information flows broadcasted the news live of Obama’s visit, some ““MRTV people watched it and told us. I read this in a journal." FIGURE 10 PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS WHO HAD HEARD OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VISIT TO MYANMAR - F e ma l e , a g e 2 4 -3 0 , rura l , f o rm e r c o n f l i c t ar e a , K aw D u t V i l l a g e , Y e T o w n s hi p 85% 54% DIAGRAM 5 63% PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VISIT IN NOVEMBER 2012: NEWS FLOWS 36% KEY: INTERNATIONAL NEWS ORGS WORD OF MOUTH/FACE TO FACE TELEVISION URBAN RURAL NON-CONFLICT CONFLICT (FORMER) BASE: 302 RESPONDENTS WHO HEARD OF THE VISIT Women walk pass a wall with graffiti welcoming U.S. President Barack Obama on a street side in Yangon, Myanmar, November 11, 2012. Obama will visit Myanmar later in November. © R e u t e r s / S o e Z e y a T u n DOMESTIC NEWS ORGS MOBILE PHONE/SMS RADIO LESS TRUSTED FRIENDS AND FAMILY CASE STUDY 2: U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S VISIT TO MYANMAR, NOVEMBER 2012 On November 19, 2012 U.S. President Barack Obama visited Myanmar, the first sitting U.S. president in history to do so. The trip was seen as a U.S. affirmation of Myanmar’s nascent political, social, and economic reforms, and the president used a speech at the University of Yangon to push for further reform and reconciliation. Burmese residents in Yangon turned out in the hundreds and lined the streets to await the president’s motorcade. While the news surrounding President Obama’s visit flowed widely in urban areas of Mon State, news traveled to a far lesser extent—in fact the lowest of the three case studies— in Mon State’s rural, non-conflict, and former conflict areas. This may in part be due to the brevity of the news event: the president was on the ground in Yangon for a total of six hours. But it is also due to the fact that most of Myanmar’s rural and remote population tends to have little interest in international events, instead focusing on their daily lives, or at most, important domestic events. Similar to the Sagaing and Mandalay earthquake, TV and radio proved to be the most important sources for this news in urban and rural locations, respectively, followed by close friends. Of note in this case is the higher percentage of rural people who heard of the event by foreign radio (10%). In the rural areas, respondents specifically interested in political news tune in particularly to foreign radio broadcasts. In Mon State’s former conflict areas, it is also interesting to note the higher percentage of villagers who heard this news through community leaders in their village (11%), compared to non-conflict areas. For areas that tend to be very remote, villagers tend to rely more extensively on local leaders and authorities for information about news outside of the village. For villagers who first heard from others by word of mouth, a higher percentage of those they heard from also heard the news from leaders in the community (29%), including monks (14%), and local government officials (14%). ““ The news about President Obama’s visit to Myanmar was shared by the people who watched it on satellite TV". F e ma l e , a g e 4 6 , rura l , f o rm e r c o n f l i c t ar e a , Pa Lai n g K e e V i l l a g e , Y e T o w n s hi p LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADERS INDIVIDUALS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES INDIVIDUALS IN FORMER CONFLICT AREAS FIGURE 11 WHOM DID YOU TALK TO AFTER YOU FIRST HEARD ABOUT OBAMA’S VISIT? 89% CLOSE FRIENDS FAMILY/CLOSE RELATIVES 88% 49% WORK COLLEAGUES/CLASSMATES 22% CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES COMMUNITY ELDERS 15% RELIGIOUS LEADER-MONKS/NUNS 15% COMMUNITY LEADERS /VILLAGE HEAD PERSONS 7% COMMUNITY TEACHERS 4% part one: rese arch findings For villagers in the former conflict areas who heard via TV, state-run MRTV and SkyNet satellite TV were the main sources. After hearing the news, a majority in urban, rural, and non-conflict locations, albeit a smaller one, told others about it. Yet in the former conflict areas, in the only instance of the three cases, the majority did not tell others by a fairly large margin (61%). Perhaps this is because fewer people in the former conflict areas saw this news as applicable to them. This is not surprising, for life has continued without much change in remote rural areas, with most visible signs of political and other reforms limited to urban centers. Among those who did share news about the President Obama’s visit, 22% told 1-5 others, 29% told 6-10 others, and 11% told 11-25 others. BASE: 189 RESPONDENTS WHO TOLD OTHERS ABOUT THE VISIT 44 INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar INDIVIDUALS IN URBAN COMMUNITIES 45 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