Burmese authorities have placed restrictions on journalists covering the deadly cyclone, but Burmese reporters have more freedom to move inside the country than foreigners.

Burmese journalists were free to travel to the hardest-hit disaster sites, but were not allowed to publish detailed photos of dead bodies or report that survivors were not getting enough aid.

"Journals are covering pictures of devastated general cyclone scenes of Rangoon and Irrawaddy Division," said an editor of a weekly journal who does not want to be named. "But we cannot mention about the insufficient aid for cyclone victims in delta regions and we are not allowed to publish close-up photographs of dead bodies in our journals."

Meanwhile, local journalists were closely watched by authorities and found it difficult to conduct interviews with survivors and take pictures of the scenes. They are only allowed to mention the death tolls broadcast or published in official state media.

"If you are carrying a camera, some authorities come and ask some questions, and we can only take photos when they are away," said an editor who returned Sunday from Kunchankone and Kawhmu Township , which is close to Rangoon .

A young weekly-journal reader said, "I just saw some general pictures of devastated Rangoon . I did not see some pictures of dead bodies and the real situation of the delta, which people outside talk about."

The cyclone hit hardest in the southwestern parts of the delta, where tens of thousands are dead and many more reported missing.

"I am not satisfied reading such general views of the cyclone in journals," the young reader said.

But some experts and analysts said that Burma has more media freedom than it did five years ago, when journalists were not allowed to cover natural disasters and crimes at all.

"The journals here cover as much as they can about the cyclone, but it is just enough as Burma has had no freedom of expression for many years," said the editor of a local magazine who does not want to be named. "But they could not portray the actual situation of cyclone refugees in the delta and the detailed scenes of the regions."

People are angry at the government for not issuing a proper warning to the public about the approaching storm, the editor said.

"The villages should be destroyed by the cyclone but people should not die like that," he added. "They [the government] could have saved people by moving them to other cities before the cyclone hit."