3.2. The large decline in military-affiliated media reach The drop in audience reach has affected most outlets, but the impact has not been equal. Military-affiliated outlets, including State-owned and military-aligned media, have seen their reach decline by -76%. This large loss of audience is demonstrated by the examples of Channel 9 Myanmar’s -99% decline, Eleven’s -84% drop, and MRTV-4’s loss of -62%. Although State-owned and military-aligned media are filled with propaganda and disinformation, the military remains obligated to inform the public on matters of interest. By prioritising propaganda, the military discourages the public’s attempt to access reliable and relevant information. The broader impact will be that any accurate information published by the State will have a smaller audience reach, too. Top 10 media by audience reach Before the coup (Jan 2021) Change 2025-6 election period 1 RFA (Burmese) DVB 2 DVB Khit Thit Media 3 Eleven BBC (Burmese) 4 MRTV-4 Irrawaddy (Burmese) 5 BBC (Burmese) 6 Irrawaddy (Burmese) 7 Channel K People’s Spring 8 Channel 7 Myanmar Now 9 Mizzima (Burmese) 10 Pyi Myanmar MRTV-4 Mizzima (Burmese) Ayeyarwaddy Times Eleven Key: International media, Independent media Military-aligned media State-owned media . 3.3. Countering audience decline with virality and quality Independent media audiences have also declined in size, albeit not as much as for military-affiliated media. They have faced an average decline in reach of -23%. This average figure masks the severity of the decline for many of Myanmar’s largest and most established independent outlets, which have seen their audiences shrink by as much as -45%. Page 10 of 24