The state, the military,
and the market: Capture
in the new Burmese
media landscape
JANE MADLYN MCELHONE
Consultant with International Media Development Advisors
This chapter uses in-field interviews and observation, media articles,
and freedom of expression reports and analysis to examine media
capture in the Burmese media landscape, as well as efforts to
counter it. Although there has been notable media reform since the
days of the military junta, it argues that the current extent of capture
by the state, military, and their business cronies and partners is
undermining efforts to build independent media that are resilient
and sustainable, and to provide independent journalism and
investigations. This, in turn, is threatening efforts to nurture a free
expression and free media environment that promotes government
transparency and accountability, open debate, and informed dialogue
This essay is a chapter from Anya Schiffrin, ed., In the Service of Power: Media Capture and
the Threat to Democracy (Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance, 2017)
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