Table 2. Interviewees affiliation (no. interviewees).
NGO (12)
Print (30)
Broadcast (6)
Professional Body (5)
Online* (1)
International (3)
Tagaung Institute
11 Media (3)
DVB (3)
Pen International
Kamayut
Media
Radio Free Asia
BBC Media
Action (3)
Mizzima (3)
Skynet
Interim Press
Council (3)
New York Times
Internews
7 Day News (3)
Mandalay FM
Myanmar Journalist
Network
Agence FrancePresse
Open Society Institute
Street View Journal
MRTV
Burma News
International (3)
Myanmar Freedom
Daily (2)
Karen Information
Centre
The Chronicle (2)
Pandita Institute (2)
Pae Tin Thran
Yanant Thit
Women Can Do It
Myanmar Times (2)
The Voice (3)
Arakan Journal
Yangon Times
The People’s Age
Irrawaddy (2)
Chin World News
Human Rights &
Democracy Journal
Notes: Total 57 interviewees, 17 women and 40 men. * Many print and TV media also have associated websites. Here online is used for
media outlets available only on the web.
the broadcast media. Journalists at state broadcasters
were reluctant to be interviewed, fearing negative consequences at the hands of their employers (only one
journalist from state-owned MRTV agreed to an interview). Three journalists/editors at private satellite broadcaster DVB, currently the only Myanmar television channel not directly or indirectly owned by the state, were interviewed. The most popular online news sites in Myanmar are those run by the major newspapers (for example,
Eleven Media and 7 Day News). Their online content is
very similar to what appears in print and is written by the
same journalists. Interviews with print journalists, therefore included questions about their publication’s associated website. The sharing of news articles on social media was also discussed with all interviewees.
Interviewees were asked open-ended questions, for
example:
• How would you characterize media reporting on
inter-ethnic tensions?
• How has the end of official censorship influenced
your work?
• Can you describe your experience of reporting on
the NLD?
Care was taken to avoid phrasing questions in a manner
that might elicit specific kinds of responses. Although the
same general questions were asked to each interviewee,
interviews did not follow a set script. Rather, interviewees
were encouraged to elaborate and refine their answers
with spontaneous follow up questions. Most interviews
were approximately one hour to 90 minutes in length.
Following Hallin and Mancini, my discussion below
is divided into four sections. In the first section, I begin
by analyzing journalists’ professionalism—defined as the
media’s professional norms and practices (Benson, 2004;
Klinenberg, 2002). Section two examines political parallelism. The third section analyses the role of the state
in shaping the functioning of the media system. The final section investigates the influence of economic factors shaping the media market. I conclude by comparing
the changing characteristics of the Myanmar media during liberalization to the theoretic expectations outlined
in Table 1.
Politics and Governance, 2017, Volume 5, Issue 2, Pages 41–58
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