Rangoon –
Aung Kyi, the newly appointed minister of information, did not mince any words
when he said in an international media conference recently that Myanmar would
adopt the international standard of press freedom and public service media. He
also said that representatives from Article 19 and BBC are assisting in this process.
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| Kavi Chongkittavorn |
But his
deputy, Ye Thut, went a bit further. He proudly said that the country views a
free and democratic atmosphere as crucial for developing the economy, achieving
national reconciliation and integration with the international community.
If Myanmar
continues on this path without reversing, it will become the grouping's game
changer when the Asean chair comes to Naypyitaw in 457 days. At the moment, no
Asean member has undergone such swift changes in so short time, especially in
the media sector. After years of being chastised as the black sheep of the
Asean family since it joined in 1997, now the time has come for the Thein Sein
government to make his country a showcase for Asean.
Both Aung
Kyi and Ye Thut want to see the media freedom in the country better than those
of other Asean countries. Admittingly, the current media reform has put more
than half of the Asean members to shame.
While it
was a grotesque rights violator in the past, Myanmar should now be given credit
for promoting democracy, human rights and press freedom simultaneously. After
nearly a year of scrutiny, the Asian grouping of national human rights
institutions has recently admitted Myanmar's national human rights commission
into its fold as a member. That was a giant step for a country, which was a few
months ago labeled as a pariah state.
And Myanmar
is about to back a new law that will recognise the role of civil society
organisations. The first draft has been completed recently and is now being
vetted and amended by politicians and civil society organisations. If it is
approved in the near future, Myanmar will join Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines and Malaysia as countries that recognised non-government groups. It
is an open secret that most Asean members are still reluctant to acknowledge
the role of civil groups and perceive them as troublemakers or foreign agents.
Ironic as it may seem, all Asean leaders agree to the idea of building a
people-centred community. There are more than 300 non-state sponsored civil
groups in the country at the moment.
Of course,
the most dramatic reform since President Thein Sein formed his government last
March has been in the media sector. Now all the major exiled media, including
Mizzima, the Democratic Voice of Burma and Irrawaddy have a presence in Yangon.
Since the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law was abolished in
August, journalists have been put on the defensive having to ensure their
reports were accurate and fair. Otherwise, they could be sued.
Some
journalists viewed such actions as a form of media intimidation. However, the
government defended its action saying the media had to be responsible for what
they wrote or published. In the near future, both the government and
journalists are hoping to see a credible self-regulatory body set up. An interim
national press council was formed recently to prepare a new draft of media law.
Journalists have already met and exchanged views among themselves to determine
desirable elements in the new media law. International and regional free media
advocacy groups have poured into Myanmar to assist the journalists to increase
their capacity, improve their professionalism and form professional
organisations to protect press freedom.
Aung Zaw,
editor of Irrawaddy online magazine based in Chiang Mai, has cautious words on
the emergence of press freedom inside Myanmar. While he expressed appreciation
of the general atmosphere of press freedom, he said there was still a lot of
self-imposed censorship. For instance, reporters in Myanmar have never written
about the whereabouts of elusive General Than Shwe and other senior officials.
Sensitive issues such as the recent violence in Rakhine State and fighting
between government troops and ethnic groups were reported without impartiality.
Exiled media outlets have provided more balanced views of what goes on inside
Myanmar, much to the chagrin of local journalists.
Ye Thut
told this author recently that Myanmar's leaders have learnt from mistakes in
the past and want to set forth a new future.
"So we
have to be true to ourselves, media freedom is the key," he said
confidently. At the moment, the Ministry of Information has been cited by local
journalists and the public at large as the most reform-minded agency. Recently
the identity of thousands of individuals blacklisted by the regime was
revealed. But, some journalists and activists are still not allowed in.
One of the
most ambitious media reform plans is to change the nature of the state-run
broadcasting service into a public broadcasting entity. Experts from the BBC
have been helping the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) to go
through this transition over the past several months. If it succeeds, it could
become a new template for other developing countries, which emerge from
totalitarian systems. Myanmar's state media have not gone through any change
since the country got independence in 1948. So, the task of trying to change
the mindset of officials who used to serve as mouthpieces for the government,
is an enormous challenge. But Ye Thut says it can be done. "We are not
reinventing the wheel," he declared.
Within the
Asean context, what Myanmar has done is considered a milestone under the Asean
Charter and the Asean Political and Security Community. After the charter was
approved, Asean countries have shown different levels of commitment to
compliance with the numerous rules. However, in the past 18 months, Myanmar has
swiftly and broadly instituted sensitive reforms shunned by other Asean
countries.
When
Myanmar chairs Asean, after Brunei, it can give the region a wake-up by
choosing the promotion of freedom and widened democratic space in Asean as its
theme. After all, that is what the country has been doing quite impressively
now.
Kavi
Chongkittavorn is a widely followed commentator on Southeast Asian affairs.
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