situations where they were required to vote, and to the public, so we had to explain and reach an they gathered information while going to vote understanding among ourselves. with their families. We also had to coordinate with nearby resistance At the same time, we had a strong ground network, groups and authorities in areas under their control. which allowed us to collect information and verify Since we were publishing news on the election, it effectively. So we were not simply reporting there were risks even in the dissemination stage. freely as independent journalists in the field, we So we had to carefully explain and negotiate these had to operate carefully and discreetly. issues. We also avoided using strongly loaded adjectives such as “fake” or “terrorist,” even though Were there SAC-aligned media at polling stations? they are commonly used terms. Instead, we Were independent media allowed access? What followed professional journalistic ethics strictly. was the situation for other media? The SAC-organised election was, as everyone knows, Fortunately, many resistance groups and local largely staged. Independent media were completely communities understood our work well and trusted not allowed to report. There were only regime- us. They understood that we were not working controlled media outlets and invited internation- for propaganda but to inform the public. We are al media used for display purposes. That was all. grateful for that. It allowed us to continue our work. Journalists even had to relocate to Thailand Independent journalists had no access at all to to continue working safely. In reality, journalists election reporting. need to stay close to the ground, and we had to constantly explain and negotiate these conditions Given different viewpoints and risks, when you until things became workable. decided to go into the field yourselves, did you face threats or pressure from the SAC side or even What changes do you expect in media freedom from resistance groups? and journalist repression in the coming years? There were many rounds of negotiation. Many Media freedom cannot be seen in the same way journalists did not initially accept this assignment, from all perspectives. For truly independent media, so we had to negotiate internally in the news- real media freedom is unlikely to be achieved in the room first. On one hand, this was our job – we near future. Because this is an armed conflict, there needed to do it. On the other hand, journalism car- are competing interests, and reporting on those ries a responsibility to provide accurate information interests involves risks. Independent journalists Update on Journalism and Media Safety in Myanmar 15