Myanmar Media Historically and the Challenges of Transition 25 as well as many short stories, which Allott (1993) argues was “the most popular and important literary genre in Burma” (p. 23; see also Allott 1994; Brooten 2003; Kumar 2014). Many were fanzines focused on Myanmar celebrities. These monthlies were a refreshing alternative to the dry state-run newspapers, and the short stories they contained often used metaphor, allusion and irony to express ideas indirectly to avoid the censors. Nevertheless, like all non-state publications, including novels and other books, they had to undergo review by the Press Scrutiny Board after they were printed, creating strong pressure for authors and publishers to self-censor to avoid having to alter existing physical copies, especially given the increasing cost of paper (Allott 1993). This eventually changed with the introduction of computers in the 1990s, when pre-publication review and censorship replaced the older system (Leehey 2005). These private monthlies set the ground for the private weeklies that appeared in the early 2000s, and the newsweeklies that later followed in the mid-2000s. The first private weekly was a soccer journal, because soccer was a very popular sport and an easy money maker. The Myanmar Times was one of the prominent newsweeklies, launched in 2000 by Sonny Swe, the son of military intelligence head Brigadier General Thein Swe, in partnership with Australian businessman Ross Dunkley. Despite criticism that it was able to operate due to its close ties with the military, it quickly became one of the standard-bearers of journalism inside the country. Perhaps more than any other outlet, it has had a tempestuous history, including in 2004 when Sonny Swe was thrown into prison for nine years, ostensibly for violating censorship regulations. His father was also imprisoned as part of a military purge that saw military intelligence disbanded. After 1988 the broadcast sector remained largely controlled by the government, but expanded to include the military and a few select private interests. In addition to state-run broadcasting, which began in 1936 during the colonial period and was named the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS)11 in 1946, the military launched Myawaddy TV on 27 March 1995, Burmese Armed Forces Day. In 2004 the regime entered into a joint venture with Forever Group to launch MRTV-4, and in 2010 established another lucrative broadcast joint venture with Shwe Than Lwin Media Co Ltd., the owner of the pay TV network 01 ch1-MyanmarMediaIT-5P.indd 25 8/4/19 10:29 am