New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese exiled media is undergoing some funding cuts by international donors and governments, both in response to the worldwide financial crisis and policy changes among donor groups and governments. Mizzima reporter Tun Tun talks with Burma Media Association (BMA) chairman Maung Maung Myint on the implications, the change in policies and the affect on Burmese exiled media.
Q: How does BMA view the current cuts in funding and the policy changes that are underway?
A: The financial and funding cuts will affect most of our Burmese exiled media. In fact, it is only the free, exiled-based media that can disseminate impartial news to people both inside and outside Burma.
Now the junta is convening its Parliament shortly. Some of the donors believe these cosmetic changes offer opportunities and are ready to go inside Burma and give funding to organisations inside and to try to co-operate with the new government. There are many such donor governments and organisations. I must say they are wrong if they believe they can work with the new government and give funding to the organizations inside instead.
No matter what government appears in Burma, it will be controlled by the military under the current circumstances. And the military tightly controls the media. The governments, NGOs and INGOs that work in Burma can not know what the government is doing and how it governs without the free exiled media. The organisations that currently face financial difficulties are not only the small organizations but also the big media organisations such as the BBC and DVB. These financial difficulties affect them too. Its impact affects almost the entire media world that the Burmese people rely on for real news and information.
Q: If this trend continues, what will be the long term effects?
A: At the least, the exiled media will let some of their staff go and reduce their output of news and other information. Some of them will stop the publication of their print media and or reduce their publication of other printed matter.
But the Burmese exiled media has struggled for a long time. It has grown from nothing to what it is today. The people who work on these publications will not give up even through the donors stop or shift their funds. All will keep working, keep the movement going. This is how I see them.
Q: Is the current funding cut largely a change in policies among donors? What is the change?
A: It’s a variety of views and factors. Some believe that the atmosphere inside Burma is changing and that there are new opportunities inside the country and more work should be done there.
We shouldn’t be too upset and disappointed because many foreign governments such as the US administration still believe there is no genuine progress yet in Burma, and they must continue to provide financial assistance, while some other countries, including some Asean countries, are currently advocating a reverse in their policy towards the Burmese government and offer financial assistance to them in various ways.
Generally speaking in my overall view, the international governments and other organizations have not had yet made drastic policy changes towards Burma. But the current economic crisis in the US and in Europe adversely affects their people and that affects their overseas financial assistance. This is the main reason, I think.
Q: Do you think there will be more such cuts in the future? How do you see this problem?
A: We cannot say exactly what will be the next step after the current round of cuts. If it becomes clear that the cuts have adversely set back conditions in Burma, we may regain our previous funding levels. The other factor is the global economic crisis especially in Western countries. If the economy of these countries picks up again from the recession we are likely to get our funding back.
The next factor is the domestic political situation. If the military regime engages in dialogue and negotiations for national reconciliation with the NLD and ethnic parties as Western countries are demanding, the domestic Burmese media might be the priority for their funding. The exiled media could suffer in that situation.
So generally speaking, it depends on how the situation inside Burma plays out. That is probably what will effect the exiled media the most.
Source : http://mizzima.com/edop/interview/4821-the-future-of-the-exiled-media.html
Monday, January 31, 2011
NLD Website Launched
Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi showed this weekend that—despite many years in detention—her resolve to keep apace with an ever-changing world is as dynamic as ever when she presided over the launch of her party, the National League for Democracy's (NLD's) first website.
“A good communication system is essential to our endeavor to set up a people's network for democracy that will span the whole world,” said Suu Kyi in a statement on the site's home page.
“I am very pleased indeed that there is now a web page that will make the policies and activities of the National League for Democracy known across the globe,” she added.
On Jan. 20, the Nobel Peace Prize winner finally received Internet access at her Inya Lake home from the Myanmar Post and Telecommunications Enterprise.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Moe Zaw Oo, the secretary of the exile National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) Foreign Affairs Committee, said the NLD can voice polices and information through its website.
“This website can be a place to make contact with the NLD,” he said.
However, the NLD in Rangoon denied that the website, http://www.nldburma.org was designed and created by party members in Burma.
“The website was created by NLD members abroad,” said Tin Oo, the NLD vice chairman. “It would have been very difficult to create it inside Burma. It is hard enough just to get a telephone line in this country.”
Some observers said the NLD is denying involvement in the website because of the Burmese military junta's infamous Electronics Act, which carries sentences of between seven and 15 years imprisonment.
The law, which forbids unauthorized use of electronic media, has been used against many pro-democracy dissidents in trials held at Insein Prison, resulting in lengthy prison sentences for critics of the ruling regime’s crackdown on monks in 2007 and its response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
In 2009, the state-run media in Burma issued warnings aimed toward members of the NLD, saying they could be charged with violating the Electronics Act for posting a party statement about Suu Kyi’s trial on the Internet.
The website also carried a “greeting” from Tin Oo. Like the message from Suu Kyi, he made no mention of the website being NLD-controlled, but congratulated the creators of the site.
“We welcome the opening of a web page dedicated to the promoting of the interest[s] of the NLD,” he said in a signed statement.
The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 general election. However, the results were never recognized by the junta. Instead, many leading members of the party were arrested and are now serving lengthy prison terms.
The NLD executive committee decided unanimously not to register the party for the Nov. 7 election. The decision not to register was prompted by the election laws, which members described as “unjust” and unlikely to result in a fair and inclusive election.
The laws excluded anyone serving a criminal sentence from participating in the election—a provision that bars NLD leader Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. In order to participate in the election, the NLD would have had to expel Suu Kyi from the party.
The NLD was dissolved by Burma’s Election Commission for not re-registering ahead of November's election. The party submitted an appeal against its dissolution but the High Court in Naypyidaw rejected it on Friday.
Source : http://www.irrawaddymedia.com/article.php?art_id=20641