Resurrecting Press Independence in Burma
Aung Zaw- Editor
The Irrawaddy Magazine
It won't take long to explain the current state of press freedom in Burma, as the press in my country remains very much in shackles, as it has for decades. Nevertheless, there have been a few interesting developments in the past year or so.
Last year, a new English-language weekly newspaper, The Myanmar Times and Business Review,was launched in Rangoon. This new publication, edited by an Australian, professes to be Burma's first truly independent newspaper. Most observers consider this claim to be extremely specious, however, as the publisher is known to be closely connected to the ruling military junta's dreaded Military Intelligence Services.
Another development has been the appearance of on-line versions of several of Burma's best-known private weekly journals. Needless to say, these websites are subject to the same stringent censorship as their parent publications. Burmese journalists based in exile are certainly not welcome to contribute. Once again, despite their status as private publications, it is well known that some publishers are close to military officials, without whose blessings no company inside Burma can expect to survive.
Of these two developments, the creation of The Myanmar Times is perhaps the more significant. This newspaper represents the latest attempt to give Burma's notoriously xenophobic regime a more "foreigner-friendly" image. With its foreign editor, attractive layout, and clear English, it is meant to allay the anxieties of potential investors and persuade the international community that Burma is a "normal" country.
This is not the first time the Burmese junta has attempted to use the media to portray itself in a more positive light. Until two years ago, the regime employed media consultants in the United States to help improve its international image. On the advice of these professional media manipulators, the regime changed its name from the sinister-sounding SLORC, or State Law and Order Restoration Council the name under which it massacred thousands of protestors when it seized power in 1988 to the more innocuous State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC. In 1999, however, the regime lost the services of these highly paid American advisors when it defaulted on their hefty fees.
The Myanmar Times has also begun to publish a Burmese-language version, designed to convince a domestic audience that things are not really as bad as they seem. But Burmese readers familiar with the English-language version have already dismissed The Myanmar Times as slick propaganda. The following is a direct quote from one reader in Rangoon who discussed the paper with a foreign visitor,a close friend of mine:
"Have you seen a copy of The Myanmar Times?
It's in color, edited by foreigners. Some profiles portray the generals as misunderstood men who are working hard to improve their country. People who have suffered under the regime cannot read that sort of thing without feeling very bitter."
Another person, a doctor, made this comment:
"It is true that there are no articles in The Myanmar Times discussing the critical situation of healthcare in Burma. I've seen only the latest edition of that nicely laid-out newspaper. It gives a distilled, one-sided version of the news, but I was surprised to read an article about HIV/AIDS, and how a group of local businessmen in Rangoon are trying to address the problem of discrimination against people with AIDS."
Like most issues in Burma, the growing HIV/AIDS crisis has been highly politicized. While the state-run press usually responds to criticism of the junta's handling of the crisis by denying that it even exists, The Myanmar Times has taken a different approach, one that does not fly in the face of the known facts, but focuses on more "positive" stories, such as the charitable work of junta-connected businessmen.
Here is one last comment from a veteran journalist in Rangoon:
"I hope you don't believe everything you read. The Myanmar Times is a Western act of propaganda, designed to make foreigners think they are reading real news. Burmese people are not fooled because we are accustomed to lies, but Westerners read it and think, 'Oh, this is very good, things are fine here.'"
So it is clear that Burmese are not fooled by The Myanmar Times' claim to being an independent publication. However, the fact that it has made this claim is significant in itself, suggesting that the regime is attempting to resurrect, at least in name, a principle that has long been thought dead in Burma.
Throughout Asia today, the media is becoming increasingly sophisticated; but much of what one sees and reads is, upon closer inspection, little more than state or corporate propaganda. Nobody disputes the importance of image when attempting to attract public attention, but without a real spirit of independence, the "products" of the modern media are as different from genuine journalism as a corpse is from a living human being.Perhaps we should review some of the facts then, so that you can decide for yourselves how sincere the regime is about reinstating an independent press in Burma.
Recently, the junta's intelligence chief, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, claimed in a speech that the principles of press freedom were being granted to an "appropriate degree" in Burma, even though the country is governed by a military regime.
Ironically, it was at around the same time as this speech was given that 71-year-old U Win Tin, a highly respected journalist who is currently serving an open-ended sentence at Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison, received Unesco's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for his commitment to the principles of his profession. It seems highly ironic, indeed, to speak of press freedom in a country where countless men and women of his stature have been severely mistreated for their professional integrity. By the latest estimate, at least 20 reporters are currently behind bars in Burma. Since 1988, approximately 100 journalists, writers and artists have been detained in prisons, making Burma one of the world's most hostile environments for all who believe in freedom of expression.
While Khin Nyunt speaks of upgrading the quality of Burmese journalism, there is little talk of ending the restrictions and threats of retribution that have turned Burma's once proud tradition of journalistic excellence into an exercise in futility. However, let's acknowledge one small improvement: the suspension of daily attacks on the democratic opposition in the state-run press. The New Light of Myanmar, or "The Nightmare of Myanmar", as the junta's official mouthpiece is sometimes called, has for now ended its barrage of vicious attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.
However, Burma continues its attack on dissidents in exile, democracy groups, Thailand and as well as our publication, the Irrawaddy magazine.
Sadly, there is no shortage of models around the region for the sort of press Khin Nyunt would like to create in Burma. Singapore and Malaysia immediately come to mind as places where the sophistication of the local media belies its role as a provider of state propaganda.