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Censored Gender: Women’s Right to Freedom of Expression and Information in Myanmar

Yin Yadanar Thein et al.

London: Article 19 (2015), 91 pp.

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Community Information Flows to Reduce Inter-Communal Violence in Burma

Emily Speers Mears et al.

Search for Common Ground (2015), 71 pp.

"The research presented in this report aims to contribute towards a better understanding of the way in which rumors, hate speech, and manipulated information contribute to inter-communal conflict and outbreaks of inter-communal violence in Myanmar. It focuses on Muslim-Buddhist inter-communal confli ... ct in one urban and one peri-urban area: Lashio, the largest town in Shan state, and Amarapura, a former capital on the outskirts of Mandalay [...] People in Lashio and Amarapura draw upon a wide range of sources for information and news. They mainly obtain information by word of mouth from friends, colleagues, people who travel for their work, and figures of authority. They share this information by phone and online messaging services, and in markets, teashops and pagodas, as well as other places where people gather such as bus stations. Certain individuals in the community are regarded as trustworthy sources of information including religious leaders, teachers, bosses, government officials, and community leaders. Many people also have access to news applications on Facebook, and/or read journals and newspapers, listen to the radio, and watch TV in order to find out about news that affects them. People report a high level of skepticism about the news that they hear, particularly from sources like Facebook and government newspapers. They analyze not only the information itself but also the source of that information, and check whether it is accurate with people who live in the affected area, or by going to see for themselves. Family members or trusted community members are also consulted to verify or analyze news and information. Respondents also claim to try to verify information by checking different news sources. The more they can cross-reference, the more confident they are that the information is accurate. [...] The causes of inter-religious inter-communal conflict in Myanmar are not well understood. There is a long history of Muslim settlement in Myanmar, and of peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists. This changed with the arrival of the British, whose colonial policies brought an influx of Indians, including Muslims, to Myanmar. Specifically anti-Muslim (rather than anti-Indian) tensions first came to a head in 1938; however an inquiry into the anti-Muslim riots of that time found that while the riots had religious anti-Muslim undertones, the real causes were political, economic and social. There have been irregular outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence in subsequent decades, but unfortunately few detailed investigations or analyses of their causes, due to the difficulty of conducting research under the socialist and military governments, and to the sensitivity of the issue. This difficulty persists to the present. [...] Both Muslims and Buddhists are worried about religious violence, and the impact that it might have on the economy. However, most people in Lashio are probably more immediately worried about the fighting between the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed groups that is taking place outside of Lashio, which has negative effect on the economy, on their livelihoods, and on their feelings of security, due to the numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have sought safety in Lashio. Ethnic groups in Lashio are concerned that the religious conflict will also have an impact on ethnic relations, due to the different religions amongst the ethnic groups. In Lashio, there is also a high level of anti-Chinese sentiment on the part of the Bamar and other ethnic groups. [...] The large amount of rumors about Muslims and about Muslim-Buddhist conflict that we heard in Lashio and Amarapura suggest that people are concerned about this conflict. Negative rumors contribute to the background levels of hatred and distrust of Muslims and serve to manifest tensions between the two communities. This kind of background hatred and distrust may not in itself result in violence. But it means that Buddhists and Muslims in these areas do not mix, and fosters an environment of suspicion and hostility, creating an enabling environment for violence. However, on their own, rumors are not sufficient to trigger violence. For every example of a situation where (true or false) rumors have triggered violence, there is an example where rumors have not triggered violence. Other factors – harder to identify – contribute to outbreaks of violence, and to the underlying conflict. It is essential that these factors be understood if the root causes of inter-communal conflict are to be addressed. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS With this analysis in mind, the following recommendations are provided: recognize the important role that word-of-mouth communication plays in the ways that rumors are spread; recognize and understand the nuances in each local context, in order to develop a deeper understanding of why people feel insecure, as well as to identify root causes of the conflict; mitigate the background levels of anti-Muslim hate speech, by engaging with the genuine Buddhist concerns that are expressed through hate speech; and strengthen community resilience to potential ‘trigger’ rumors – and recognize and strengthen existing efforts to combat these rumors." (Executive summary, page 3-7) more

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Gender in the Myanmar Media Landscape. First Study: Yangon and Beyond

Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Stockholm: Fojo Media Institute (2015), 30 pp.

"Although female media practitioners are well-represented in newsrooms making up for over 50% of staff on average, media institutions remain male dominated on levels of decision making. This results in two main challenges for women within the industry: a lack of opportunity to advance their careers ... more

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State of the Use of Mobile Technologies for Disaster Preparedness in South East Asia

Chih-Hui Lai, Arul Chib, Rich Ling

Singapore: Nanyang Technological University (2015), 66 pp.

"This project is conducted in response to Global Disaster Preparedness Center’s (GDPC) initiative of developing flood hazard preparedness mobile apps in the four target countries (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam)." (Executive summary)

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Asian Comics

John A. Lent

Jackson: University Press of Mississippi (2015), x, 342 pp.

"As only Japanese comics output has received close and by now voluminous scrutiny, Asian Comics tells the story of the major comics creators outside of Japan. Lent covers the nations and regions of Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philipp ... more

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Community Information Flows to Reduce Inter-Comunal Violence in Burma

Emily Speers Mears

Search for Common Ground (2015), 71 pp.

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Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience
Deep Insights

Tara Susman-Peña

Internews (2014), 84 pp.

"This report: 1. Defines “information ecosystems” and proposes an analytic framework of eight critical dimensions for understanding them; 2. Analyzes information ecosystems across a spectrum of change and their impact on resilience, referencing four case studies of Internews’ previous work [In ... more

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3d Conference on Media Development in Myanmar, 18-19 September 2014: Summary of Presentations and Conclusions

Myanmar Media Development Thematic Working Group; International Media Support (IMS) (2014), 50 pp.

"For the third consecutive year in a row, the Myanmar Media Development Conference, a unique multi-partner, multi-stakeholder enterprise, gathered government officials, journalists, media owners, editors, reporters, NGOs, local, regional and international organisations for discussions on the status ... more

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Freedom on the Net 2014. Tightening the Net: Governments Expand Online Controls

Sanja Kelly, Madeline Earp, Laura Reed, Adrian Shahbaz, Mai Truong (eds.)

Washington, DC; New York: Freedom House (2014), 986 pp.

"Internet freedom around the world has declined for the fourth consecutive year, with a growing number of countries introducing online censorship and monitoring practices that are simultaneously more aggressive and more sophisticated in their targeting of individual users. In a departure from the pa ... more

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Beyond State-Centric Frameworks: Transversal Media and the Stateless in the Burmese Borderlands

Lisa Brooten

In: Global Communication: New Agendas in Communication

Karin Gwinn Wilkins, Joseph D. Straubhaar, Shanti Kumar (eds.)

New York; London: Routledge (2014), pp. 142-162

"Transversal dissent by communities whose actions and identities are no longer primarily state centric but, rather, have shifted to cross identity boundaries is one of the most important developments for understanding how politics is being transformed today. Burmese media groups, political activists ... more

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The Influence of International Media Development Organizations on Journalism Education in the Current Transition Period in Myanmar

Abdul Hai Ahm

Bonn: Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Master Thesis (2014), ix, 223 pp.

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Handbuch Myanmar: Gesellschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur, Entwicklung

Ute Köster, Phuong Le Trong, Christina Grein

Berlin: Horlemann (2014), 495 pp.

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The Media's Role in Citizen Engagement: Evidence from Burma

Chris Larkin, Sophie Baskett

London: BBC Media Action (2014), 8 pp.

"This research presents a picture of a public in Burma that, to varying degrees, lacks knowledge, confidence, motivation and opportunity to participate in governance processes and make their voices heard. However, the study provides objective evidence that a relationship exists between people’s me ... more

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Information Ecosystems in Transition: A Case Study from Myanmar. How to Inform, Empower and Impact Communities. Part Two: Additional Data Analysis

Andrew Wasuwongse, Alison Campbell

Internews (2014), 32 pp.

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In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries
Deep Insights

Jan Lublinski, Petra Berner, Merjam Wakili (eds.)

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2014), 300 pp.

"This study constitutes the attempt to draw some initial conclusions from the work conducted by DW Akademie and other media development organizations in the past. It aims at a better understanding of which public service functions former state broadcasters can provide at all and which approaches of ... media development actors have proved to be successful. Reforming of state mouthpieces into public service media can indeed be achieved. This is one of the most important findings of this study. DW Akademie researchers here present examples of media outlets that fulfill their public service remit of creating a public sphere and supporting integration to a substantial degree. Even among the success stories, not all the media outlets studied here have adopted a public service ethos to its full extent. Their work, however, improved considerably. In assisting reform, media development actors were thus able to enhance the public’s freedom of expression as well as its access to information – two basic human rights we see as important prerequisites for peace and democracy. On the other hand, this study shows how difficult and complex transformation is. State media are often highly politicized. Successful transformation, therefore, requires support of a lot of different actors: the political elite, civil society, the management of the broadcaster, its staff, and last but certainly not least, the public as a whole. It is vital that media development actors identify windows of opportunity and profit from them in order to propel change forward. At the same time, this study demonstrates that media development organizations have to think beyond their traditional fields of expertise: capacity development and newsroom consultancy. A much broader approach is needed if substantial and sustainable development is to be achieved. DW Akademie is currently implementing a new, more complex strategy for successful media development cooperation that takes this into account. Political and legal frameworks have become a strategic area of activity. Other equally important areas comprise qualifications, professionalism, and economic sustainability of the media sector, participation in society, and digital change. With regard to public broadcasting, political and legal frameworks are especially important in order to ensure editorial independence of former state broadcasters. Furthermore, media development actors have to engage more in organizational development. Therefore, at the end of this study, we dedicate a whole chapter to this question. This study of selected media outlets from twelve countries does not attempt to provide a final answer to the question of successful public service transformation. It aims at giving an overview of what has been achieved in practical work in this field in the course of the past years. More research is needed to understand which steps of reform are needed for a genuine transformation that is sustainable in the long term. The media are undergoing crucial developments. Digital change, convergence, and social media have increased pluralism of opinion substantially in many parts of the world. At the same time, the media face new challenges with respect to their economic sustainability. The notion of public service media that offer a model for providing journalistic quality without financial dependence deserves further thought." (Preface) more

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BBC Media Action’s Governance Research: Emerging Evidence and Learning

Josephine Casserly, Sara Elias, Zoe Fortune

London: BBC Media Action (2014), 57 pp.

"The paper synthesises findings from quantitative and qualitative data from across African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The second section draws on baseline data from Bangladesh, Burma, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories and Sierra Leone to explore the media and governance contex ... more

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Seizing Opportunities: For Free and Independent Media Worldwide

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2014), 34 pp.

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Media and Conflict in Myanmar: Opportunities for Media to Advance Peace

Theo Dolan, Stephen Gray

Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2014), 36 pp.

"This study is based on the Intended Outcomes Needs Assessment (IONA) methodology and assesses the changing relationships between media and conflict in Myanmar. Findings reveal a deeply rooted, intractable, and dynamic conflict landscape. Analysis focuses on three key conflicts: citizen-state, ethni ... more

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New Freedoms, New Challenges: Fostering a Professional, Inclusive Media in Burma

Sandy Barron

Washington, DC; Arcata, Calif.: Internews; USAID (2014), 31 pp.

"Since 2001, Internews has trained and supported more than one thousand junior and senior journalists from all of Burma’s major ethnic groups, both those inside the country and those based outside, in print, radio, television, and online reporting. The cumulative effects of this close collaboratio ... more

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Losing Control: Freedom of the Press in Asia

Louise Williams, Roland Rich (eds.)

Canberra: Australian National University (ANU) E Press (2014), xvi, 282 pp.

"Losing Control: freedom of the press in Asia takes us right up to the end of this tumultuous century. It deals with the Chinese media cranking up its latest propaganda campaign, this time against the Falun Gong. It discusses how the Indonesian media lost its way in reporting the tragedy in East Tim ... more

Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience Deep Insights

In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries Deep Insights

Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience
Deep Insights

In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries
Deep Insights