New Delhi (Mizzima) – In a new directive, the Burmese Censorship Board has asked local Weekly Journals to submit their editorial content for approval, in compact discs in a PDF format.
The new rules announced on July 9, stipulate that all journals will only be required to send their draft publication content in a CD, in a PDF format. No hard copies on paper are required any longer, sources in Rangoon’s publication circles said.
“We have been submitting our draft copies in a CD along with the hard copy for about a month now. All journals had started this system. Now we have been told that we need not submit hard copies any longer as of August,” an editor of a weekly journal told Mizzima.
An eight-point guideline on submitting draft copies in the PDF format has been issued by the censor board.
The guidelines stipulate that the content must be submitted in a CD and should include the cover page, and all other pages in order. The fonts used and font size must be of original size and two separate files - Part A and B must be included in the CD. The directives also said extra pages or supplementary pages must be stored in a memory stick.
A Weekly Journal editor said, from the draft stage to the final stage, they have to send copies of the journal at least thrice.
There is a silver lining to the new guidelines for some publishing houses calculate that they could save over Kyat 40,000 now as they will not need to print draft copies. Earlier, it was mandatory to present hard copies on A 3 and A 4 size papers and photocopy them.
The digital format will enhance clarity and will be easier on the examiner’s eyes, helping censor the content.
Given the paucity of technical expertise in computer technology at the censor board, the scrutiny of the journals still takes about two days.
“The censor board is still to do away with the old practice of checking hard copies. They are examining our draft copies on both paper and in CDs. It still takes them two days to complete scrutiny and examination,” the journal editor said.
Incidentally, the censor board has not issued the same rules for monthly magazines.
