Roadmap for a free and independent media sector in Myanmar
30.05.2016
First in-depth study by International Media Support and UNESCO provides clear recommendations to government and Myanmar’s media stakeholders on crucial next steps of the media’s reform process
Myanmar Minister of Information joins UNESCO and International Media Support for launch of ‘Assessment of Media Development in Myanmar – based on UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators’ on 1 June 2016 in Yangon
Bangkok, 27 May 2016 – Legal reforms to promote freedom of expression and information, developing public service broadcasters and community media, strengthening media self-regulatory frameworks, fostering journalism education, particularly outside of Yangon, introducing media literacy programmes, etc. These are some of the recommendations from an assessment of Myanmar’s media landscape jointly conducted by UNESCO and International Media Support (IMS).
The report, set to be launched in Yangon on 1st June 2016, comes at a pivotal time in Myanmar, with the country’s first civilian government in decades taking up the challenges of a democratic transition.
“It is our hope that this report will help to inform the new government’s media reform strategy to continue a positive development of independent and pluralistic media in Myanmar,” says Glen Swanson, IMS’ programme manager in Yangon and team leader of the research team behind the report.
“However, the onus rests not only on government, but also on media workers to constructively engage in this process, holding government to account and supporting democratic development through professional and reliable journalism.”
The UNESCO-IMS report speaks directly to this challenge by identifying gaps and key priorities to guide the reform of the media sector in five major areas: legal and regulatory framework; plurality and diversity of media; media as a platform for democratic discourse; professional capacity building; and infrastructural capacity.
The public launch will gather the research team, members of the government of Myanmar as well as media stakeholders to discuss key findings and ways forward for media development in Myanmar.
• Highlights from the study and programme of the launch are attached.
• The executive summary and key recommendations of the report can be accessed in English here, and in Burmese here
• The full report is available in English here.
WHAT: Launch of the report: Assessment of Media Development in Myanmar – based on UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators.
WHEN: Wednesday 1 June 2016, 9.00-11.30 am
Programme:
9.00 – 9.30: Registration
9.30 – 10.15: Launch Ceremony
10.15 – 10.30: Photo session
10.30 – 11.30: Panel discussion “What Ways Forward for Media Development in Myanmar?”
WHERE: Chatrium Royal Lake Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar
access map: www.chatrium.com/chatrium_hotel_yangon/location-en.html
WHO:
Launch Ceremony:
Chair – Sardar Umar Alam, Head of Office, UNESCO Yangon
Opening remarks – H.E. Dr. Pe Myint, Minister of Information, Myanmar and David Holmertz, Counsellor, Embassy of Sweden, Section Office Yangon
Presentation of the report – Misako Ito, Adviser for Communication and Information, UNESCO Bangkok Office and Glen K. Swanson, Programme Manager, Myanmar, International Media Support (IMS)
Panel discussion:
Chair: U Khin Maung Lay, Chairman, News Media Council, Yangon
Discussants: Glen K. Swanson, Programme Manager Myanmar, International Media Support (IMS); Dr. Zin Mar Kyaw, Senior Researcher, department of journalism, National Management College (NMC), Yangon; U Ko Ko, Chief Executive Officer, Myanmar News Network Co. Ltd. & Member of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Jury,Yangon; Misako Ito, Adviser for Communication and Information, UNESCO Bangkok Office; Bart Robertson, International Research Coordinator and Lead Author
CONTACT: To RSVP, please contact: Naing Naing Aye, Programme Officer – Media Development, UNESCO Yangon Project Office, nn.aye@unesco.org
For further information about the report:
Misako Ito, Adviser for Communication and Information, UNESCO Bangkok Office, m.ito@unesco.org
Glen Swanson, IMS Programme Manager, gs@mediasupport.org, www.mediasupport.org
The joint UNESCO-IMS report was published with the generous support of the governments of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.