12 Brooten, McElhone and Venkiteswaran media range from one-offs, such as performance art, street theatre or event flyers or other leaflets, to ongoing efforts such as small local print publications intended primarily for local communication within groups or small localities (Bailey et al. 2008; Brooten 2008b, 2011b; Downing 2001, 2011). Activists and reform advocates have also used online platforms to campaign locally and globally for their causes, creating mailing groups, online petitions and setting up alternative sources of information and news (Gan et al. 2004; Abbott 2011). Segura and Waisbord (2016) write that Latin America experienced one of the most active periods of media reform in the 2000s as a result of public mobilization and media movements, public debates, strategic litigation, and leftist governments that were open to reforms. Much of the early literature on the use of digital media in Southeast Asia focuses on efforts to challenge or topple regimes, while later works examine how these media can or do contribute to ongoing efforts to reform and democratize the media sector (Siriyuvasak 2005; Chowdhury 2008; Weiss 2012). Although many commentators argue that Myanmar ’s current transition is “top down” — in that it was initiated and is being pushed by the state — this picture makes invisible all of the work done under the radar for two decades prior to the political opening that led to this recent push for change inside the country, and it diverts attention from non-state actors’ contributions to the new Myanmar. Lall (2016) argues that activists and external donors promoted under-the-radar development of civil society during the final years of the military regime, particularly from 2005 to 2010, and that these developments played a key role in making the current transition towards the regime’s goal of “discipline-flourishing democracy” possible (p. 3). Myanmar’s civil society sector has become increasingly active, but along with such changes also come threats and challenges to the momentum for change. In her chapter, Jennifer Leehey explores local media as agents of change and the use of an evocative essay as a form of community resistance against large private interests, at the risk of costly legal challenges. This complex media landscape makes for engaging discussion in this volume, which we hope will jumpstart a long and fruitful exchange between academics, policymakers and media practitioners on these vital topics of participation and change. 01 ch1-MyanmarMediaIT-5P.indd 12 8/4/19 10:29 am