Ethnic Media Conference castigates junta-appointed Myanmar Press Council

By Admin 03 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 May 2023, Sittwe

Participants at the eighth Ethnic Media Conference condemned the role of the Myanmar Press Council under the country’ military regime and agreed that the council does not represent independent Myanmar media.

The three-day conference was held near the Myanmar-Thai border in the last week of April at the arrangement of Burma News International (BNI), an ethnic media syndicate of which DMG is a part.

“The junta-appointed Myanmar Press Council does not represent all independent Myanmar media. We believe that the Myanmar Press Council stands as a pillar of support for the military junta,” said conference attendee Nan Paw Gay.

Conference participants agreed to form an independent body to regulate independent Myanmar media, and formed a working group to facilitate its creation.

The Myanmar Press Council, which was reorganised by the regime after the February 2021 coup, has done nothing to advocate for the freedom of journalists to do their job, critics contend.

“I have to say that there is no media freedom at all, based on what is happening in Myanmar,” said U Ye Ni, an editor at The Irrawaddy’s Burmese version.

World Press Freedom Day falls on May 3. Journalists say that there are many challenges in writing and presenting the news in post-coup Myanmar, as there are threats to journalists and news sources being targeted by the regime.

The statement from Ethnic Media Conference participants also acknowledged the journalists and media organisations that are producing news despite these difficulties.

Ko Wunna Khwar Nyo, editor-in-chief of the Arakan State-based news outlet Western News, said the situation of journalists and news organisations has worsened since the military coup.

“The military junta has detained and killed some journalists and many reporters have gone into hiding since the coup. Some people dare not make a living as reporters due to lack of security guarantee,” he added.

Since the coup, 156 journalists have been arrested. Ninety-five have been released, but 61 remain in custody, and four journalists have been killed. On a rare positive note for the Myanmar media community, five journalists were among more than 2,100 prisoners released by the junta in an amnesty on May 3.