View Full Version : MyanmarTimes:Dunkley on Evolution
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7972
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Myanmar Times Carries “Killer Than Shwe” Ad
By The Associated Press
July 24, 2007
July 24, 2007—An advertisement placed in Monday's English-language The Myanmar Times newspaper by a satirical art group had hidden messages, calling the country's military ruler Snr-Gen Than Shwe a "killer" and hailing “freedom.”
This innocent-looking advertisement carried by The Myanmar Times carried hidden messages—“Killer Than Shwe” and “Freedom”
The bogus advertisement was placed in the semi-official newspaper by Denmark-based Surrend [http://www.surrend.org/], which has experience slipping clandestine ads under the noses of repressive regimes, group member Pia Bertelsen said in a telephone interview from Denmark with The Associated Press in Bangkok, Thailand.
The ad, published in Burma's commercial capital Rangoon, looked like an innocent call for tourists visiting Burma from Scandinavia, with the drawing of a palm tree and sun, and text praising Burma's "beautiful country and friendly people."
It included a line from a fictitious “old Danish poem”—“Feel relaxed, enjoy everything, dance o*n minutes.” The first letters of the seven words spell out “freedom.”
At the bottom of the half-page ad was "The Board of Islandic Travel Agencies Ewhsnahtrellik and the Danish Industry BesoegDanmark," including the long Danish-looking word "Ewhsnahtrellik." When read backward it said, "killer Than Shwe."
Bertelsen said the ad was a way to show even autocratic leaders could be criticized.
"What we want to achieve with the ad is to show that there are cracks in even the worst regimes. That with art you can find these holes and fly under the censorship's radar and hit the despots," she said.
To place the ad, Surrend presented themselves as an advertising company.
The Myanmar Times was not immediately available for comment, but Bertelsen said the ad was designed in a way so it was hard for them to discover the hidden message.
"We don't think they will be blamed. And also, The Myanmar Times is an important propaganda tool for the Burma regime so they are a part of the regime we criticize," she said.
The Myanmar Times has weekly editions in both English and Burmese. It was founded in 2000 and is partly owned by the government, and like all media in Burma is censored by the Ministry of Information.
Surrend has placed similar ads with hidden messages before, including o*ne in the government-controlled Tehran Times last December that spelled out "swine" below a photo of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The ad reads like a criticism of US President George W Bush, but the first letter of each sentence line up along the left of the ad and spells "swine" when read from top to bottom.
"Our purpose with our art is not to make revolutions, but to poke fun at the despots," Bertelsen said.
jpatokal
25-07-07, 10:36 AM
They're hitting the despots by paying for ad space in the despots' newspapers and placing hidden messages so obscure that nobody can spot them? I bet Than Shwe is really quivering in his boots now... :(
They're hitting the despots by paying for ad space in the despots' newspapers and placing hidden messages so obscure that nobody can spot them? I bet Than Shwe is really quivering in his boots now... :(
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7991
Yes indeed. I guess he is about as worried as he has been with just about anything the so-called superpowers have thrown at him in the last two decades. Perhaps it made a nice change for him from the daily round of 'physic nut' plantation projects, jerry-built bridge inspections and offering felicitations to the head of state of Andorra. [http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html]:
http://irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/7974-mmtimes-1.gif
The MMT online:
http://www.mmtimes.com/
Booby-trapped Myanmar Times a Best Seller
By Htet Aung
July 25, 2007
July 25, 2007—Copies of Burma’s semi-official English-language weekly newspaper The Myanmar Times sold out rapidly after it hit the newsstands with an advertisement containing hidden anti-regime messages. o*n Rangoon’s black market, they are changing hands for 2,000 kyat (US $1.5), three times the cover price, while photocopies of the advertisement are also in circulation.
The advertisement, placed in this week’s issue of The Myanmar Times by a Danish group specializing in political satire, contained the word “Ewhsnahtrellik” which, read backwards, spells out “Killer Than Shwe.” The lines of a poem included in the ad had initial letters adding up to the message “Freedom.”
Burma’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Board, which let the squib pass unnoticed, reacted swiftly to prevent any reoccurrence. A Rangoon-based journalist, who requested anonymity, told The Irrawaddy o*n Wednesday that the Board was now refusing to accept any advertisements in the late pages used by publications to update their issues.
Sales of the English version of The Myanmar Times are modest, and mostly confined to international agencies and embassies in Rangoon, but when news of the bogus ad spread through the city copies of the paper disappeared rapidly. “We’re sold out,” said an assistant at the Ar Yone Thit book store in downtown Rangoon.
Not all the sales were to inquisitive customers—the authorities also pounced, confiscating the publication from supermarket shelves.
The Myanmar Times, the first English language, privately-owned newspaper to be published under the military regime, was founded in 2000 under the supervision of Australian journalist Ross Dunkley. Critics say it toes a pro-government line.
Ban on Foreign Ads Follows Myanmar Times Squib
By Khun Sam
July 26, 2007
Burmese government censors have reportedly banned international advertising in the country’s media following the appearance in the semi-official weekly The Myanmar Times of an ad containing hidden anti-regime messages.
Media sources in Rangoon say the junta’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Board has also ordered more restrictions on domestic advertising.
“We are no longer allowed to carry advertising from abroad,” the editor of a Rangoon-based journal told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. The first advertisement to fall victim to the ban was for a school in Singapore.
The Press Scrutiny and Registration Board’s chief, Maj Tin Swe, and three other officials have also been questioned by military intelligence, who reportedly demanded an explanation for the embarrassing lapse.
The censors acted after a Danish group specializing in political satire slipped an ad into The Myanmar Times contained the nonsense word “Ewhsnahtrellik” which, read backwards, spells out “Killer Than Shwe.” The lines of a poem included in the ad had initial letters adding up to the message “Freedom.” The PSRB let the squib pass unnoticed.
Sales of the English version of The Myanmar Times are modest, and mostly confined to international agencies and embassies in Rangoon, but when news of the bogus ad spread through the city copies of the paper disappeared rapidly. Copies of the newspaper changed hands for three times its normal cover price, while photocopies of the advertisement also passed into circulation.
A Rangoon-based journalist told The Irrawaddy copies of the offending advertisement were spreading rapidly. “People are really amused by it,” he said.
The Myanmar Times was founded in 2000 under the supervision of Australian journalist Ross Dunkley. Critics say it has close links to the government.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8005
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8078
That Ad Leads to Further Publication Safeguards
By Htet Aung
August 1, 2007
Burma’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Board has tightened up still further its regulations governing media advertising following last month’s embarrassing appearance in The Myanmar Times of hidden messages smearing junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe and lauding “freedom.”
In future, advertising will o*nly be accepted in either Burmese or English, presumably because the censors are proficient in o*nly those two languages. Ads will have to include the full name and address of the company placing the advertising, and “the respective journals shall have to take responsibility for the correctness of the ad.”
Publishers are told to check thoroughly the text and authenticity of foreign advertisements submitted via email and fax.
Curiously, the regulations—whose text was obtained by The Irrawaddy o*n Tuesday—ban announcements of the engagement or wedding of a foreigner to a Burmese citizen, as well as ads seeking waitresses in restaurants and hotels.
A Rangoon journalist told The Irrawaddy that the head of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board, Maj Tint Swe had personally called 25 journals and magazines, instructing them to follow the new regulations and warning that transgressions would lead to the cancellation of publishing licenses.
The tightened regulations follow the appearance in The Myanmar Times of an ad placed by Danish-based political satirists containing the word “Ewhsnahtrellik,” which spells out “Killer Than Shwe” when read backwards. The ad, ostensibly promoting tourism in Burma, also carried a bogus poem with lines that began with letters spelling out “freedom.”
Thanks to New Mandala for pointing this out about an ex Myanmar Times staffer. I have been known to have some irreverent thoughts about the usefulness of the MT. This review and the NM item have done nothing to dispel those thoughts!:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=5824
The Year of Living Degenerately
By David Scott Mathieson
June 1, 2006
An Australian journalist revels in the pleasures open to foreigners living in the “hardship posting” of Rangoon.
Land of a Thousand Eyes: The subtle pleasures of everyday life in Myanmar, by Peter Olszewski, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2005. P253
I finally figured out what the Burmese military propaganda tag “internal destructive element” really is. It’s an Australian journalist. Peter Olszewski’s memoirs, Land of a Thousand Eyes, is an account of how a western expatriate wallowed for a year in the privileged lifestyle enjoyed by the elite who cling round an authoritarian political system.
Olszewski, a former editor of Australian Playboy, founder of the Australian Marijuana Party, and a self-styled Gonzo rock journalist, moves through the expatriate and local elites scene of Rangoon with the moral immunity enjoyed by many foreigners who frivolously retain their freedoms at the expense of a people largely deprived of rights.
Olszewski worked in Burma during 2003-2004 as a media trainer for The Myanmar Times, the semi-official weekly newspaper run by fellow-Australian Ross Dunkley. The author casts Dunkley as a foul-mouthed publishing pioneer, and his newspaper as a significant factor in nudging the country towards a more open future. In a recent interview in Australia where he justified the role of The Myanmar Times, Olszewski stated that “it doesn’t get told what to say, it gets told what not to say.” This is even more cowardly than subservience to censorship: it is active collaboration with a system of censorship.
The author knew all this before he went to Burma, of course, and it didn’t bother him. But he didn’t go to help, he went to help himself, strapping on the nosebag of expatriate largesse and munching away on a fat Japanese-sourced salary.
Rangoon’s foreign circles come alive in the book as Olszewski states: “Expatriates who can survive the vagaries of life in Myanmar are those who can adopt a philosophical wait-and-see-what-happens attitude and react accordingly,” all in the air-conditioned luxury of privileged spaces for people who cynically regard Burma as a “hardship posting.”
For Olszewski, it was smoking dope in Rangoon, puffing on opium in Shan State, getting drunk and falling into holes in the sidewalk, and doing the rounds of what passes for a high society of parties and gallery openings.
Some of Olszewski’s revelations will enrage fellow expatriates, with references to cocaine snorting, dubious lady companions, the murky dealings of business people, and scenes of drunken debauchery that only those with money and diplomatic immunity are capable of.
The book’s narrative structure is like being cornered by a stoned, middle-aged hippie at a party who starts to mumble inanely: you are never too sure where the story is going or what, if any, point there is to it. One minute we are at a beach in Arakan, the next at a Thingyan water festival.
There are dozens of descriptions of shopping expeditions, Olszewski’s favorite cafes and feeling homesick. He complains about the food, the problems of finding hot water in Kengtung and Shan virgins.
He caps off this “tour de farce” with 50 pages of a love story as he finally meets a Burmese woman who can stand his obnoxious Australian sense of humor.
Amid the hackneyed attempts at political and cultural insight lurks some hilariously bad writing, especially when he realizes in late 2004 that the Burmese elite who protect him and The Myanmar Times have been purged and the good life is endangered. He compares Burma to a pretty but dangerous plant. “Kiss (Burma) softly at first because underneath the sensuous surface lurks needle-sharp danger…now I am bleeding with a mouthful of painful thorns.”
There are worse lines.
Collaborating with a repressive regime is the least of Olszewski’s indiscretions. He provides us with his odious views on female social subservience as equality and strength, on modest clothing as sexually alluring, and on the virtues of certain points of the female Burmese anatomy. It is in descriptions such as these that the book descends sharply to misogyny, and transforms from boring autobiography to Bangkok go-go bargirl literature.
The book’s most revealing passage is when the author refuses to help the sick street child he patronizingly pretends to care for. He has been giving her pocket change for months for helping him to carry his shopping and to bargain for him at the market. But when she falls painfully ill with stomach worms he refuses to help her get hospital treatment because —under what he terms “the unwritten law that forces people to ignore the suffering”— assistance could have jeopardized his own position.
Land of a Thousand Eyes is the story of a man who went through Burma with his eyes shut to anything but his own selfish pleasure.
And the prompt from New Mandala:
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2007/11/06/job-at-the-myanmar-times/
Job at The Myanmar Times
November 6th, 2007 by Nicholas Farrelly
We don’t usually advertise jobs on New Mandala but this unusual vacancy, at the major English-language newspaper in Burma, will probably be of interest to a good number of readers.
A former member of staff at The Myanmar Times wrote a book (http://www.amazon.com/Land-Thousand-Eyes-Pleasures-Everyday/dp/1741145074) about his experiences in Burma which is reviewed here by David Mathieson [Also see above] (http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=5824). Anybody looking to take this job would be wise to read the book and the review.
Anyway, the details are:
Sub Editor, Timeout, The Myanmar Times, Myanmar Consolidated Media, Myanmar, Southeast Asia
Myanmar Consolidated Media is the publisher of two national weekly newspapers with a staff of more than 300. The company, an Australian-Myanmar joint venture, is in its eighth year of operations and is the largest private media company in Myanmar.
The Myanmar Times (http://www.mmtimes.com) is published in both English and Myanmar (Burmese) and are leading publications with a readership in excess of 250,000 weekly, but operate under censorship in a challenging media environment. Approximately 60 journalists work in the newsroom, including five expatriates.
The Myanmar Times English edition runs from 44 to 72 pages and is likely to expand in the future. The newspaper is currently seeking an expatriate, native-English speaking subeditor to complement our growing staff.
JOB DESCRIPTION: The subeditor will manage, edit and layout our ‘Timeout’ arts and entertainment section (8 pages), Page 2 (trivia and opinion), Science & Health page and two Travel pages every week. You will work closely with the 4-6 reporters assigned to the Timeout desk, helping them with story ideas and heavily editing their English-language copy. More (http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2007/11/06/job-at-the-myanmar-times/)
Earlier 'sweet nothings' & 'Burmese Daze' at the Myanmar Times:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=17613&postcount=163
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=17394&postcount=100
Well in all fairness, there could just be another side to the apparently rather uncouth Ross Dunkley. :D Although I'm inclined to think that he's more of a wind-up merchant than anything else!:
In September 2003, in a lively talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in Bangkok, Ross Dunkley, editor of the semi-official newspaper, Myanmar Times confirmed that all the Burmese people he had met—whether they were taxi drivers or office workers—wanted to see an invasion. “They all want George W Bush and the UN to come into Myanmar [Burma] with a whole lot of guns and airplanes and jets and solve the problem. They believe that’s possible,” said Dunkley.
See the rest of the article for a bit of a surprise!:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2655
Although the whole thing seems to be extremely tongue-in-cheek. Almost more shades of the 'Killer Than Shwe ' ad and the anti-Than Shwe knicker-throwing protest.:D
Australian Takeover at Phnom Penh Post
The two Australian businessmen who run the weekly Myanmar Times announced Monday that they have taken over The Phnom Penh Post, a Cambodian newspaper, said Agence France-Presse.
According to an AFP news report, Ross Dunkley, chief executive officer of Burma Consolidated Media, which publishes The Myanmar Times, said that he and Bill Clough, an Australian miner and oil and gas entrepreneur, have taken a controlling stake in the paper.
The Myanmar Times online presence:, which publishes every two weeks, was founded by American journalist Michael Hayes 17 years ago.
Hayes will continue as editor-in-chief, while the project will be managed by Michael Dauguet, a French national with extensive experience working in Vietnam in media and software development.
Bill Clough's background tends to suggest that he will view the role of his new newspaper from a heavy business perspective, and Ross Dunkley is known to have a fairly cooperative relationship with the Burmese Junta:
Phnom Penh Post online presence:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/
Myanmar Times online presence:
http://www.mmtimes.com/
A thread on this paper's controversial past & present. It rarely publishes anything even remotely critical or revealing about the Burmese Junta. Indeed, some sources refer to it as a semi-official organ of the Myanmar state:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2644
Notice to readers from the Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
For a number of years now-too many in fact-I have been looking for investors who could inject some capital in the Phnom Penh Post to help the newspaper become more competitive, expand staffing, upgrade equipment and keep me from having any more sleepless nights worrying about making monthly payroll or finding a computer repairman on a frantic Thursday deadline.
The larger goal has always been to increase the Post's ability to provide news and analysis on events in Cambodia.
In this regard, readers will be interested to learn that I have come to an agreement with a group of investors to do just that.
The three individuals who have agreed to jointly take a majority stake in the Post are: Ross Dunkley, currently chief executive officer of Myanmar Consolidated Media (MCM); Bill Clough, an Australian miner and oil and gas entrepreneur; and, Michel Dauguet, a French businessman with more than a decade's worth of experience involved in media and technology companies in Vietnam and Thailand.
For the immediate future I will remain as editor-in-chief of the Post and have been assured that editorial control of the paper will remain in my hands. In this regard, let me state for the record that I am fully committed to make every effort to retain the standards of journalism excellence that the Post has tried to maintain since its inception back in July, 1992.
For anybody with even the remotest understanding of the near manic process that surrounds the collection of information and subsequent production of a newspaper on a shoe-string budget (which includes managing the attendant cast of unique characters who participate directly in this process), it is all too painfully clear that there are regular hiccups along the road. But the overall intent has been, is and will remain clear: to produce one of the best, most readable and most reliable newspapers in the world. This is the goal and will remain so for as long as I continue to be responsible for the newspaper's content.
When we hit the mark, readers have been generous in their praise; when we miss it, the barbs usually fly rather quickly from numerous quarters. Either way, this is to be encouraged and I hope that those who rely on the Post will continue to share their thoughts with us on the quality of what we publish. Your input is welcomed and most readers know exactly how to find us.
Otherwise, let me extend my sincerest best wishes to all Post readers, advertisers, overseas subscribers, contributors and friends for the coming year. Your on-going support and constructive criticism over the past 16 years has made the continued existence of this paper a reality. And please rest assured that all of us here at the Post are extremely grateful for that.
Michael Hayes
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Non-specific link:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/
Australians invest in media project in Phnom Penh
AUSTRALIAN interests associated with Myanmar Consolidated Media (MCM), publishers of The Myanmar Times, are investing in Cambodia’s oldest English-language publication, The Phnom Penh Post.
Ross Dunkley, chief executive officer of MCM, said the investment was in line with the corporate philosophy of his Australian-led consortium. He emphasised the Cambodia investment is a separate project and had no relation to the consortium’s Myanmar business.
“The Phnom Penh Post is currently a fortnightly newspaper and was founded by an American, Michael Hayes, in 1991. Over 17 years, The Phnom Penh Post has acquired an internationally established reputation for its independence and editorial excellence.
“While The Phnom Penh Post has built a significant standing in the region, and internationally, it is now looking to improve its product for readers and advertisers. These days the domestic economy is growing rapidly and the media market has become more aggressive, with many competitors publishing in Khmer, English, Chinese and French languages.
“An active and liberal civil society has taken root, a vibrant democratic system of government is being practiced and the distress of its past is being addressed. I sense great excitement and optimism about the country’s future,” said Mr Dunkley.
“The investment in The Phnom Penh Post, through a locally incorporated entity, is being made with complete goodwill,” he said.
“We intend to provide The Phnom Penh Post with the resources to take the newspaper onto a weekly cycle, while leveraging from its existing editorial excellence. We believe The Phnom Penh Post is a ‘must have read’ in Cambodia and we intend to back it fully and our aim is to enhance its reputation.
“Michael Hayes has been the editor in chief of the paper for 17 years and he will be continuing in that role. He is fully committed and dedicated to seeing it move into a new phase,” said Mr Dunkley.
Investing in the project with Mr Dunkley is Mr Bill Clough, an Australian miner and oil and gas entrepreneur.
Mr Clough’s Twinza Oil group are exploring the Yetagun East Block off Dawei, on Myanmar’s southern coast. Twinza also recently won the rights to explore for oil and gas in two onshore blocks in northern Thailand.
The Phnom Penh project will be managed by Mr Michel Dauguet, a French national who has more than a decade’s experience in Vietnam working in media and software development.
http://www.mmtimes.com/no400/n008.htm
A possible bolthole if things in Myanmar become too hairy!? ;)
The above said, Myanmar Times is currently having extreme difficulty with a Junta bigwig commonly known as 'Comical Ali':
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2644
Myanmar Times Falls Victim to Burma’s “Comical Ali”
By Wai Moe
January 15, 2008
The Myanmar Times, Burma’s privately-owned, English language weekly, has been ordered to suspend publication for one week and sack four of its Burmese editors after carrying a report that had not been authorized by the government’s censorship board.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/9944-KyawHsan3.gif
[Photo: The Irrawaddy - Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan - dubbed Burma's “Comical Ali” by a Thai daily newspaper [Photo: AFP]]
The report, in the current issue, told readers that satellite TV fees were to be increased from the equivalent of US $5 annually to $800. The news provoked wide public criticism, and the government appears to be having second thoughts about introducing the rise and has not yet implemented it.
The four Myanmar Times employees ordered to be sacked were named as news chief Win Kyaw Oo and editors Nwe Nwe Aye, Win Nyunt Lwin and Myint Soe.
The order suspending The Myanmar Times for one week comes amid signs that the regime is clamping down still further on the Burmese media. Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan—dubbed “Comical Ali” by a Thai daily newspaper—warned editors, writers and publishers that the censorship board would “take action” if they wrote “news which can discourage the national interest.”
Kyaw Hsan told Burma’s national association of printers and publishers that they should “place emphasis on improvement of national economy and guard against destructionists that will undermine the national interest,” according to a report by The New Light of Myanmar on Monday.
Kyaw Hsan, right hand man of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is described as one of four “super hard-liners,” along with Culture Minister Maj-Gen Aung Khin Myint, Industry Minister-1 Aung Thaung and Minister of Science and Technology Maung Thaung.
Kyaw Hsan took his hardline views on freedom of the press to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting last month, telling one of the organization’s committees: “Some powerful nations are misusing the media as a weapon to interfere in the internal affairs of small nations [as well as to spread] biased information with negative views to tarnish the image of the country internationally.”
Commenting on Kyaw Hsan’s Asean appearance, The Nation, one of two English newspapers in Thailand, dubbed him Burma’s “Comical Ali,” in a reference to former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf.
The newspaper said: “In recent days, Southeast Asia has witnessed the emergence of its own version of Comical Ali, Burmese Information Minister Kyaw Hsan of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the highest decision-making body in Burma’s military ruled state.
“The world adored Comical Ali’s trademark beret and smile and gave him a break. Unfortunately for Kyaw Hsan and the SPDC, the world cannot do the same, and must not do the same.”
Observers say that is unlikely to happen as long as Kyaw Hsan comes up with truly comical statements like the one attributed to him by the regime-run media on Tuesday: “A nation may fall under colonial rule because of the media.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=9944
See also thread on the recent Myanmar Times acquisition of the Phnom Penh Post:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=3024
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=9944
See also thread on the recent Myanmar Times acquisition of the Phnom Penh Post:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=3024
Myanmar Times and other media threatened and sanctioned by military censors
RSF
17 January 2008
News
Reporters Without Borders [RSF] and the Burma Media Association condemn the recent sanctions taken by the military government's censorship board against the Burmese-language edition of the Myanmar Times weekly, which was ordered to suppress its next issue for carrying a report about an increase in the price of satellite dish licences (http://www.mmtimes.com/no400/n006.htm) in its 11 January issue.
The newspaper apparently published the story, which quoted an Agence France-Presse dispatch, without requesting the censorship board's permission.
"The latest sanctions against news media that are already subject to censorship and self-censorship appear to be linked to recent official statements on press freedom," the two organisations said. "Information minister Kyaw Hsan, for example, told a group of media publishers on 13 January that the media must make an effort to help the national economy to improve and to protect itself against the destructionists threatening the country's interests. We suspect that this kind of comment may pave the way for new sanctions and restrictions."
A Rangoon-based journalist said the government also asked the Myanmar Times to fire four of its journalists, Nwe Nwe Aye, Win Nyunt Lwin, Myint Soe and Win Kyaw Oo. The four were reportedly told to go this week.
The censorship board recently ordered at least two magazines, the Myanmar Tribune and Action Times, not to publish any "political" news. A journalist employed by one of these publications said Maj. Tint Swe, the head of the censorship board, threatened them with reprisals if they did not concentrate on entertainment and sport. Myanmar Tribune and Action Times decided to temporarily suspend publication.
A spokesperson for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi's party, was summoned by the censorship board on 11 January and reprimanded for issuing a newsletter on 4 January, Independence Day. Reference was made to the Printers and Publishers Registration Act, under which an unauthorised publication is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
According to the Burmese exile magazine Irrawaddy, young NLD activists printed and circulated a newsletter entitled Ah-Yoan-Thit (The Dawn) containing articles on last September's demonstrations and arrests of party activists.
The military government has refused to give the NLD any publication permit since the start of the 1990s. Aung San Suu Kyi has herself repeatedly requested authorisation to publish a newspaper.
Around 150 weekly newspapers and 80 magazines are published in Burma. Most of them do not cover politics but all of them are subjected to prior censorship. According to some sources, rampant corruption within the censorship board means that publications are sometimes able to carry reports that would normally be censored.
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=486
Comprehensive changes at The Myanmar Times
By Editor-in-Chief Ross Dunkley
MCM Editorial Steering Committee
Chairman Ross Dunkley Editor-in-Chief
Member U Zaw Myint Deputy Editor
Member U Myo Lwin Deputy Editor
Member U Wai Linn Chief of Staff
Member Mr Douglas Long Editor MTE
Member U Htay Maung Head of Printing
Member U Thet Khaing Diplomatic Affairs Editor
Member U Aung Kyaw Oo Head of Production
Member Mr Geoffrey Goddard Technical Consultant
MANY readers would be aware The Myanmar Times (Myanmar) is the flagship of our company with more than 350,000 readers weekly.
Last week in our Myanmar edition #346 we ran front page articles which resulted in the suspension of our paper for one week. That’s not an experience I wanted and I am going to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
One was a report on satellite dishes, which in my opinion, was good journalism. We chose to run this story on the front page. I don’t believe we were instructed to spike, or drop that piece and we stand by it.
Together with two senior editorial personnel from The Myanmar Times I also took the opportunity to meet with the head of Press Scrutiny and Registration Division. I consider this normal procedure and we had a frank and friendly exchange of views concerning the editorial direction of our papers.
I accepted the advice of Head of PSRD in good faith and at no point did I feel the PSRD was putting undue pressure on me or The Myanmar Times.
Now, it has been put to me that the PSRD has forced me to sack four senior members of my team. That’s not true.
What is true is that for some time I have been contemplating a reshuffle of my editorial team. The PSRD’s prod merely moved me into action at a faster pace and I don’t view that with negativity.
Reform in a newsroom is a common thing. Editors and journalists come and go, sometimes at a whim from owners or publishers. Newsrooms are also fueled by energy and stress and ours is typical of that. On that basis I have been modifying The Myanmar Times since March 2000, eight years since we commenced publishing.
I’m always in a mode of transformation because like most editors I am never satisfied with our product(s), and I insist that we keep improving. I remain a positive critic of The Myanmar Times on a weekly basis.
My views on the media in Myanmar are well known and one day I hope that our papers can be published daily. That vision is universally shared by all staff at our company.
Nothing has changed in that respect and to a large degree our opportunity to move onto a daily platform is entirely linked to reform of the political landscape.
I have great hope for 2008 as I see clearly that the government is accelerating the move towards democracy. To be frank, I believe that its 7-point roadmap to democracy is the best way forward and I support that. I’d like to think the newsroom at The Myanmar Times supports that as well.
I am also a firm proponent of engagement and I am vigorously opposed to sanctions. I would like to think I have made a positive contribution here over a long period of time and I have been patient.
Overwhelmingly people everywhere in Myanmar encourage me and my team on our professionalism and I get the impression the PSRD has a fair measure of respect for the efforts I have made.
The Myanmar Times is the future of the press in this country. As a foreign/Myanmar collaboration it shows just how well cooperation can occur and we have thrived in what is a challenging media environment.
The company has 350 staff and a large disciplined, professional team. At this moment we are concentrating on continuing investment in the company and capacity building. In the end a return on our investment is essential, but right now I’m confident we are making the correct management decisions.
Changes to our editorial team have been made after extensive consultation amongst the senior editorial personnel at MCM.
Effective 14 January, U Zaw Myint has been appointed Deputy Editor and becomes the senior editor for The Myanmar Times (Myanmar)
He is 40 years old and has a law degree (LLB) from Yangon university. U Zaw Myint’s journalism experience includes six years at New Light of Myanmar as an editor and three years as the editor in charge of the First Eleven Sports Journal. For the past three years he has been the Business Editor at The Myanmar Times.
Working under him is a young, talented group of editors that includes U Win Nyunt Lwin, U Aung Kyaw Htwe and U Nyunt Win.
U Kyaw Thu has been promoted to Business Editor and U Ye Lwin to Deputy Business Editor.
U Aung Win becomes Sports Editor.
Effective immediately MCM is also establishing an Editorial Steering Committee which will take an oversight role for the editorial content at MCM.
MCM produces 170 to 200+ pages a week in our four publications and we are continuing to grow. While we have editors, sectional editors, bureau chiefs, reporters, translators etc, what we have never had is a formal mechanism to help guide our overall direction.
This is the first time we have become more focused in looking at our broader view as a leading private publisher and as such the Editorial Steering Committee (ESC) will act as an instrument to safeguard the company from conflict with the authorities. But, more importantly the ESC gives the company an opportunity to critically analyse our products and to plan improvements and expansion.
http://www.mmtimes.com/no402/n015.htm
See also previous post:
Myanmar Times CEO Supports Regime’s “Road Map”
By Wai Moe
January 29, 2008
http://www.irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/10067-Dunkley-(Photo-D.R.).gif
[Photo: The Irrawaddy (D.R.) - Ross Dunkley]
Burma’s English language weekly newspaper, The Myanmar Times, threw its support unequivocally behind the regime’s seven-point “road map” in a commentary in last week’s issue.
“I believe that its [the junta’s] seven-point road map to democracy is the best way forward, and I support that,” wrote the newspaper’s Australian editor in chief and CEO, Ross Dunkley.
Headed “Comprehensive Changes at The Myanmar Times,” Dunkley’s column commented on the newspaper’s recent brush with the regime over its report on the recent hike in satellite TV fees. The regime’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) suspended the paper for one week because of the report.
“That’s not an experience I wanted and I am going to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said Dunkley.
Although at least two names are missing from the usual list of editorial staff in the latest issue, Dunkley denied that anybody had been sacked because of the report.
“It is not true,” he said. “What is true is that for some time I have been contemplating a reshuffle of my editorial team. The PSRD’s prod merely moved me into action at a faster pace and I don’t view that with negativity.”
According to journalists in Rangoon, Dunkley was called to the office of the censorship board after the appearance of the offending report. On his return to the office of The Myanmar Times, a senior journalist, Win Kyaw Oo, was sacked.
An “editorial steering committee” of nine senior members of staff, including Dunkley, was subsequently formed “to act as an instrument to safeguard the company from conflict with the authorities.”
Larry Jagan, a Bangkok-based British journalist who writes on Burma, told The Irrawaddy that although The Myanmar Times pretended to be independent it was actually controlled by the regime. “Privately, Ross always said to me that he is businessman first and journalist second,” said Jagan.
Jagan questioned Dunkley’s support for the “road map,” saying: “The ‘road map’ is no longer credible. It is not an inclusive process.”
Sein Hla Oo, a veteran journalist in Rangoon, said he was not surprised to hear about Dunkley’s pro-regime stand because The Myanmar Times had always been well-connected to the ruling generals.
“It is semi-state-media,” he said. “Inside Burma, readers don’t care about this kind of writing by Ross Dunkley and others. People think this kind of writing is regime propaganda.”
A Burmese journalist with a news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed that The Myanmar Times is “semi-state media.” He said: “Journalists in Burma see Ross Dunkley as a businessman, not as journalist. Sometimes The Myanmar Times is like the regime’s mouthpiece.
“They [The Myanmar Times] didn’t admit that the authorities pressured them to fire staff members. But it is true. Sacking Win Kyaw Oo is a bad image for the newspaper. Ross Dunkley should defend his staff.”
When The Irrawaddy called The Myanmar Times for comment it was told that Dunkley was traveling and other editorial staff were busy or otherwise unavailable.
The Myanmar Times was founded in 2000 by Ross Dunkley and Sonny Swe, son of a high-ranking intelligence officer, Brig-Gen Thein Swe. Sonny Swe was arrested following the downfall of former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in 2004 and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for corruption.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10067
http://www.mmtimes.com/no403/pic/mtmjob.gif
Today's New Edition:
http://www.mmtimes.com/
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=19512&postcount=10
Last week in our Myanmar edition #346 we ran front page articles which resulted in the suspension of our paper for one week. That’s not an experience I wanted and I am going to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
One was a report on satellite dishes, which in my opinion, was good journalism. We chose to run this story on the front page. I don’t believe we were instructed to spike, or drop that piece and we stand by it.
Together with two senior editorial personnel from The Myanmar Times I also took the opportunity to meet with the head of Press Scrutiny and Registration Division. I consider this normal procedure and we had a frank and friendly exchange of views concerning the editorial direction of our papers.
I accepted the advice of Head of PSRD in good faith and at no point did I feel the PSRD was putting undue pressure on me or The Myanmar Times.
Now, it has been put to me that the PSRD has forced me to sack four senior members of my team. That’s not true.
What is true is that for some time I have been contemplating a reshuffle of my editorial team. The PSRD’s prod merely moved me into action at a faster pace and I don’t view that with negativity.
Reform in a newsroom is a common thing. Editors and journalists come and go, sometimes at a whim from owners or publishers. Newsrooms are also fueled by energy and stress and ours is typical of that. On that basis I have been modifying The Myanmar Times since March 2000, eight years since we commenced publishing.
I’m always in a mode of transformation because like most editors I am never satisfied with our product(s), and I insist that we keep improving. I remain a positive critic of The Myanmar Times on a weekly basis.
My views on the media in Myanmar are well known and one day I hope that our papers can be published daily. That vision is universally shared by all staff at our company.
Nothing has changed in that respect and to a large degree our opportunity to move onto a daily platform is entirely linked to reform of the political landscape.
Myanmar Times to go daily
Feb 25, 2008 (DVB)–The publisher of the weekly Myanmar Times newspaper, Myanmar Consolidated Media Company, is to publish a daily newspaper from May this year, according to one of the company’s employees.
The Myanmar Times employee said a printing workshop for the daily newspaper is now being set up in Rangoon's New South Dagon township with technicians from Australia, and a training process for reporters has been developed.
A journalist in Rangoon said the 20-page newspaper will be printed in Burmese and the first edition is expected to come out in May this year, after the national referendum.
"They have been recruiting reporters for the daily newspaper for the past two months. Anyone who is interested in journalism can apply for the training programmes," said the journalist on condition of anonymity.
The Myanmar Times daily newspaper, if approved by the government, will be the first private newspaper to be published daily in Burma since general Ne Win's military government took over national power in 1962.
Reporting by Nay Htoo
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=997
(Letter to the editor)
No truth in Myanmar Times going daily
Concerning a recent news reports on international websites that The Myanmar Times will move to a daily format in May 2008, I would like to debunk these reports as mischievous and erroneous.
While it is no secret that The Myanmar Times has always had a vision of publishing on a daily cycle, right now the company is not in formal discussion with the government to do so.
My personal views on the media in Myanmar are also well known and one day I hope that our papers can be published on a daily cycle. That vision is universally shared by all staff at our company.
Nothing has changed in that respect and to a large degree our opportunity to move onto a daily platform is entirely linked to reform of the political landscape.
I have great hope for 2008 as I see clearly that the government is accelerating the move towards democracy.
I am also a firm proponent of engagement and I am vigorously opposed to sanctions.
I would like to think I have made a positive contribution here over a long period of time and I continue to work away with patience.
Overwhelmingly people everywhere in Myanmar encourage me and my team on our professionalism and I get the impression the government has a fair measure of respect for the efforts we make, although I am rarely in contact with any senior personnel within the government.
Sincerely,
Ross Dunkley
CEO, Editor in Chief
Myanmar Consolidated Media
http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/LetterstoEditor/26-Feb-2008.html
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/
As of today, the website has a new appearance and more 'free' content and pictures. Doubtless, some effect of the Dunkley takeover.
See also Previous posts in this Thread on the Myanmar Times takeover of the Phnom Penh Post.
Cambodia confiscates 'Burma Daily' publication
Phnom Penh (dpa) - The Cambodian government on Monday confiscated the Cambodia Daily newspaper from newsstands over a supplement called The Burma Daily, the Information Ministry and the newspaper's publisher said.
The official ministry explanation was that the confiscation was ordered because The Burma Daily, which had appeared since last week as a four-page insert with an identical masthead as its sister publication, was not licensed.
But publisher Bernard Krisher argued that the paper did not need a license because it was a supplement and the decision to confiscate the English- and Khmer-language daily, which has a circulation of about 5,000, reflected badly on the government.
He vowed to continue to print The Burma Daily for several more days as planned even if it were confiscated. After its printing is finished, it is to become an online and mail publication for distribution in Burma.
"The Burma Daily has no political agenda," he said by telephone. "It is designed to introduce to the Burmese people what a free and responsible newspaper looks like."
Krisher said he had not spoken to the ministry about the reasons for confiscating the paper, which is viewed by expatriates as a primary source of daily news in English.
"I don't have to explain to anyone," he said. "The New York Times does not explain to President [George W] Bush."
Media analysts speculated that the government might fear that the often anti-government Cambodia Daily might embarrass it by taking a similar approach to the Burmese military junta.
Cambodia and Burma have maintained warm relations despite an international outcry over the junta's appalling human rights record.
The nation's largest journalism association, the Club of Cambodian Journalists, said it was investigating the confiscation of the newspapers.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith was not available for comment Monday.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=127726
It's also worth noting that this is the first day http://www.mmtimes.com/ has been updated since Cyclone Nargis.
See also Previous posts in this Thread on the Myanmar Times takeover of the Phnom Penh Post.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=127726
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Burma Daily keeps on published in Cambodia, despite police confiscation
PHNOM PENH, May 20, 2008 (Xinhua) - The Burma Daily still managed to be published here Tuesday as "a supplement" to Cambodia's leading English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodian Daily, after the police confiscated its second issue marketed Monday.
"The Burma Daily is a supplement, also on the web at http://www.burmadaily.org/, sponsored by the Adam Lincoln Steele Foundation," said a notification on the third issue of the paper.
"The (New York-based) Adam Lincoln Steele Foundation is dedicated to developing a free and responsible press in countries that do not enjoy a free press," it added.
"The Burma Daily has no political agenda. It is designed to introduce to the Burmese people what a free and responsible newspaper looks like," another English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times Tuesday quoted Bernard Krisher, publisher of the Burma Daily and the Cambodian Daily, as saying.
Earlier Monday, he vowed to keep on publishing the Burma Daily, as a supplement but not a new newspaper.
The credits on both papers showed that they were published by the same group of staff members.
The first issue of Burma Daily hit the market on Friday, without causing obvious official crackdown. The four-page black- white tabloid was folded inside the Cambodian Daily.
However, when the second issue appeared Monday, it incurred immediate ban. Police tried to confiscate all the copies within its distribution areas.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said that the Burma Daily was published without permission, so its publication and distribution must be terminated.
"Before we confiscate the newspaper, we informed the Cambodian Daily, which (first) published the Burma Daily on Friday. Bernard Krisher looks down on Cambodian law," the Mekong Times Tuesday quoted the minister as saying.
"There is an Australian company which owns the (English-language) Phnom Penh Post, published a newspaper in Myanmar, so he wants to compete with the Phnom Penh Post," he said.
"Perhaps he wants to seek money from U.S.-based organizations which oppose the Myanmar government to guarantee his income," he added.
The Cambodian government used to adhere to the principle of freedom of expression, but publisher has to acquire permission from the Information Ministry, before starting to print any new newspaper.
http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2008/05/burma-daily-keeps-on-published-in.html
See also thread in Cambodia Subforum for more information on this issue:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=3024
Management changes at The Myanmar Times
THERE has been a comprehensive re-shuffle of management at Myanmar Consolidated Media, publishers of The Myanmar Times.
CEO Ross Dunkley said the company was preparing for changes to the political landscape as the government moves towards elections in 2010.
“We are continuing to receive assurances from government that the transition from a military-run system to a democracy of sorts is on track. As such we can only assume that in the coming times, political parties will be formed and that an election, scheduled for 2010 will take place,” he said.
“That’s not far away, and while we have been immensely distracted by the catastrophe of cyclone Nargis, we can now focus more closely on the historic political reform about to take place in Myanmar”
“Our senior management has been informed our ambition to turn The Myanmar Times into daily newspapers is taken seriously. Potentially, that’s all good news, and not just for us but for all leading players in the media sector,” he said
“All round there are bright spots appearing on the horizon and I believe this is an appropriate time to make changes in the way we are managing the company so we continue to be well prepared for exciting times ahead. Just as the government is evolving, so must we.”
“I am therefore instituting management changes so that more and more it is Myanmar people who are running the business of MCM and they are the best equipped to do so,” he said.
..........
http://www.mmtimes.com/no428/n009.htm
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