While the international media and newspapers have run front page stories of the unrest in Burma, local newspapers and journals have been severely handicapped in covering the protests because of censorship. The Burmese press scrutiny board hangs like a Damocles' sword over the Burmese media.

Despite witnessing the protests over the fuel price hike and taking photographs, producers of Rangoon based journals said they had failed to include even a single story in their papers, as they have experience of rejection by the press scrutiny and registration division of Burmese Information Ministry.

"We all have to go through the censorship board. And if we submit our draft they will reject it or suspend it. So, nobody wants to bear the burden as we will not get past the censors," U Hein Latt, editor of a Rangoon based 'Popular Journal', told Mizzima.

Reporters in Rangoon said though they witnessed the events unfolding before them and had taken visuals, the journals are not running stories. So it has remained as personal records.

"I was there at the demonstrations and as a journalist I was interested and had collected both news and photographs. But since it was not used they will remain as personal records," said a Rangoon based reporter, who requested not to be named.

Consternation among the people grew following the sudden hike in fuel prices on August 15. This eventually triggered protest marches on August 19. It was then followed by a week of sporadic demonstrations in Rangoon which spread to other parts of Burma.

The Burmese military junta met the peoples' protest with a brutal crackdown by its civilian organizations – Union Solidarity and Development Association and Swan Arrshin.

The protest, probably the largest in a decade, made Burma watchers recall the country's last big public demonstrations in 1988, which the junta crushed mercilessly killing thousands of students, monks, and civilians.

 

The current protests have attracted the attention of the regional and international media with newspapers in United States running stories, editorials, opinion pieces and commentaries.

While the local media failed to cover the events, the Burmese junta's mouthpiece ran articles that accused and condemned the 13 detained 88 generation student leaders and the National League for Democracy for instigating public unrest and riots.

However, the junta has not given any notice to the local press restricting them from running stories on the protest.

"As far as I know, there is no official notice from the authorities not to run protest stories. But it is common sense that guided the journal editors and producers. Some reporters went to witness the protests but did not write stories," said U Hein Latt.

Pro-junta thugs, who cracked down on peaceful protesters, however, did not distinguish between reporters and protestors and attacked journalists.

A foreign correspondent based in Rangoon said, "To despatch the stories as regional news, we could not afford to be inaccurate, so I went to the protests. But I had to flee to escape beatings."

Similarly, Rangoon based reporters and foreign correspondents are being harassed while covering the demonstrations. Pro-junta mobs reportedly snatched cameras and beat up reporters.

"When the USDA saw us taking photographs, they shouted at us and said 'beat them', so we had to run away," said a reporter, who requested not to be named.

A Rangoon based senior foreign correspondent told Mizzima that in the current situation, the restrictions on the media are worse than in 1988.

"In 1988 though there were restrictions, but it was not this bad and there were no physical harassment. Now, there are a lot of restriction on the press and reporters. This is worse," he added.