The workability of most local media outlets in Burma is now apparently harder not just because of irregularities of the censorship board but also the unscrupulous approach of military cronies at their own expenses, resulting in an obstruction of the growth of private media.
Despite the military government's healthier attitude to local private media development in recent years amid private sector's intense struggle to surge up in a still unfair field of operations, a number of media owners, who are in favour of undue government authority, have come to monopolize the industry.
News journal operators in Burma – not more than 12 – could be categorized into two major divisions – one is those who rush to ally with the authority to survive or to gain a lion's share regardless of general public interests and the other is of those who are building their own capacity to be able to take up fair competition in the gradually growing market.
The leading media outlets that are in the first category include few but are strong financially to put the censor board authorities in their pockets.
"They are few in number, but they are strong financially. They reserve their strength for curbing others' growth in order to offset fair competition," said an editor of a recently launched news weekly, adding that they had close relationships with high ranking government authorities such as Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the minister for the Ministry of Information, which handles the censorship procedures and grants publishing licenses.
The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, censorship board is called Sarpay Kempeitai among Burmese writers and journalists in comparison to Japanese military police who suppressed and widely committed atrocities on the Burmese independence revolutionaries during the Second World War. The word Sarpay means literature.
Every article needs to be submitted to the censorship board before publishing and violations can even land persons responsible in jail.
The crony media outlets have since five years ago misused the government to suppress the growth of other local media rivals as they fear fair competition in growing local print media industry – especially of weekly publication business, locally known as journals.
"Their positions are more apparent amid increased regularities of censorship and personal bias of the Government's Office of Press Scrutiny along with domestic political impasse, which also results in limited kits of business survival like in other businesses in Myanmar (Burma), stemmed from part of the government's mismanagement of the country's business environment," the editor said.
They showcase a few things in their editorial works seemingly against government policies, yet virtually applaud pro-government agenda contents run. For example, they carried articles to form the general public's mindset to follow the government's so-called seven step Road Map to democracy.
And the pullout of a popular weekly journal was said to link to their undue influence over the head of the press scrutiny office, which stripped early this year off the weekly's operating license over a news content run despite being banned.
There are several reasons why those media outlets are in position to do so. Colonel Soe Naing Oo, head of the Office of Sr Gen Than Shwe, is a major stakeholder of a leading media company. His business partner used this connection as the press scrutiny office's head Maj Tint Swe to be able to take up that position in late 2004.
"It is okay for us in the industry as a whole – if and when they do for their own business growth. However, they make efforts to suppress others' growth in an early stage development of the Myanmar news media industry, exploiting their close relationship with the authorities," the editor said.
Meanwhile, another senior editor who works for a Rangoon-based leading publication said private print media grows amid myriad challenges including the high cost of raw materials, lack of technology and equipment, pointing out that quality, rather than quantity, will ultimately be the litmus test for long-term success, with possibilities in the long run such as media partnership.
"If we are to look critically at our media, improvements in quality have not necessarily matched that of quantity. We have a considerable issue here," he said.
More than anything, to establish a new media company needs deep pockets.
Local operators had pulled out of the market not because of lack of capital but because of poor technical know-how. And stronger cooperation among the general public, government departments and the media is needed in order to create an up-to-date media sector.
Nevertheless, challenges such as censorship do not hamper capacity building among local journalists. Despite these challenges local journalists are becoming more creative in their professional development. They are working in a unique age that offers them opportunities like training and media fellowships overseas.
Another Rangoon-based journalist talked of private sector role in media partnership in order to push media industry forward faster and enjoy benefits.
"Media partnerships between the public and private sectors work well because they require that the people involved are aware not only of the attitudes of government policymakers towards media development but also of general public expectations," he said.
In a healthy media environment, the public sector would merely act as a regulatory authority and the private sector would have some measure of independence.
"Especially, the broadcasting sector in Myanmar needs to develop more so the country can enjoy benefits like increased business and employment opportunities, and so the people can get information in a timely manner," he added.
