Media freedom

A number of international human rights groups and media watchdog organisations condemned the Burma government for jailing five journalists for allegedly exposing states secrets. In a strongly worded media release the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) “condemns the arrest and continuing detainment of five Burmese journalists following the publication of a story alleging a Burmese military facility was producing chemical…

Myanmar’s ethnic media is at a crossroads writes Ko Htwe. Government restrictions have eased, but ethnic groups are still fighting for an equal voice. Myanmar’s independent media suffered during 60 years of military rule. The country’s dictator, General Ne Win, effectively banned or censored any media that was not state owned. While a series of reforms implemented by President Thein…

The Burma News International (BNI), an alliance of mainly ethnic news organizations rejected the controversial draft Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law that was approved by the Lower House of Parliament on July 4. The BNI in its statement released on July 9 said that its strong opposition is because the law has too much control over ethnic media outlets. Ko…

Journalists working in Karen State claim that officials are stopping them from covering news stories, attending meeting or news events held by government departments. In the latest incident, journalists claim that on June 1 they were barred, while they were gathering news, from a meeting traffic rules and regulations held by the Karen State Land Transportation Department (Ka Nya Na)…