Journalists in Burma believe their government is failing to defend media freedom despite the transition from harsh military rule to the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a survey published to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Governments across Southeast Asia have a history of using laws and the judiciary to curb press freedoms, and now, they have found a handy crutch to lean on as they intensify clampdowns: US President Donald Trump’s “fake news” mantra.

Dozens of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists have joined a growing chorus of voices demanding the release of two Reuters reporters detained by Burmese authorities earlier this month, calling their arrests “an outrageous attack on media freedom.”

A coalition of a dozen Burmese media advocacy groups has come to the defence of two local Reuters journalists arrested Tuesday in Yangon, calling on the government to respect their right to gather information and urging that they be released from custody.

Referring specifically to the Arakan crisis, Suu Kyi said, "Read the newspapers and listen to the news on MRTV released by the government."

Our podcast looks at the situation of press freedom in Burma since the dark years of censorship, at the height of democracy uprisings in 1988 and 2007, and up until the current situation.