4.2. Challenges for the Sustainability of News Media and Journalists’ Livelihood More than a month after the coup, media agencies decided to discontinue their existence due to revoking licenses, raids at media offices, and arresting journalists. Since media agencies relied on the revenue from commercial advertisements and media development assistance, they struggled to continue reporting during an economic decline due to Covid-19 Pandemic. The coup pushed them into a worse atmosphere of a zero-income period. According to a survey of 17 news agencies, they agree on revenue shortage as the biggest challenge to continue their works. In addition to the complete cessation of advertising revenue, some INGOs have also suspended their media development programs supporting independent news media. The situation poses a significant challenge for the sustainability of media agencies. The founder of a local news agency confessed: “Revenues have ceased since the coup. To stay afloat is tough when media development programs become limited in action. We can only afford to cover the telecommunication costs for the journalists instead of paying a decent salary. Even that condition is difficult to sustain for a few months.” An official from a Yangon-based news agency said, “we have no advertisement revenue to carry on.” According to the survey, most media outlets currently have no income, and journalists have no salary or wages. However, they are still struggling to fulfill the public’s right to access accurate news and information. Only one out of the 17 media outlets surveyed received small-scale support for their news and article production. A news agency founder said they continued reporting without income for the journalists’ salaries. According to a survey of 80 journalists: about 55 percent continue to survive by families and friends’ support, 15 percent receive a portion of their salaries, 5 percent get just telecommunication costs and internet subsidies, 10 percent are paid by their news agencies, and 15 percent earns their lives by selling goods online. More than 90 percent of the responding journalists surveyed said regular income, livelihood, and security issues are powerful challenges for the fleeing journalists. The living cost while hiding in safe places and rising commodity prices make those fleeing journalists’ lives harder. 4.3. Challenges in Journalism Ethics with Restricted Sources and Access to Information According to the survey, 17 news outlets acknowledge their challenges to report objectively and independently according to the journalism ethics and standards. Repeated Dark Age of News Media 25