Radio NUG, an online radio station established by the National Unity Government (NUG) after the 2021 military coup, announced that it has halted the production of all programs, which were broadcast into Myanmar via shortwave radio and online as podcasts, due to a lack of funding on Friday.
“Radio NUG started its daily programs without any break in August 2021. Because of financial difficulties the broadcasts will end,” stated an announcement on the official Radio NUG social media account on Nov. 7.
All Radio NUG staff were members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), civil servants who refused to work under the military regime, which seized power during the 2021 coup.
The CDM staff will continue to support other media and anti-coup projects, according to the Radio NUG announcement.
Founded in Aug. 24, 2021, under the guidance of the NUG Ministry of Information, Radio NUG stepped in to provide news about how the NUG is the only democratic alternative to military rule in Myanmar.
Fifteen media organizations, including DVB, Mizzima, and Myanmar Now, had their publication licenses revoked by the regime in March 2021 – effectively banning them from operating inside the country.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated in September that since the 2021 Myanmar coup, seven journalists have been killed and over 200 have been detained with at least 51 still behind bars.
Myanmar ranks 171 out of 180 countries, at the bottom of the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, and has become one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists, second only to China, according to RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Radio NUG broadcasted via shortwave radio two 30-minute programs per day at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. into Myanmar in at least 12 ethnic nationality languages, including Burmese, Kachin, Karenni, Rakhine, Wa and Chin.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) announced that it had ceased all broadcasting and online news production on Oct. 31 due to “uncertain funding” after U.S. President Donald Trump’s March 14 executive order to terminate government funds for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the body that oversees RFA, as well as the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
