A longtime former Reuters correspondent has been appointed as Burma’s deputy information minister in an awkwardly timed career move, given that two of the international news agency’s Burmese reporters are currently on trial for what their boss has called “a blatant attack on press freedom.”
In a third such incident in Rangoon in a week, four bombs exploded yesterday at the Immigration Department in South Dagon Township.
Burma’s state-run broadcaster will carry 15-minute party political broadcasts throughout the 60-day campaign period ahead of the general election on 8 November, but authorities have dictated a number of red lines.
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Minister of Information warns TV and radio outlets that they risk losing their broadcasting licenses if they air material deemed to be biased.
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Politicians still view free press “as a threat that must be contained,” says Shawn Crispin of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Burma’s former top censor, Tint Swe, has been appointed permanent secretariat of the Ministry of Information.
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The heavily criticised proposal has been removed from parliament by Information Minister Ye Htut, citing “insufficiency”.
MOI has served a judicial summons to the Myanmar Herald Journal notifying the weekly that it has been charged with defamation under the Media Law.
MOI said it plans to sue the Herald for defamation after it quoted an NLD leader making a statement which the MOI claims “hurt the dignity and rights of [President Thein Sein].”
Burmese official defends a recent government decision to reintroduce the old censorship system for direct-to-video films.
The Ministry of Information announced new bylaws on 16 October which liberalize the license requirements for printers and publishers.
Watch today’s top stories with Angus Watson.
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Burma’s Information Minister Aung Kyi and Health Minister Dr Pe Thet Khin have been “allowed for resignation of their own volition”, the president’s office announced on Tuesday.
The Hawaii-based East-West Centre is hosting the fourth iteration of its biennial media conference in Rangoon this week. In many respects, it serves as a testament to how far press freedoms in Burma have progressed over the past two years.
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A curious conference took place on Monday between several Associated Press (AP) reporters and the state-run News and Periodicals Enterprise (NPE) in Rangoon.
Of more than 30 publishers who originally applied to launch daily newspapers, seven have relinquished their licences while another five must go to print before 31 March or face the same fate.
The ninth session of Parliament commenced in Burma’s capital city Naypyidaw on Monday, with a total of thirty bills up for review by both the upper and lower houses.
Burma’s Interim Press Council and the Ministry of Information fail to resolve differences over three key articles as the debate over a new media law continues.
Burma’s interim press council met with the representatives from the NLD on Tuesday as the group attempts to shore up support for a new media bill drafted by the group that stirred up controversy
Information Minister Aung Kyi said government officials were committed to addressing disputed articles in a controversial media draft bill that was largely panned by the country’s transitional press advisory board late last month
Wednesday’s meeting between Burma’s interim press council and the Ministry of Information has been deemed “fruitless” by participants as the two sides continue to argue over the contents of a new draft media law
Their journalists risked jail terms to report inside Burma under years of brutal junta rule, but once-exiled media now operate openly – and face flak for being too cosy with[…]
DVB’s Than Win Htut sits down with the newly minted Minister of Information Aung Kyi to discuss how new media laws will potentially affect both the private and public sectors. […]
The Democratic Voice of Burma’s reporter that was sued by Magwe Region’s Department of Education last month was granted bail after paying a MMK10 million (US$11,494) bond and will appear in court next week for a hearing
Burma’s new information minister on Sunday predicted newspapers would be able to publish daily from early 2013, heralding fresh reform for a sector recently freed from decades of draconian censorship
As a delegation from the Ministry of Information tours Scandinavia to study public broadcasting, Ye Htut, Director General of the Information and Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Information,[…]
An interim press council that will monitor media regulations before the country’s new media law is adopted will form in June following a presidential order
After publishing material in its supplementary pages without approval from the state censors, the Myanmar Post Global will be unable to print the section for two weeks
