Many of the ethnic media in Burma have had to cease operations after the military revoked their licences and arrested many of their staff since taking control of the country during a coup almost two years ago.
Sai Mueng, chair of the finance committee of Burma News International (BNI), said that of the 16 media groups in Chin State, 10 had to stop operating after the military took power, and that many of the Taunggyi-based media outlets were also affected.
“Some editors have been arrested and already sentenced to prison. Many reporters are unemployed,” he told a press conference for two BNI reports late last year in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. They are Study On Ethnic Media Groups Under the Military Coup and Junta
Misusing Peace-talks to Perpetuate the Military Dictatorship.
BNI was founded in 2003 by four news organisations from Burma based on the country’s western border near India and Bangladesh. It was later joined by other media outlets in Thailand and the Thai-Burma border area. Currently, BNI has fifteen independent member groups, including NMG.
Shwe Yee, in charge of BNI’s Myanmar Peace Monitor, said BNI is compiling a list of all ethnic media groups that have disappeared in the Southeast Asian country.
“In our research, we have reported on the difficulties and challenges faced by ethnic media groups,” she told reporters.
According to BNI, many reporters continue to report from Burma, despite the serious risks they face. Reporters Without Borders has ranked the country 176 out of 180 countries for press freedom.
Tin Tin Nyo, BNI managing director, told NMG that it’s more difficult for ethnic reporters toprotect their identity from the country’s brutal military regime because their work is very localised.
They’re “worried about their own safety and their family. If they can’t find the reporter, the junta threatens their family members. And that has led some of them to quit.” Another problem is the lack of funds after donor money dried up, she explained.
BNI wants donors to continue supporting ethnic media so they can keep reporting on human rights violations, the economy and their unique traditions in their respective regions across the country.
