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Reporting from the Darkness: Journalism and Media in Myanmar 2023 Q4 and Annual Report Voices "Despite my concern for my security, I can't help doing this" Below is a conversation with the editor of a major Myanmar news outlet. He served a two-year jail sentence for incitement under Section 505A of the Penal Code. After your release, did you go back to news work, and why? I have decided in my mind that journalism is my passion, and I will work there no matter what the circumstances are. Despite my concern for my security, I can’t help doing this. As I value this job, I started working back as soon as I was released. How has being in jail affected you as a person and as a journalist? I got respect for my job in jail. Other prisoners recognised me because they understood the value of the media and journalists. I appreciate that. At the same time, there were concerns among prison authorities about who I am, a journalist. They were afraid of me revealing in the media the situation in prison. So when I got there, I was warned not to write or say anything about the situation inside. For example, if the media covered the prison situation, I was called [in] by the authorities [on suspicion that he had given out information]. Did you get any threats, or were you monitored, after your release? I got to see some people who are related to the SAC after I was released, as they wanted to check on me. They warned me not to work as a journalist especially for Mizzima, Myanmar Now, Khit Thit and said that it could be dangerous to do so, and advised me to work in international media like BBC, VOA, or SAC-funded media organisations [instead]. I felt threatened to some extent. What's the security risk you face at the moment? To be honest, I think the security risk is now more on my family members rather than me. How dangerous is it to report inside Myanmar these days? It is okay for those who are working for military-affiliated organisations and pro-military news agencies. But it is very dangerous for those who are working for independent media that are 16

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Reporting from the Darkness: Journalism and Media in Myanmar

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Language

Burmese
English

Topic

Digital Rights
Information Operation
Military Coup

Author(s)

Athan

Date Published: Jan 31, 2024

Abstract: 2023 Q4 and Annual Report Summary and trends This annual report for 2023 covers some of the main developments, trends, and highlights relating to the safety of Myanmar journalists, as well as the news environment under the military regime. The first part of the report summarises events and issues in the fourth quarter of 2023. As the coup of 1 February 2021 reaches its third anniversary, Myanmar’s military junta called the State Administration Council (SAC), and its security apparatus continue to repress independent media and other forms of open public discussion. Journalists inside Myanmar, including citizen journalists, operate in an environment where independent news work has become a difficult, dangerous, and life-threatening profession. Over the last three years, the SAC has set up a system of restrictions on media, speech, and expression, including through judicial persecution through the use of the “law”, closure of media outlets and other publishing outlets, various forms of harassment (including online) by its proxies and supporters. At the same time, it allows pro-junta media outfits to operate in the country. Fourth quarter of 2023 Deaths On 14 October 2023, Khin Maung Oo, a journalist who used to be with Eternally Peace News Network, was arrested and later reported by local media to be have been killed by members of an unknown armed organization in Mohnyin township, northern Kachin state. Eternally Peace News Network is owned by the New Democratic Army – Kachin, an armed group that agreed to a ceasefire with the military junta back in 2009. Khin Maung Oo’s death was confirmed by local sources, but it remains unclear who or which group was responsible for his death. In its report on the incident, the Kachin-based regional media outlet 74 Media quoted the editor of Eternally Peace news as saying that Khin Maung Oo was no longer a staffer there at the time of his death.

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FINAL-2023-Q4-and-Annual-Report-on-Journalism-and-Media-Safety-in-Myanmar_Jan31-blue-Updated-one.pdf
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Myanmar Internet Project

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Reporting from the Darkness: Journalism and Media in Myanmar

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