The Trump administration’s dismantling of United States funding to Myanmar media is pushing many journalists further into debt and poverty, yet journalists both inside the country and in exile remain steadfast in their reporting despite their increasingly dire situation, writes Phil Thornton.
Lynn Zay picks up a sack of rice and stacks it on top of eight others on his small Honda motorcycle. The nine bags of rice are to be delivered to a family of three in need of a helping hand. The rice and other basic foodstuff – oil, dried fish, noodles, beans – are donations for exiled Myanmar journalists who have lost their jobs.
Lynn Zay looks back to the more than 200 bags of rice, cartons of noodles, oil and bags of dried fish now taking up space in his house and explains.
“The donations come from a broad sector of the Myanmar media community. Only those who want to contribute, there’s no pressure, but no amount is too small.”
Myanmar’s journalists do it tough. Arrested, tortured and jailed for doing their job in Myanmar, many fled to neighbouring countries for their safety. Lynn Zay, a journalist for 19 years, believes what he is witnessing now is the worst time to be a media worker.
“Like most of our country, the stories are heartbreaking. We can’t go back. And with the recent cuts journalists are either being fired or taking pay cuts as much as 50 percent.”
The effects of the recent United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cuts for Myanmar’s exiled journalists have added further punishment to the suffering. USAID funding for independent media, distributed through Internews, a non-profit media agency, has stopped, thrashing the monthly support many of the 250-plus exiled journalists relied on to keep reporting on what is happening in Myanmar.
A broad section of Myanmar people – health workers, democracy activists, politicians, displaced people – are disappointed in the amount of international media coverage their country receives. They point out that reporting from the international media is scant at the best of times and many stories are just ignored, despite their massive international importance.
Myanmar, a story worth covering
Myanmar journalists interviewed for this feature point out that the country under the military regime constantly tops the world’s worst lists. A trawl through credible reports posted on the internet confirms the journalists are right.
The United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported in 2024; “Myanmar’s opium production totals are now more than twice that of Afghanistan, making it the world’s leading producer of illicitly sourced opium.”
The US government-funded C.I.A. states on its World Factbook website that “narcotics produced in Burma [are] trafficked throughout the region, with routes extending beyond Southeast Asia to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan…”
The C.I.A. classified Myanmar as Tier 3 in regards to trafficking of people – the lowest grade.
The U.N. agency for refugees (UNHCR) as of March 10, 2025, estimates since the military coup there are 3,261,900 displaced people – many in dire need of shelter, medicine, education and food security.
The 2023 Global Organized Crime Index named Myanmar as the worst country out of 193 countries in its Criminality section and revealed how the military regime invests in crime.
“State-embedded actors are the primary criminal actors in Myanmar, with the Tatmadaw (the military government) becoming increasingly reliant on illicit economies to finance its operations following the coup. To control the territory and the illicit economies generated by the exploitation of natural resources, the army has allied with organised militias and mafia groups, which provide financial support through illicit activities. In exchange for their aid, the leaders of these groups are given free rein to conduct a range of illicit business activities, as well as special access to the military-controlled economy, enabling them to establish corporate conglomerates across Myanmar.”
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has documented that the military regime has arrested 26,687 people since the coup on February 1, 2021, including 5,967 women and 598 children. Since the coup, AAPP estimated the military regime has killed 6,406 people and has yet to confirm another 3,100.
Myanmar is in the midst of a brutal civil war, the outcome critical not only to the country itself but also to regional political stability.
Under State Administration Council (SAC) control, the economy has tanked. Basic foodstuffs have doubled in cost while the local currency value has devalued from 1,200 kyat to the US dollar before the coup to now 5,500 kyat.
Since its coup, the military-appointed SAC have been intent on destroying independent journalism and silencing coverage of their atrocities and crimes against humanity.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) ranked Myanmar as the world’s third-highest jailers of journalists in its 2024 annual Killed List.
The IFJ’s Myanmar affiliate, the Myanmar Journalist Network, explains that up until the middle of 2023, the majority of arrested journalists faced charges primarily related to Section 505-A of the Criminal Code that carried a three-year sentence.
This has changed with the shift to the SAC now prosecuting and sentencing journalists for up to 20 years under the Unlawful Association Act, the Terrorism Act, and the Penal Code. Currently, there are 45 journalists still in jail.
We’re now asset poor, but still resilient…
Aung Moe has more than 16 years as a reporter and a senior editor in Myanmar. “What the SAC did to independent journalism and our ability to tell the truth has been devastating. Many of us were charged with arrest. If we stayed in the country we risked detention, torture and jail.”
Aung Moe details what he and his family and colleagues had lost when making the decision to leave.
“We had no choice, we couldn’t stay. We had to take our families. We couldn’t leave them behind as the military and police targeted them. We’ve lost much of what took us years to build. We had to sell land, houses, cars – all for well below what they were worth. We had to sell quickly, that meant it was cheap.”
Aung Moe explains once the journalist is on a wanted list, family members are also at risk and have to relocate for their safety. Aung Moe points out that the expense of moving an extended family out of Myanmar eats more money than journalism pays.
Kaing Yi has been a journalist for 19 years and she agrees with Aung Moe’s assessment of the situation facing exiled journalists.
“Elderly grandparents need health care, new schools for kids, we need legal documents. We don’t have many choices. People have had to sell what they can – condos, cars, possessions…”
Since the coup and since his time in exile, Lynn Zay’s salary has decreased to just enough to pay their rent.
“Before the coup, my salary was around 34,000 Thai baht per month (approx. $1,000 USD). Now working from a neighbouring country it’s around 7,500 baht (approx. $230 USD). That’s a big drop. To help us get through we had to sell our car and use the money to help pay our expenses.”
Ours is a story of resilience
Despite the loss of jobs and drastic wage cuts Lynn Zay, Kaing Yi, Aung Moe, and their many other colleagues in neighbouring countries – Thailand, India, U.S., Australia – are determined to continue to report while finding ways to help other journalists and their families.
Kaing Yi said the local demand for help increases each month.
“The first month we had 28 families asking for help. This month it was 38. We have limited capacity, but journalist families are our main priority. A family can be from three people to seven.”
Kaing Yi is quick to point out many journalists have other critical needs such as health or legal or educating their children which often cannot be ignored.
“We have one colleague who lost her job. She had covered the military’s abuses for years and it has taken a toll on her health She needs counselling, support for her accommodation and daily food. We will do what we can to help her.”
Kaing Yi makes it clear that journalists who have lost their jobs are looking to find ways to care for their families.
“Some are working as daily labour, drivers, selling food, working in restaurants … they’re doing what they can, and journalists now in a better position, will continue to share and donate what we can… no amount is too little.”
Kaing Yi is defiant that the current setbacks will not stop her reporting.
“I love this work. We will keep working…our people need more journalists to cover what’s happening in our country and to have access to real news.”
Phil Thornton is a journalist and senior adviser to the International Federation of Journalists in Southeast Asia.
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