IFJ – the Global Voice of Journalists – Launches Myanmar Anti-Wage Theft Campaign

The IFJ in statement released on its website on December 1st explained that “Since the military coup and crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on the nation’s independent media, hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs with many media outlets shuttered.”

The IFJ, representing 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries acknowledged that despite massive challenges, “Many of Myanmar’s journalists are still attempting to keep working and reporting. putting themselves at great risk to cover important news events, such as mass displacement and the arrest, torture and jailing of thousands of Burmese citizens.”

The IFJ voiced its concerns of reports of journalists, with decades of experience, are not been paid as professional journalists, instead employers are paying them as citizen journalists or in the devalued Myanmar kyat, for their hard-to-source content.

The IFJ said that “through its affiliate, the Myanmar Journalists Network (MJN), noted that some media outlets are taking advantage of the situation and paying professional journalists at reduced rates as citizen journalists, ignoring the great risks, years of experience, and current challenging situation.”

The IFJ pointed out that while “international media funders have rallied to the cause and offered financial support to many larger Myanmar media houses, smaller and independent journalists are not necessarily able to access international funding and rely on bosses to do the right thing.”

The IFJ said it wants the launch of its anti-wage theft campaign, in collaboration with MJN, the Myanmar Women Journalists Society and supported by Norsk Journalistlag, to send “a strong message to local media outlets and international media to stop the short-changing of Burmese journalists and media workers.”