Professionalism State Markets Structure Parallelism Agency Table 1. Features and functions of the media system during liberalization. Source: Voltmer (2013, pp. 79–92); Hallin and Mancini (2004). Bottom–up Liberalization Top–down Liberalization Externally-Influenced Liberalization Partisanship prioritized over objective and accurate reporting Ritualized rhetoric of the state media replaced by more accessible language Prioritizing of information delegitimizing the regime and rallying popular resistance Content of oppositional media produced by activists rather than journalists Journalists serve the political and economic interests of financial backers rather than the public interest Outsiders often misjudge the domestic reception and interpretation of information they provide Close relationship between journalists and the opposition Journalists alignment with one of rival factions within the regime (hard liners or soft liners) Domestically available exiled and foreign media sustain opposition resolve by providing a sense of solidarity Liberalization deepens divisions within ruling regime between hard and soft liners Copying and distributing transborder media to those who cannot receive it directly expands opposition network State grants new freedoms, but for their own political purpose, not as constitutional rights State jams international broadcasts and imposes stiff penalties for those consuming and distributing forbidden media Media a tool to build alliances across diverse opposition groups divided by race and class State suppression and surveillance of independent media State determines scope of political debate—some topics remain taboo despite relaxing censorship Pro-democracy opposition have their own media (including dissident and underground media) that challenge state media narratives Limited access for foreign journalists State-controlled media persists, despite marketization delivering some pluralism Opposition (including media) funded by foreign donors and political exiles Independent media largely dependent on intra-regime factions for economic survival Foreign media available in the domestic market within each arena are discreet. Rather, developments within each dimension of the media system, as well as cross the three models of liberalization are considered interdependent. To reveal the changes that took place in Myanmar’s media system during the country’s liberalization period, my research draw on face-to-face interviews with 57 journalists, editors, media owners and trainers working in the Myanmar-based media. My methods are therefore exclusively qualitative. Interviewees’ affiliations are detailed in Table 2. Interviews conducted by the author took place primarily during two periods of fieldwork in December 2013 and December 2014. Follow-up interviews were conducted electronically between September and December 2015. Naturally, a potential problem with interview data is deliberate distortion. Given the volatility of the political situation in Myanmar, it may be professionally or legally helpful to censor one’s views, or to hide knowledge of any wrongdoing. To mitigate this problem, interviewees were offered anonymity. Furthermore, multiple sources from different organizations were interviewed, and in several cases re-interviewed, to alleviate the effects of embellishment or misinformation. Where appropriate, I draw attention to conflicting accounts and opinions in my discussion below. Basing my analysis of Myanmar’s media liberalization on the views of journalists working inside system, however, is a potential weakness of my study, as it is not always possible to adequately evaluate and corroborate their testimonies. Interviewees were initially selected from among my personal contacts in the Yangon-based media. Interviewees then introduced me to their colleagues and associates, leading to a snowballing method of selection. Some interviewees proved particularly knowledgeable and were re-interviewed. My personal contacts in Myanmar work in the print media. The majority of their associates are also print journalists. This led to over representation of print journalists relative to professionals from other media sectors among my interviewees. Arguably, the print media is the most relevant sector to analyze when investigating the impact of liberalization on the Myanmar media. At the time of writing, the Myanmar government retains almost exclusive control over Politics and Governance, 2017, Volume 5, Issue 2, Pages 41–58 43