The Myanmar Women Journalists Society (MWJS) told DVB that it will release a new report called the “Myanmar National Report” on how women are portrayed in the media industry in Myanmar later this month.
“In Myanmar’s media landscape, women have traditionally been portrayed as weak human beings, as mothers, and housewives. We are branded as victims who were subjected to arrest and abuse during Myanmar’s civil war,” Soe San Htaike, the Myanmar Women Journalists Society (MWJS) spokesperson, told DVB.
The report is based on data from 20 Myanmar media outlets, including regime media inside the country and independent media outside the country, such as DVB, Myanmar Now, The Irrawaddy, and Khit Thit Media.
The MWJS team collaborated with women journalists and media researchers in Myanmar as part of the Global Media Monitoring Project, a program that documents the representation of men and women in media. The Global Report Launch of 2025, which presented the findings from this research, took place on Dec. 9.
It documents the increase of women’s participation in media in Myanmar – one of the 94 participating countries featured in this year’s report. It cites women’s visibility in Myanmar media has risen to 29 percent of all news sources in 2025, which is up from 18 percent in 2020 and 17 percent in 2017.
“News reports show that women are beginning to participate in leadership roles,” Soe San Htike told DVB. The MWJS is a Yangon-based professional association established in 2016 by 11 female journalists to promote gender equality and strengthen the role of women in the media sector.
Women’s participation is highest in Myanmar broadcast media, such as DVB and Mizzima, at 44 percent, whereas online has only a 20 percent participation rate. But the report adds that women were not used as sources at all in print media, according to research compiled from regime media and Eleven Media newspapers inside the country.
Myanmar’s media sector has all but collapsed following the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup. Most journalists and news organizations were forced to flee the country due to threats of violence, arrests, and imprisonment. Most now work in exile from neighbouring countries and in the diaspora.
The publication licenses of 15 media outlets, including DVB, were revoked after the 2021 coup. The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM), established in 2023 by media experts now based in Thailand, states that 64 newsrooms have had to relocate outside the country.
“Independent media and journalists are subjected to harassment, surveillance, abuse, and even threats to their lives in order to provide accurate news and information to the people of Myanmar. Despite these many challenges, there are still media organizations that continue their operations,” Soe San Htike added.
Journalist and filmmaker Shin Daewe, 52, was sentenced to life imprisonment under the Counter-Terrorism Act in 2024 after being arrested in Yangon on Oct. 15, 2023.
Shin Daewe worked at DVB from 2005-2010 and was known for documenting the 2007 pro-democracy protests in Myanmar, known as the Saffron Revolution. She has won local and international awards for her films.
RSF has documented 51 journalists currently imprisoned as a result of their work. It ranks Myanmar 169 out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index. RSF reported on Nov. 6 that the regime in Myanmar is intensifying its control over media ahead of its 2025-26 elections starting on Dec. 28.
A total of seven journalists have been killed and more than 200 others have been arrested since the 2021 coup. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls Myanmar one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists next to China and Israel.
