abbreviations and glossary BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BBG Broadcasting Board of Governors CCTV China Central Television DVB Democratic Voice of Burma DVD Digital Versatile Disc IDPs Internally Displaced Persons INMA Independent Mon News Agency MNLA Mon National Liberation Army MPF Mon People’s Front MPT Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications MRTV Myanmar Radio and Television NLD National League for Democracy NMSP New Mon State Party PSRD Press Scrutiny and Registration Division RFA Radio Free Asia RFA-TV Radio Free Asia TV VCD Video Compact Disc VOA Voice of America VOA-TV Voice of America TV WEF World Economic Forum Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG): the independent federal agency that oversees all U.S. civilian international media. Democratic Voice of Burma: Nonprofit media organization established by Burmese expatriates in 1992 broadcasting uncensored news and information via shortwave. In 2005 this was expanded to satellite television. Guiding Star: Mon language publication produced monthly by INMA. Guiding Star was given temporary authorization to publish inside Myanmar in February 2013. Independent Mon News Agency: established by former Mon students, youths and democracy activists based in Mon State in 1999. Based in Thailand, IMNA covers news especially related to Mon communities in Thailand and Myanmar. Distribution is via print, radio and Internet. Irrawaddy: a newsmagazine published by the Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG), founded in 1992 by Burmese exiles living in Thailand. Myanmar Radio and Television: Formerly Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS), an umbrella organization for state run radio and television in Myanmar. Mizzima News: a Burmese multimedia news organization. It was established in August 1998 by a group of Burmese journalists in exile. The International Press Institute awarded Mizzima News its Free Media Pioneer award in 2007. Nay Pyi Daw Myanmar Radio National Services: Formerly Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS), the national radio service of Myanmar. The service runs Myanmar Radio and Myanmar Radio Minorities Service. Ooredoo: A Qatari international telecommunications company awarded a 15-year contract for telecom development in Myanmar in June 2013. Paduk Myay: Government owned FM radio station. RedLink Communications: Private company owned by the sons of the former military junta’s number three. RedLink was second to be licensed in Myanmar to provide WiMAX broadband in Myanmar. Shwe FM: Private FM radio station. Sky Net MPS (Multiplay Service): Owned by Shwe Tan Lwin Media Ltd. – Shwe Tan is a close ally of President Thein Sein. Sky Net MPS provides television, broadband Internet and Voice over IP services across Myanmar. Telenor: Telenor Group from Norway is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. In June 2013 Telenor was awarded one of two 15-year contracts for telecom development in Myanmar. Than Lwin Times: Small Mon language newspaper produced 20112012 by associates of the NMSP. Voice of America: Voice of America produces popular news, information and cultural programs in 45 languages and reaches more than 164 million people around the world every week on television, radio, web and mobile platforms. Yatanarpon Teleport: State owned company primarily engaged in offering internet services including dial-up, broadband, wireless and WiMAX services. Radio Free Asia: Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, non-profit news organization operating under a grant from the BBG. Broadcasting daily in nine languages to listeners in Asia whose governments restrict media. TIMELINE 2012-2014 • 2012 January Government signs ceasefire with rebels of Karen ethnic group. • 2012 April NLD candidates sweep the board in parliamentary by-elections, with Aung San Suu Kyi elected. The European Union suspends all non-military sanctions against Burma for a year. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, British Prime Minister David Cameron and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visit for talks on moving the democracy process forwards. • 2012 May Manmohan Singh pays first official visit by an Indian prime minister since 1987. He signs 12 agreements to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties, specifically providing for border area development and an Indian credit line. • 2012 August President Thein Sein sets up commission to investigate violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the west of the country. Dozens have died and thousands of people have been displaced • Burma abolishes pre-publication censorship, meaning that reporters no longer have to submit their copy to state censors. In a major cabinet reshuffle President Thein Sein replaces hardline Information Minister Kyaw Hsan with moderate Aung Kyi, the military's negotiator with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 14 14 • 2012 September Moe Thee Zun, the leader of student protests in 1988, returns from exile after Burma removed 2,082 people from its blacklist. • President Thein Sein tells the BBC he would accept opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as president if she is elected. • 2012 November Visiting European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso offers Burma more than $100m in development aid. • Around 90 people are killed in a renewed bout of communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims • US President Barack Obama visits to offer "the hand of friendship" in return for more reforms. He urges reconciliation with the Rohingya minority. • 2013 January-February The Burmese army launches an attack that surrounds Laiza, the biggest town controlled by Kachin rebels near the Chinese border, breaking a short-lived government ceasefire. The government and rebels reach agreement to disengage and begin political dialogue after Chinese-sponsored talks in the southern Chinese town of Ruili. • 2013 March Rioting between Muslims and Buddhists in Meiktila, south of Mandalay, leaves at least ten people dead and several mosques burned down. • 2013 April Four private daily newspapers appear for the first time in almost 50 years as the state monopoly ends, in line with the August 2012 abolition of pre-publication censorship. • 2013 May President Thein Sein visits Washington. President Obama praises political and economic progress, but criticizes violence against Rohingya Muslims. The visit coincides with six Muslims being jailed over the Meiktila clashes in March, whereas no Buddhists have been convicted. • 2013 July President Thein Sein visits Britain, announces that Burma will release all political prisoners "by the end of the year." • 2014 April At least 22 people are killed in fighting between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels in the north. • Thousands attend the funeral of veteran democracy campaigner Win Tin. • 2014 May US extends some sanctions for another year, saying that despite the recent reforms, rights abuses and army influence on politics and the economy persist. Myanmar profile: a chronology of key events,” BBC, http://www. bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883, (May 16, 2014). 52 INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar part one: rese arch findings 53 how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS