above all it showed that the media are determinedto get control of the future of freedom of information in Burma.

With an oening address by the new information minister, Aung Kyi,and with many government officials, local and foreign journalists,and international NGO reresentatives taking art, the conferencetackled both the concrete and technical asects of s uch issuesas the indeendence of the media regulatory authorities, the needto take account of the effect of the governments economic reforms,the role of women and ethnic minorities, over-emloyment in the statemedia, and the need for cooeration and transarency in the media lawreform rocess. It highlighted the colossal task awaiting t he government


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and Burmese media and also the encouraging seed and visionwith which all layers are addressing the future.

assOCIaTIONs REspOND TO NEw

ChallENgEs aND ThREaTs TO mEDIa

fREEDOm

Aware of the imortance of bringing all their weight to bearon government decisions, Burmas journalists have not wasted time.As soon as the government first announced reforms, they began formingassociations that the authorities would have no choice but to consult.They thereby hoe to be able to articiate actively in building a new

legislative, economic and olitical environment for the media.

Several journalists and ublishers associations were createdin May 2012 after the Myanmar Writers and Journalists A ssociations( MWJA ), which was set u under the military governments controlin 1993, had been disbanded. There are now three main journalistsorganizations the Myanmar Journalists Association ( MJA ) with morethat 650 members, the Myanmar Journalists Union ( MJU ) with around300 members and the Myanmar Journalists Network ( MJN ).Even if differences in their olitical views can be detected, eachis trying to serve media freedom in its own way rather than cometewith the others.

MJA resident Maung Wuntha and vice-resident Thiha Saw are veryinvolved in drafting a media law while MJU members Zaw Thet Htwe,Aye Aye Win and Min Zaw, corresondent of the Jaanese newsaerTokyo Shimbun, seem to be concentrating on romoting media freedomand training. Training in radio journalism was given to 20 journalists inRangoon and Mandalay in August.

The MJN, which consists mainly of young journalists, was largelyresonsible for the August 4 demonstration to demand the liftingof the susension imosed on two weeklies, The Voice and The Envoy,after they ublished articles without the pSRDs aroval. The MJNsjournalists received hel from the comedian Zarganar, who rovided

them with an office from which to organize the rotest march.

A Myanmar journalist wearsa T-shirt reading Sto killingress as he waits outside acourt for a ruling on a defamationcase against The Voice Weeklyin Rangoon on August 23, 2012.

AFp pHOTO / Soe Than Win


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A few days before the rotest, all three grous jointly created a pressFreedom Committee, which issued a statement condemning the pSRDsdecision to susend the two weeklies. If the committee becomesa ermanent entity, it will be Burmas first ress freedom organization.

These associations are organizing training for their less exeriencedmembers and are beginning to dedicate a major art of their timeto holding workshos and conferences to discuss ossible strategiesfor media that want to adat as soon as ossible to the economic andsocial changes, which they are closely following and trying to anticiate.

Reorters Without Borders was able to attend several of theseconferences, where the chief concern was how to build an ethical anddiversified ress and rovide freely reorted news and information tothe entire oulation. While it is still too soon to gauge the governments

good faith, for which a key test will be its willingness to sto controllingthe state-owned media, most of the rivately-owned media have alreadydemonstrated their desire to serve the ublic interest.

Myanmar newsaerdeliveryman U Khin ZawMyint, 63, looks at hisnewsaers in Rangoon.

AFp pHOTO / Soe Than Win


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The governments first concession to media freedom was its June 2011decision to exemt about 180 non-olitical newsaers ( about60 er cent of the rint media ) from the obligation to submit their articlesto the censorshi bureau before ublication. It was followed in Julyby ermission to rint hotos of Aung San Suu Kyi, the National Leaguefor Democracys founder and general secretary, on the front age.Until then ublication of her hoto has been limited to inside agesand a maximum size of about 7 by 12 cm.

The lifting of rior censorshi was extended to business and legalublications in December 2011 and to educational and literaryublications in March and May 2012, resectively. Finally, on August 20,the government announced the end of rior censorshi for all of Burma s

weeklies, ending a 48-year-old ractice.

In ractical terms, the change is significant. The constant to-ing andfro-ing between the weeklies and the press Scrutiny and Registrationdivision ( pSRD ), referred to simly as the bureau, has ended. We used to send our articles to the bureau on Thursday, we would getthem back on Saturday, and we would make the required changesthe same day, 7 Day News Journaleditor Nyein Nyein Naing said. On Monday we sent the changed version with last minute additions,and they sent it back in the evening. It finally aeared on the followingWednesday. All this is no longer necessary and we win a lot of valuabletime.

Although weeklies no longer have to submit their articles to thepSRD before ublication, most journalists say this has not meant aradical change in their activities. Some claim they have not seen anyradical evolution in the content of the weeklies since the lifting of rior

LegisLative

reormThe main task being tackled by the government, as regards the

media, is overhauling the legislation governing the print and

broadcast media. A series of measures since the summer of 2011

led to the lifting of prior censorship in August 2012. Despite its

ambivalent behaviour, the government has at the same time begun

to draft a new media law.

Aung San Suu Kyi,

the National League forDemocracys founder

and general secretary,Setember 22th 2012.

AFppHOTO/StanHonda


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censorshi. Myanmar Independenteditor Ma Thida said some reortersay more attention now to what they write than during the era, a termoften used in interviews to refer to the eriod when rior censorshi wasin force, suggesting that, although recent, journalists regard it as a thingof the ast.

Before, we could write whatwe wanted and we waitedto see if it would obtain thepSRDs aroval but now wemust go to ress knowingthat if we cross the line, wewill ay the consequences, Ma Thida added.

Many journalists think that

the abolition of censorshiwill not be comlete until allthe reressive laws affectingmedia workers are reealed andrelaced by a media law thatguarantees the rotection ofreorters and editors regardlessof the medium in which theywork.

pROsECUTIONs

ENCOURagINg

sElf-

CENsORshIp

Since the abolition of riorcensorshi, journalists havebeing aying much moreattention to the contentthey ublish or have been

censoring themselves forfear of government rerisals.The editors of non-oliticalublications, the first to benefitfrom the lifting of censorshi,were the first to note this and ithas been reeatedly confirmedsince the start of the year.

At least four lawsuits werebrought against rivately-owned weeklies from Januaryto August 2012, mostly bygovernment officials. ModernWeeklyand one of its reorters,Thet Su Aung, were sued by a

UsINg16 gUIDElINEs

TO maINTaIN CONTROl

On 20 August 2012, coincidingwith the liting o prior censorshipor all the print media includingpolitical publications, the PSRDsRegistration and VerifcationDivision circulated a list o 16guidelines to the privately-ownedmedia. PSRD director MyoMyint Maung told ReportersWithout Borders they were justsuggestions to the media, asort o code o conduct. Butjournalists saw them as a partiallysuccessul attempt to persuadethem to censor themselves andrerain rom writing certain kindso stories.

By relacing a reminder of thelegislation in effect with a list of suggestions with no legal force,the government clearly thought ithad found a more subtile way ofmaintaining the ressure on themedia. It is likely that, at this stageof the reform rocess, a comletereminder of all the reressivelaws adoted by the military since1962 and still in effect wouldhave sarked an outcry from thecountrys journalists.

Here are the 16 guidelines thatwere sent to the rivately-ownedmedia :

UsINg 16 gUIDElINEs

Do not publish alcohol ortobacco advertisements. Do not write articles or s howhotos about crimes committed byminors. Do not show or publish photos orarticles that could scare the ublic. Do not employ Buddhist usagesand words from the literature ofother religions.

General In any article critical ofgovernment or rivate-sectorrocedures, give the exact time,lace, name and organization.Have reliable sources ofinformation and roof. The appropriate Burmesetranslation should be alied inexressing the headline and thetitles of the books rather thanusing their English names.

Political Do not use the three cardinalrules on the duties of citizens inan inaroriate way. Do not write about or commenton the government and its oliciesin a negative way. Do not write article that couldharm Myanmars internationalrelations. Do not write about corruption,illegal drug roduction andtrafficking, human traffic, forcedlabour or child soldiers withoutreliable sources of information. Do not write articles supportingindividuals or organizations thatact against the state.

Economic

Do not write insulting articlesabout the governments economicolicies. Do not publish articles with

economic data or hotosconcerning the economy withoutreliable sources of information.

Social Do not show parts of thehuman body that are contrary toMyanmars culture or clothing styleor show an obscene osture. Do not promote gambling orredict results. Do not write about ghosts,vamires or treasure hunts and donot write other kinds of mysterystories. Do not disseminateirrational ideas that could createconfusion in children.

RSF

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construction ministry engineer in January over a November 2011 articleabout the oor condition of a road in the Mandalay area. A March 2012article in The Voice about alleged corrution within the governmentelicited a libel suit from the ministry of mines on 20 Setember 2012,a month after the end of censorshi.

The real olitical revolution would be to disband the censorshi bureau,as the government said it would several times this year, Irrawaddyeditor Kyaw Zwa Moe said. Keeing the pSRD shows how hardit is for the government to abandon what it regards as a deterrent forthe media. Ma Thida added : The end of rior censorshi has notbrought the exected change to our day-to-day activities. The MyanmarIndependentublishes a cartoon every week, and that was already the

case before the lifting of the rohibition.

The censorshi bureau still has certain rerogatives such as summoningjournalists to its headquarters and making them sign statements.It serves as a warning. The bureau has threatened several newsaerswith susension since the start of the year. The National League forDemocracy weekly D-Wave, for examle, was rerimanded in the run-uto the 1 Aril artial elections because of a cartoon that was regardedas overly critical of the government.

The bureaus intention is clearly to deter media from ublishingcontentious articles even if some weeklies such as the MyanmarIndependentare now in the habit of sending a reresentative notdirectly linked to the newsaer to receive the scolding. Ma Thidacriticized the governments methods in a satirical editorial headlined We will send you aologies signed in advance.

As Open News editor Thiha Saw, a member of the press Council( see Box on page 26 ) said : The end of rior censorshi does notmean the end of surveillance. I went to the pSRD after the abolitionof rior censorshi and I saw that newsaers, which continue to besystematically sent to the bureau, were still being marked in red ink. Officially, newsaers are still sent to the bureau just for archivinguroses.

sTUBBORN REpREssIvE laws

Although it no longer screens content before ublication, the pSRDstill has an effective mechanism for ressuring the rint m edia.As it registers newsaers and controls ublication licences, it cansusend a newsaer whenever it likes for ublishing forbidden content. Just two weeks before censorshi was lifted, two weeklies,The Envoyand The Voice, were susended indefinitely for violating2011 Order No. 44 and for contravening pSRD regulations, namely,ublishing articles that had not received rior aroval.

The government has also brought rosecutions against editors andreorters in recent months as if it wanted to reaffirm its authority andmake it clear that there are s till red lines that cannot be crossed.

All the laws restricting freedom of exressionand information are still in lace and seemto constitute the main obstacle to animrovement in media freedom in Burma.It was under these laws that journalists,bloggers and dissidents were jailed for years.

One of the leading ieces of legislationused to arrest and convict news rovidersis the Electronic Transaction Law. Adotedin 2004, it makes using the Internet anddigital technology to carry out or suortanti-government activities, including distributing any information relating

to secrets of the security of t he state, unishable by 7 to 15 years inrison. Its deliberately vague wording means that it is the simlest to useagainst journalists and bloggers, Aye Aye Win said.

It was under this law that Zaw Thet Htwe, former editor of the sortsmagazine First Eleven Journal, was sentenced to 19 years in risonin 2008 while covering the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis andthe subsequent relief oerations. Its a catch-all law, said Aye Aye Win. Many journalists and activists of the 88 generation were snared by thislaw in 2007 and 2008, she said. Some got the maximum sentence onfour different counts a combined jail term of 60 years. My husband wasserving a 19-year jail sentence until freed in January 2012 in the secondamnesty wave.

The 1962 printers and publishers Registration Law is the other law thatjournalists criticize most. It obliges every rinter and ublisher to registerand submit coies of books, m agazines and newsaers to a CentralRegistration Board before ublication. Since 1989, when the enaltieswere increased, any contravention has been unishable by u to sevenyears in rison. Desite the abolition of c ensorshi, the law is still in forceand its regulation on registering new ublications and renewing licencescontinue to be alied.

The 1950 Emergency provisions Act is one of the many other abusivelaws that journalists criticize. Under article 5- ( j ), any ublished content liable to affect the morality or conduct of the ublic or a grou of eolein a way that would undermine the security of the Union or the restorationof law and order is unishable by five years in rison. It could be usedto find fault with almost any content and it has been used to jail manyjournalists, including Aye Aye Wins father, Guardian Sein Win.

Journalists want other legal rovisions reealed, including article505-( b ) of the criminal code and article 354 of the 2008 constitution,which says that freedom of exression and the right to ublish onesbeliefs and oinions are guaranteed as long as they are not contraryto the countrys laws , security, law and order and ublic decency.

The romise of a thorough reform rocess has not s o far been reflectedin arliament, which continues to reject roosals for reealing reressivemedia laws. On August 30, for examle, arliament voted down a roosalby New National Democracy party arliamentarian Thein Nyunt, a former

The real oliticalrevolution wouldbe to disbandthe censorshibureau


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journalist and lawyer by training, for the reeal of the 1950 Emergencyprovisions Act.

By insisting on national security needs, the government is trying tokee certain laws t hat are to its advantage, Aye Aye Win said. Wewill have to wait until 2013, when the arliamentarians will address theissue again. Journalists will contact them to insist on the need to reealreressive laws.

Nonetheless, the reform rocess is not aralyzed. A s the famous writer,Soe Thein ( Maung Wuntha ), editor of Peoples Age, resident of the

Myanmar Journalists Association and head of the Centre for MyanmarMedia Develoment Journalism School, said, media legislation reformis a two-tier rocess. As well as reeal of the military dictatorhis laws,there is also a need to draft new laws to rotect journalists.

NEw lEgIslaTION TO pROTECT

jOURNalIsTs

The government began drafting a rint media bill, usually referred toas the media law ( see Box on page 16 ), at the start of 2012.In February, then pSRD deuty director Tint We announced that thejustice ministry was examining a draft and that the law would be adotedby the end of the year. No fewer than five drafts w ere reortedlyroduced from May to August without any media being able to see them.

The government finally revised its timetable after reeated objectionsfrom journalists. The new press Council is now in charge of the drafting,which is exected to take several more months, robably delayingadotion until the end of 2013.

Desite the delay, everything indicates that it will be adoted beforeall of the military governments old laws are reealed. The coexistenceof two contradictory laws could be roblematic even if the mediacommunity has so far hardly referred to the ossibility. Asked about it,Aye Aye Win said it could be very handy for the government to be ableto use the new law that resects the media in order to look good in theinternational communitys eyes while continuing to use the survivingreressive laws to hound journalists.

This sorts magazinescover headline usedcolour to alludesubliminally toAung San Suu Kyisrelease in 2010.

RSF


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AFp pHOTOS / Soe Than Win

AFppHOTO/SoeThanWin

my movements were monitored.This no longer seems to be thecase. After launching M-Zine, abusiness weekly, in May, Mizzima

News brought out the first issueof a newsweekly called Mizzimaon 25 Setember. printed anddistributed in Rangoon, it hada rint-run of 7 000 coies. We decided to ublish on Tuesdaybecause none of the big weekliesis ublished that day, he said.

As the emloyees it had in C hiangMai have not been able to moveto Rangoon, Mizzima News isemloying local journalists, someof whom reviously worked forthe state media. We are havingto adat to each other, Sein Winsaid. For the time being, it ishard for our staff to cover storiesinvolving the military or sensitivestories such as the crisis in Arakan.Whats more, as we are changingour financing model, we have todedicate a bigger ercentage ofcoverage, about 30 ercent, to softsubjects such as leisure, literature

and cuisine.

Democratic Voice o Burma doesnot have the same local recruitingroblems but it is facing majorfinancial challenges stemmingabove all from the fact that itis a radio and TV broadcaster.It has had offices in the c entreof Rangoon since August whilekeeing its headquarters in the

The reorm process thatdeveloped during 2012 has beencomplemented by the returnoDemocratic Voice of Burma,

Irrawaddy, Mizzima News andother exile media. Formerlybranded as enemies o thestate, they continue to playa key role by providing reely-reported news and inormationin Burma and by providing theinternational community with aunique insight into the country.Since receiving permission, theyhave opened bureaux in Rangoonand overhauled their networks oemployees and contributors.

They ace specifc difculties.Firstly, they must establish aplace or themselves in a verycompetitive media environmentwhile, although the populationrecognizes their legitimacy, somehard-line ofcials look askance attheir return. Secondly, they musteect the challenging transitionrom non-proft organization tocommercial news outlet while

ensuring that the concept opublic service continues to beat the centre o their activities.

Mizzima News, which wasfounded in India in 1998, becamethe first to return in February. The initial eriod was verydelicate, said Sein Win, the headof news and roduction inRangoon. When I first returned,

Myanmar journalistswearing cas reading

press Freedom carry out an interview

outside a court as

they wait for a rulingon a defamation case

against The VoiceWeeklyin Rangoon

on August 23, 2012.

Thai city of Chiang Mai. It alsostill has a bureau in Oslo but nolonger has the same financialsuort as in the ast. DVBs

video-journalists, most of whomwere released in the January2012 amnesty, continue to laya central role and some arealready getting instruction invideo reorting techniques fromexternal trainers.

In the ast, their leadingconcern was to kee a lowrofile while filming theirreorts, DVB lanning editorThan Win Htut exlained. All they had to do was obtainvideo footage and send it toDVB without getting arrested.The method of working haschanged radically. They musthandle reviously ignoredasects such as the story angle,the actual shooting and thevideo editing. The cameras theyuse are not the ones they hadbefore we oened here.Our goal is to get them u

to video journalism standards.

Although Irrawaddy Magazinehas had a resence in Burmasince March, it was not ableto oen a bureau in Rangoonuntil the end of Setember.It emloys around 20 journalists,including Kyaw Zwa Moe,the editor of the magazinesEnglish-language version.

We have recently obtainedthe information ministrysermission to ublish aweekly but we had to rint inThailand and then imort thenewsaer, he said.

Like the Burmesecorresondents of foreignmedia, journalists back fromexile are among the fewjournalists not to have beendirectly exosed to the militarygovernments censorshi inrecent years. Although theydo not lack tact and dilomacyin their relations with the

authorities, some Burmesejournalists regard them as lessinclined to comromise onmedia freedom. Their returnis a significant indicator in an evaluation of the mediareforms and freedomof information, one of thesejournalists said.

ExIlE mEDIa RETURN TO BURma

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There are more than 300 newsaers in Burma, of which around 100are based in and around Rangoon and only about 3 0 cover the news, Ma Thida said, describing the Burmese media landscae. B urmasrivately-owned media reflect the countrys olitical, economic, ethnicand religious diversity. Once united in adversity, the media have revealedmore of their various olitical inclinations since the installation ofThein Seins civilian government.

It is not unusual for media to attack each other indirectly in editorialssuorting or criticising the government or its olicies. While thejournalists associations create a form of unity, controversial subjectssuch as the crisis in the western state of Arakan ( see Box on page 30 )threaten to divide the media and benefit conservative government circlesthat try to use such divisions to reaffirm their control.

Win Tin, a former editor of the newsaer Hanthawatiand oliticalmentor of Nobel eace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said attentionmust be aid to the medias owners and the key role they lay,and that evaluation of the media environment alone wouldnot shed light on all the challenges and obstacles to freedomof information in Burma.

Called Saya ( The Sage ) by colleagues, Win Tin sent years shiftingbetween a cell in Insein rison and a Rangoon hosital room reservedfor detainees after being arrested in July 1989 and getting a 20-yearsentence on charges of subversion and anti-government roaganda.He was denied the right to a en and aer, to listen to the radio andto read newsaers, and his only visits were from army officers whoreeatedly offered to free him in exchange for his signature to a writtenundertaking to abandon his olitical activities. Unlike some mediaowners, Win Tin always refused to enter into any deal with the military.

a new media

marketiThe media have to adapt to many new political, economic

and social circumstances and to the instability inherent

in the current transition. The exile media that have moved

back to Burma have to satisfy the demands of economic

profitability and must quickly find new funding models

in order to guarantee their survival.

To fully areciate the situation of the media and thechallenges they face a distinction must be madebetween rivate ownershi and editorial indeendence, Win Tin said. Only 25 ercent of the newsaers areindeendent, that is to say, entirely financed by therivate sector. The other 75 ercent are linkedto military leaders.

For both state-owned media that are directlyrun by former military government officials andfor media owned by their cronies, media liberalizationand the gradual introduction of the rule of law couldmark the end of the secial rivileges and advantagesthey have enjoyed until now.Most journalists agree that the militarys cronies willhave to distance themselves from the government in order to guarantee

the comlete indeendence of the media they own, imrove newsroomethical standards and establish some credibility in the ublics eyes.

lICENCEs, DIsTRIBUTION, COmpETITION

aND OThER NEw ChallENgEs

When asked about their newsaers rosects, some journalists ointto the roblems osed by the connections between the former militarygovernment and certain media comanies that favour the latters marketdominance. Their constant concern is to ensure that their m edia survivesand is able to comete with the big media grous that are financiallyand olitically better equied for the current transition. The dangerthat changes to the economic rules could lead to indirect governmentcontrol of media activity reinforces their concerns.

Venus News editor Myo Min Htike said: They are soon goingto issue licences for rivately-owned daily newsaers, which will osea major challenge for all the small-scale rint media. We cannot comareourselves to weeklies such as 7 Day News and Weekly Eleven becausewe do not have the caital to oerate a daily. Thiha Saw added: Only

big media comanies such as the Myanmar Times and Eleven Mediahave rinting resses. If the government says a licence is neededto imort newsrint, it will have key lever over the rint media.

Circulation differences are enormous. The rint-runs of the weekliesrange from 7,000 for the Myanmar Independentto nearly 200,000for 7 Day News. Distribution is a major roblem for the MyanmarIndependent. It has great difficulty controlling the distribution rocessand finds it very hard to recover unsold coies once they are in thedistributors hands.

The first draft of the media law referred to the introduction of licencesfor newsaer distributors, a ossible means of government ressurethat the press Councils journalists are not ready to accet, Thiha Saw said. The Irrawaddy, an exile ublication that has only

Only25 ercent ofthe newsaersare indeendent

See page 28


14/19

ChaOTIC DRafTINg

aND sTIll UNClEaR

pOwERs

The creation o the Press Council,originally slated or June 2012and fnally realized in Septemberater several abortive attempts,was a source o repeated tensionbetween journalists and thegovernment as regards the powerit gave the media and civil societyto determine the drating o theuture media law.

A residential order in Mayannounced that the pressCouncil would be created thefollowing month and askedvarious journalists associations( see The new media m arket onpage 24 ) such as the MyanmarJournalists Association, theMyanmar Journalists Union andthe Myanmar Journalists Networkto name five reresentatives,allowing the government to name15 non-journalists as its othermembers.

The residential order added thatthe press Council would be underthe pSRDs control and its urosewould be to ensure that the media

pREss COUNCIlI

it is to be relaced by an electedcouncil after one year. Journalistsrejected government financingin a bid to guarantee itsindeendence.

Maung Wuntha has beenaointed as the councilsvice-resident and the oetZaw Thet Htwe is a memberof its central executive. Rewritingthe draft media law and draftinga code of conduct for journalistsare among its new resonsibilities.The council creating fourcommittees on September27 a finance committee, an ethicsand law committee, a committeefor handling comlaints, and an

information and communicationcommittee.

did not threaten the interests ofthe eole, the state and Burmassovereignty. Journalists wereoutraged, and the next day the

journalists associations announcedthat they would not take art insuch a council. The end of riorcensorshi was inevitable, but thegovernment anicked and triedto turn the press Council into arelacement for the pSRD, Aye Aye Win said.

The government reacted quicklyto this rebuff, inviting the variousassociations of journalists,ublishers and writers to draft thenew press Councils regulations.But the government did not changethe councils makeu, retained itscontrol of drafting the new medialaw, and announced the formationof a 20-member council onAugust 9 without even consultingthe journalists grous. As a result,it was again rebuffed.

A new press Council with 30members, of whom only 10 were

aointed by the government, wasfinally formed on September 17and was acceted by all of Burmasjournalists. Headed by formersureme court judge Khin MaungAye and with writers and universityacademics among its members,

AFppHOTO/poncha

iKittiwongsakul

Myanmar booksho

workers arrangenewsaers

at a market inMyawaddy.

27


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29

recently relocated to Burma, still lacks the necessary rinting ermitsand has to rint all of its coies in Thailand and imort them from there( see Box on page 22 ).

NEw fORms Of jOURNalIsm aND

ChallENgE Of sUsTaINaBIlITy

Myo Min Htike said he was thinking carefully ab out the best strategyfor ensuring Venus News survival and was considering a merger witha similar-sized weekly in order to combine their caital and be able

to comete with bigger media comanies. Venus News deends onadvertising, esecially harmaceutical and alcoholic drink industry ads,to be rofitable. But alcoholic drink manufacturers circumvent a lawbanning alcoholic drink ads by roducing and romoting almost identicalnon-alcoholic drinks, and Venus News could lose a major sourceof revenue if the law is tightened.

The calculus is not only economic. Even if the imminent green lightfor rivately-owned dailies raises major questions about the roleof the weeklies, it does not necessarily mean they should all tryto become dailies, Myo Min Htike said.

It is very hard to roduce a daily, he said. Turning a weekly into a daily

requires many organizational and staff changes and for the time beingwe lack the resources. We must think what the role of the weekliesshould be when the daily newsaers begin ublishing. If we decide tocontinue being a weekly in this new media environment, we will definitelyhave to be very creative, find a different angle, find something that setsus aart. In this resect, the Myanmar Independentalready has sectioncalled Myanmar seen through the international media.

In-deth articles will definitely continue to be the seciality of theweeklies but we will have to develo investigative journalism, which hasso far had a very limited resence in Burma, Myo Min Htike added.

Oortunities to do reorting on sensitive subjects in the interior arebecoming more and more frequent. In June, for examle, Myo Min Htikeand four other journalists visited Kachin state and a hoto exhibition wasorganized afterwards in Rangoon. He recently went

to the philiines for a course in investigative journalism, which is welldeveloed there. Kyaw Min Swe, the editor of The Voice, a weeklythat has often been harassed by the authorities because of its incisivearticles, said: Investigative journalism in Burma is for the time beingmainly limited to environmental s tories.

agREEmENT ON NEED fOR

pROfEssIONalIzaTION

Journalists need to be rofessionalized in order to rise to t he Burmesemedias new ambitions after half a c entury without freedom. The needsare many and the range of skills required is varied. To diversify, theEleven Media grou wants to start a daily as soon as the governmentissues licences and even launch a TV station, and intends to train itsjournalists in audiovisual techniques.

Our journalists are young and inexerienced, Eleven Media CEOThan Htut Aung said. They need to be trained in multimedia techniquesand must be able to refer to a code of conduct. The need for training

also stems from the fact that there are no real university courses injournalism aside from a University of Rangoon bachelors degree course.This course does not have a good reutation within the media and fewof its graduates go on to work for rivately-owned media.

MYANMAR OUT / AFp pHOTO

A man reads anewsaer on a street

in Rangoon on May22, 2009. British

Foreign SecretaryDavid Miliband calledon Myanmar to sto

the charade ofdemocracy icon

Aung San Suu Kyistrial, as the junta again

barred media anddilomats from the

court.


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who is a reugee in Australia.Habiburahman has stayed indirect contact with the Rohingyacommunity in Burma and,since June, has been providinginormation about their situationand the attacks on certainvillages.

RSF What is your evaluation

of the media presence

in Arakan?

Habib Habiburahman Untilrecently, no Burmese or foreignjournalist had been able to doany thorough reorting on thesituation in Arakan. From theBurmese viewoint, our ethnicityhas always been a taboo thatwas encouraged by the militarygovernment. The militarysidelined us from the Burmeseethnic landscae and ket usenned u in villages from whichwe did not have the right to leavefor decades.

For the most art, the Burmesemedia have refrained from doingany analytic or investigativereorting on what is haening

in Arakan, either from fear amida climate of extreme violence, orout of ignorance of our ethnicgrou, which has always beenket aart from the others, orbecause of a taboo in a countrylargely oosed to the idea ofthe existence of the Rohingyas,or for strictly artisan reasons.

The Burmese media wouldrather cover the ethnic conflictsin the states of Shan or Kachin

sources. The Rohingyas whodare to seak are risking theworst once the journalists orinternational observers have left.The others censor themselves orare afraid to identify themselvesas Rohingyas. This is notthe case with Rakhines, who

journalists can interview withoutany roblem.

Whats really worrying isthe widesread, controlleddisinformation about thesituation in Arakan. Thefigures reorted by the localand international media arethose rovided by a regimethat has always oressed us.I am dismayed by the way themedia blindly give credenceto a regime, which in our statecontinues to be the dictatorshiit has always been.

If there is a democratic rocess,it is in the seven Burmeseregions but not in the sevenstates where the ethnicminorities live. It is absurd thatinternational observers reortfigures without giving credenceto the figures reorted by those

Rohingyas who are followingdeveloments on a daily basisand who are comiling the mostdetailed reorts ossible. Ifindeendent journalists cannotgo to the villages, to the victims,without being watched on orthreatened, isnt that a sufficientalarm signal that they are tryingto hide something ?

This is why we are relayinginformation on behalf of theRohingyas. The figures we have

TEsT Of mEDIa

lIBERalIzaTION

The tension in the western stateo Arakan has continued ateranother outbreak o violence on21 October and the days that

ollowed. The clashes betweenArakans ethnic Rakhineand (Muslim) Rohingyacommunities were triggeredby the discovery o the bodyo a young Rakhine woman,who had apparently been rapedand murdered, in the villageo Maung Taw on 29 May.The inter-communal clashessubsequently spread throughoutthe state and prompted thegovernment to send troopsthat still have not managedto restore order.

The lack o reliable inormationabout the violence, the poorand oten biased mediacoverage and the reportingrestrictions imposed bythe government constitutenew threats to reedomo inormation in Burmaand pose a major challengeto the Burmese media.

The government has appointeda commission o enquiryinto the clashes, which haveresulted in many deaths anda great deal o destruction.Meanwhile, with the help oFrench journalist Sophie Ansel,Reporters Without Bordersis publishing an interviewwith Habib Habiburahman,a Rohingya cyber-dissident

than in Arakan. Also, theoverty, illiteracy, segregationand discrimination in whichRohingyas grow u revents anyossibility of a Rohingya workingfor a Burmese news organizationand thereby heling to addressthe lack of coverage.

Many ressure grousdiscourage investigativereorting in Arakan.Government directivescirculate. The Rohingyas livein fear, they are under threatand are not free to talk oenly.

RSF Can journalists

interview Rakhines and

Rohingyas with complete

independence?

Habib Most of the state is closedto foreigners and those whogo there to cover the situationexose themselves to danger.They can easily meet Rakhinesbut access to Rohingyas iscontrolled and disaroved of.Some have tried and a fewvideos and interviews withRohingyas have emerged from

Arakan. The few interviewscome mainly from Sittwe, whichis one of the laces you haveto go through to get to thetouristic site of Mrauk U andwhich is therefore one of thecracks in the wall through whichinformation can filter out. Otherareas are comletely cut off.

Journalists are closely watchedin Arakan and must take theutmost care, both for their ownsafety and the safety of their

aRakaNI

reorted are those to whichwe have had access. They areindeed disturbing but they reflectonly the regions in Arakan thatwe have been able to contact.Many villages have disaearedwithout our being able to obtainany information about them.The inhabitants of each torchedvillage should be tracked down.Investigators should seak toall those who are still alive andwho remember this tragedy, whoremember those they have lostand are still losing.

RSF What is the biggest

problem as regards getting

verified information?

Habib The biggest roblem isthat even if hotos or videoshave been shot by someonewith access to a camera, howcan they get the informationout ? The comuters in theMuslim areas have beenconfiscated, hones boughtin Arakan have been blockedand a Muslim with a mobilehone is immediately arrested.

A Myanmar workerchecks the rinted

sheets of a local journalat a rinting house in

Rangoon on August 20,2012.

AFppHOTO/SoeThanWin

31


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33

During the current transition in Burma and taking accountof the creation of new entities reresenting the Burmese media,Reorters Without Borders recommends that :

ThE BURmEsE gOvERNmENT

Strongly affirm its commitment to freedom of information anddemonstrate this in a concrete way by beginning to dismantle theinformation ministry, which has no lace in Burmas new democratic

environment Severely unish anyone who is resonsible for freedom of informationviolations Curb lawsuits against the media by ministry officials and civil servants Suort the reeal of reressive laws and the adotion of a media lawthat resects freedom of information Allow all journalists including freelancers to have access to stateinstitutions in order to ensure that all government activity is fullytransarent Announce that the state media will be comletely overhauled in thenear future Create a roer, recognized university course in journalism and,as soon as it is created, ensure that it is made available in all ofthe countrys major cities

ThE assEmBly Of ThE UNION

Of myaNmaR

Reeal reressive media laws as soon as ossible, above all theElectronic Transaction Law and the 1962 printers and publishers Law Adot a media law that has been aroved by the press Council

ThE pREss COUNCIl

Draft a law for the rint media that resects international standardsand guarantees real rotection for journalists Ensure that that the rint media law addresses issues linked to theublication and circulation of news and information on the Internet Quickly draft laws for the other kinds of media Draw u a code of conduct for journalists, taking care to consultjournalists during the drafting

RECOmmENDaTIONsI

ThE INTERNaTIONal COmmUNITy

Continue its aid to Burma but condition it on resect for fundamentalfreedoms, esecially freedom of information Ensure that assistance rovided to the media does not allowthe authorities to imlement reressive olicies Condition the lifting of additional sanctions on a ositive and significantimrovement in freedom of information

INTERNaTIONal NgO

Suort the develoment of the Burmese media and the trainingof journalists Continue to closely follow develoments in media freedom,media legislation and the way ethnic conflicts are handled

BURmEsE jOURNalIsTs

Continue to articiate in journalists associations and unionsin order to revitalize the media and defend the medias interests Observe the rules of rofessional ethics and conduct and resistressure to censor themselves Continue to show each other solidarity during the transition,in which the disaearance of media will not in any way benefitthe remaining media Ensure that staff receive training that is adated to the newmedia environment Develo investigative journalism prioritize coverage of the countrys most isolated regionsand not ignore the situation of the various ethnic grous Continue to be objective and resonsible in their work


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RECENT aCTIvITIEs By REpORTERs

IwIThOUT BORDERs aND ThE BURma

ImEDIa assOCIaTIONI

mONITORINg vIOlaTIONs Of fREEDOm

Of INfORmaTION

March 2012 Reorters Without Borders condemns the announcedministry of mines lawsuit against the w eekly The Voice.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-proces-du-journal-the-voice-des-23-05-2012,42123.html

January 2012 Interviews with two DVB journalists and a bloggerwho were recently released.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-interviews-de-deux-journalistes-de-23-01-2012,41705.html

May 2011 Reorters Without Borders condemns introductionof new draconian regulations in Internet cafs.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-renorcement-de-la-surveillance-17-05-2011,40295.html

DIRECT assIsTaNCE aND sUppORT

June 2012 The comedian and blogger Zarganar receives his rizeat Reorters Without Borders headquarters.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-le-comedien-et-blogueur-birman-13-06-2012,42784.html

December 2011 The Reorters Without Borders - Le Monde prizefor press Freedom is awarded to Weekly Eleven News.http://r.rs.org/prix-reporters-sans-rontieres-le-08-12-2011,41522.html

May 2011 Reorters Without Borders suorts the launchof the Free Burma VJ.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-rs-soutient-le-lancement-de-la-03-05-2011,40216.html

CampaIgNs aND awaRENEss-RaIsINgJune 2012 Reorters Without Borders gives Aung San Suu Kyi a coyof its reort on the Arakan cris is and freedom of information.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-reporters-sans-rontieres-remet-a-28-06-2012,42910.html

November 2011 Reorters Without Borders asks Aung San Suu Kyiabout the media freedom situation in Burma.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-aung-san-suu-kyi-sur-la-liberte-de-07-12-2011,41520.html

October 2011 Interview with Zarganar a few days after his release.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-interview-du-comedien-et-dissident-17-10-2011,41214.html

Setember 2011 Demonstrations in suort of DVB video-journalistsoutside Burmese embassies.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-maniestations-en-soutien-aux-09-09-2011,40949.html

35

December 2010 Reorters Without Borders and its artner organization,the Burma Media Association, release a reort on coverage of theNovember 2010 elections and Aung San Suu Kyis release from housearrest.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-rapport-birmanie-elections-aung-san-suu-kyi-22-12-2010,39120.html

October 2010 Reorters Without Borders ublishes oems that thejailed blogger Nay phone Latt wrote in his rison cell.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-nay-phone-latt-parvient-a-envoyer-22-10-2010,38650.html

June 2009 Reorters Without Borders launches a etition for therelease of Zarganar.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-signez-la-petition-pour-demander-05-06-2009,33267.html

Setember 2008 Reorters Without Borders relays an aealby 11 Sakharov prize laureates for Aung San Suu Kyis release.

http://r.rs.org/birmanie-11-laureats-du-prix-sakharov-16-09-2008,28576.html

December 2007 Reorters Without Borders awards the 2007 pressFreedom prize to Democratic Voice o Burma.http://r.rs.org/le-16e-prix-reporters-sans-05-12-2007,24644.html

Setember 2007 Reorters Without Borders and the Burma MediaAssociation ask Jaans rime minister to imose sanctions onthe Burmese regime after video-reorter Kenji Nagais murder.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-reporters-sans-rontieres-et-la-29-09-2007,23832.html

December 2006 Win Tin wins the 2006 Reorters Without Borders -Fondation de France prize in the Reorter of the Year category.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-u-win-tin-prime-dans-la-categorie-13-12-2006,20100.html

December 2002 The journalist Christine Ockrent, a member of theReorters Without Borders board, resents Nobel eace laureateAung San Suu Kyi with the trohy of the Reorters Without Borders -Fondation de France prize that was awarded in 1999 to the Burmesejournalist and novelist San San Nweh.http://r.rs.org/birmanie-san-san-nweh-recoit-enfn-le-11-02-2003,04887.html


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