Myanmar Lifts 50-Year-Old Ban On Privately-Owned Daily Newspapers
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Myanmar’s decades-long ban on privately-owned daily newspapers came to an end on Monday, reported AFP, representing a new era for the nation’s media industry, which has long been shackled under Junta rule.
Myanmar’s decades-long ban on privately-owned daily newspapers came to an end on Monday, reported AFP, representing a new era for the nation’s media industry, which has long been shackled under Junta rule.
Four Burmese-language papers – The Voice, The Golden Fresh Land, The Union and The Standard Times – were among the first to publish a daily edition on Monday, although Reuters reported that at least 12 other papers were issued licenses as well.
Privately-owned newspapers had been banned in the country, since military rulers seized control in 1964. Since then, only state-controlled newspapers were allowed to publish daily editions, with privately owned publications restricted to weekly releases.
Furthermore, until August 2012, privately-owned newspapers were also subject to strict censorship rules, in which articles had to be approved by government officials before going to publication.
However Myanmar’s present quasi-civilian government has gradually relaxed controls, although a recently-introduced bill could result in newspapers being declared illegal if they publish “material liable to threaten national reconciliation, denigrate religions or disturb the rule of law.”
“I foresee several hurdles along the way,” told 81-year-old Khin Maung Lay, chief editor of Golden Fresh Land and a former senior newsman at the now-defunct Mogyo daily whch was run out of business in 1964, to the Financial Times.
[quote]“However, I am ready to run the paper in the spirit of freedom and professionalism taught by my peers during the good old days.”[/quote]Several news vendors also told AFP that the private dailies were snapped up quickly on Monday, as more citizens embraced the new change.
“The Voice daily sold out soon after it arrived even though I ordered double the amount than other newspapers. People are keen to read private daily newspapers for the first time,” said vendor Phyu Phyu.
Kyi Kyi, a roadside book vendor, also told Reuters that he had all four newspapers sold out.
[quote]”But it’s very hard to predict their future sales since three of them were distributed free of charge today and the remaining one was sold at 150 kyat ($0.17) per copy,” he noted.[/quote]Related: Guarded Optimism At The Gates Of Myanmar
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Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) now ranks Myanmar 151st out of 179 countries in its Press Freedom Index, up 18 places compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s three government-backed newspapers still cost less than half the price of its private competitors; and even distributed for free at hotels and on aeroplanes.
Other media groups are also waiting for clarification on how Myanmar’s government will treat publications benefitting from foreign investment.
[quote]”It’s been an excruciating wait, a bit like a tree trying to grow through a crack in a rock, but we have now arrived at the starting line and no one seems at all in a hurry,” Ross Dunkley, managing editor of The Myanmar Times, which is still applying for licenses for both Burmese and English dailies, told Reuters.[/quote]
