Saturday, 22 October 2011 12:04 Tun Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – In another cautious indication of the opening up of Burma’s domestic media environment, interviews with exile Burmese media figures and activists are proliferating in domestic journals.
The publication of interviews with the Democratic Voice of Burma’s Chief Editor Aye Chan Naing, Irrawaddy Editor Aung Zaw and Mizzima’s Managing Editor Sein Win were all this month permitted by Burma’s censor board.
“We think the government’s policy is totally changed. It started around five or six months ago. A lot has changed,” an editor whose journal was allowed to publish interview with the head of an exile media told Mizzima.
Popular subjects for the interviewees included sanctions, whether exile media groups are looking to return to Burma, the Myitsone dam controversy and the relationship between Aung San Suu Kyi and Naypyidaw.
Referring to the newfound freedom in publishing interviews with exile media figures, one Rangoon editor commented, “I think it is allowed at present since they said all exiles are allowed to return home. Because of this change, I think they allow the interviews with exile people.”
He added that interviews with exiles are not only for promoting the journals, but also to test the attitude of censors regarding sensitive subjects such as the call for exiles to return to Burma.
On 17 August President Thein Sein announced that exiles who want to return and participate in the country’s development can do so by communicating their intention with respective state and regional governments.
However, at the time of this announcement the censor board still did not approve publication of interviews with exile figures.
“Allowing interviews with persons from the exile media is strange. In the coming period, they [the Burmese government] have a lot to talk about with the international community. So, I think that is why they do things [like permitting the publication of interviews with exiles],” said the journal editor.
Naypyidaw is seeking the ASEAN chair in 2014 as well as the abolition of sanctions and resumption of international assistance. However, international criticism of the exact nature and extent of changes being implemented by the Burmese government continues to hamper these aims.
“The government is trying to sell their image. It is the first impression people will have, so they are giving their best. They want to make it appear that they abolished all things of the past and are now doing their best,” added the Rangoon editor.
Some members of the exile-based Burma Media Association (BMA) believe that the redundancy in questions circulated to exile media figures is part of a strategy by the government to measure the attitude of the exile media to changes inside the country.
“While it appears that the government has conceded something to some extent, at the same time they want to measure the attitude of journalists in these media organizations. I think they want to evaluate them,” Zin Linn, vice president of BMA, told Mizzima.
Journals permitted to publish the interviews are commonly held to be controlled by individuals close to the government and include Popular, Yangon Times, Eleven and publications of the United Media Group.
New Delhi (Mizzima) – In another cautious indication of the opening up of Burma’s domestic media environment, interviews with exile Burmese media figures and activists are proliferating in domestic journals.
The publication of interviews with the Democratic Voice of Burma’s Chief Editor Aye Chan Naing, Irrawaddy Editor Aung Zaw and Mizzima’s Managing Editor Sein Win were all this month permitted by Burma’s censor board.
“We think the government’s policy is totally changed. It started around five or six months ago. A lot has changed,” an editor whose journal was allowed to publish interview with the head of an exile media told Mizzima.
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| Exile voices heard in domestic media. Photo: Mizzima |
Popular subjects for the interviewees included sanctions, whether exile media groups are looking to return to Burma, the Myitsone dam controversy and the relationship between Aung San Suu Kyi and Naypyidaw.
Referring to the newfound freedom in publishing interviews with exile media figures, one Rangoon editor commented, “I think it is allowed at present since they said all exiles are allowed to return home. Because of this change, I think they allow the interviews with exile people.”
He added that interviews with exiles are not only for promoting the journals, but also to test the attitude of censors regarding sensitive subjects such as the call for exiles to return to Burma.
On 17 August President Thein Sein announced that exiles who want to return and participate in the country’s development can do so by communicating their intention with respective state and regional governments.
However, at the time of this announcement the censor board still did not approve publication of interviews with exile figures.
“Allowing interviews with persons from the exile media is strange. In the coming period, they [the Burmese government] have a lot to talk about with the international community. So, I think that is why they do things [like permitting the publication of interviews with exiles],” said the journal editor.
Naypyidaw is seeking the ASEAN chair in 2014 as well as the abolition of sanctions and resumption of international assistance. However, international criticism of the exact nature and extent of changes being implemented by the Burmese government continues to hamper these aims.
“The government is trying to sell their image. It is the first impression people will have, so they are giving their best. They want to make it appear that they abolished all things of the past and are now doing their best,” added the Rangoon editor.
Some members of the exile-based Burma Media Association (BMA) believe that the redundancy in questions circulated to exile media figures is part of a strategy by the government to measure the attitude of the exile media to changes inside the country.
“While it appears that the government has conceded something to some extent, at the same time they want to measure the attitude of journalists in these media organizations. I think they want to evaluate them,” Zin Linn, vice president of BMA, told Mizzima.
Journals permitted to publish the interviews are commonly held to be controlled by individuals close to the government and include Popular, Yangon Times, Eleven and publications of the United Media Group.
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