information flows
FIGURE 6
FIRST SOURCE FOR MORE INFORMATION
(· WHEN YOU HEAR THERE IS A MAJOR EVENT THAT YOU THINK
IS IMPORTANT WHAT DO YOU DO TO FIND OUT MORE
INFORMATION?
· WHO OR WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST SOURCE YOU WOULD
GO TO FIND OUT INFORMATION?)
NON-CONFLICT
CONFLICT (FORMER)
FRIENDS OR
FAMILY
MEMBERS
24%
38%
MYANMAR
RADIO NAT.
SERVCE
21%
26%
MYANMAR
TELEVISION
(MRTV)
14%
FIGURE 7
CHANGES IN TRUST IN NEWS SOURCES ACROSS ETHNICITIES
QUESTION: “COMPARED TO 3 YEARS AGO, HAS YOUR TRUST IN INFORMATION FROM INSIDE MYANMAR CHANGED OVER THE
PAST THREE YEARS? DO YOU TRUST INFORMATION FROM MYANMAR MORE, LESS, OR THE SAME AS BEFORE?’
2%
5%
SKY NET
CHANNELS
2%
4%
BBC
0%
3%
INTERNAT.
FOREIGN TV 0%
3%
JOURNALS
WRITTEN
INSIDE
MYANMAR
2%
2%
MRTV (4)
(LOCAL
CHANNEL)
2%
VOA
2%
COMMUNITY
ELDERS
2%
WORK
COLLEAGUES
OR CLASSMATES
2%
RFA
0%
2%
4%
8%
0%
Base: 450 non-conflict vs. 50 former conflict area respondents
BAMAR
KAREN
SHAN
MON
RAKHINE
KARENNI
(KAYAH)
Same as before
51%
42%
17%
40%
0%
0%
0%
35%
22%
70%
I trust Myanmar sources more
38%
46%
83%
52%
100%
0%
100%
46%
44%
20%
MIXED
I trust Myanmar sources less
2%
0%
0%
1%
0%
0%
0%
19%
0%
0%
Don't know
9%
12%
0%
7%
0%
100%
0%
0%
33%
10%
Trust and
Verification – No Single
Source Is 100% Trusted
Illustrating the relationship between sourcing, flow
and trust, respondents had a high degree of trust in
news from a familiar source, news spread by word of
mouth, news shared by elders and local authorities or
news presented with video or photographs. Despite
this, respondents repeatedly expressed that they did
not trust any news source completely. This somewhat
surprising degree of sophistication is possibly a legacy
of the country’s history of information manipulation
and propaganda. Instead, most respondents felt the
need to always validate information against other
sources. A notable theme was that triangulation was
essential prior to fully trusting any information or
passing such information on to others. The evidence
cited earlier - of how perceived bias in recent foreign
news coverage has been enough to seriously undermine
decades of trust in the BBC - points to the fragility of
trust in external sources compared to news received
from family, friends and other trusted people, or news
that can be triangulated or personally verified.
is a 50-50 chance for the
““There
trustworthiness of news received from
various sources. Some news is being
exaggerated or some news is understated.
To decide if news is credible or not: if I see
it with my own eyes or a very close friend
has mentioned it to me, only then do I trust
it. That is how I validate."
U rba n r e s p o n d e n t, n o n - c o n f l i c t ar e a , Pab e da n W ard , M aw l am y i n e T o w n s hi p
38
INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar
part one: rese arch findings
INDIAN/
PAKISTANI
/BANGLADESHI
CHINESE
/NEPALI
OTHER
10%
SHWE FM
11%
Outside the home, other (fairly predictable) modalities
exist for information dissemination and exchange. For
Mon State residents interested in exchanging news
and information, tea shops feature as a prominent
nodal point to watch TV, read newspapers, and
exchange information in general. Local authorities
featured highly in qualitative interviews as key
community information disseminators, by word of
mouth, although they did not factor highly overall in
the quantitative data. Communities also tend to have a
few key local information brokers whom they know to
go to for news, simply because these particular people
follow the news.
39
how to inform, empower, and impact communities
INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar
how to inform, empower, and impact communities
PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS