• Burmese
Monday, June 16, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

In Burma, a Short Reprieve Expected for Newspapers

Kyaw Hsu Mon by Kyaw Hsu Mon
November 12, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
In Burma

Rangoon residents read newspaper outside Shwedagon Pagoda. (Photo: Kyal Pyar / The Irrawaddy)

3.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

KUALA LUMPUR —The global newspaper industry’s very existence is threatened by the rise of digital media, editors and commentators said at a regional conference this week. In Burma however, as a post-censorship media landscape begins to take shape, observers say constraints on access to online news sources mean there may be some life in the printed word yet.

More than 300 media executives and journalists, representing 115 organizations from 31 countries, met in the Malaysian capital this week for the Digital Media Asia conference, organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN/IFRA) Asia Pacific.

The gathering, which included speakers from the Financial Times, the Globe and Mail, the Economist and the Mainichi Shimbun, as well as Internet firms Google and Yahoo, inevitably involved discussion of the crisis in print media, a sector ravaged by falling readerships and advertising revenues in recent years.

RelatedPosts

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

May 3, 2025
748
From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

April 28, 2025
1.2k
We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

March 27, 2025
604

Speaking at the conference, Warren Fernandez, editor of Singapore’s the Straits Times, compared the gradual, but quickening, decline of newspapers to a Tsunami. “It comes slowly at first, then suddenly,” he said.

He said while print readerships had almost completely collapsed in Western countries, in Asia there was some resilience. Even so, the Straits Times is moving to a paid-for digital content model. Digital subscriptions, which cost 2 Singaporean Dollars (US$1.60) a month and are mostly taken out by readers using tablet devices, are up to 18,000 at the Straits Times, said Fernandez.

“I believe we have to make a transition,” he said.

For Burma’s media, censorship has only recently been lifted, and the dominance of state-owned media is being rolled back after a quasi-civilian government took power in 2011.

The first private daily newspapers in decades were licensed earlier this year and the weekly journal market is thriving. Meanwhile, despite limited access to the Internet in the country, free online news sources have grown in popularity.

One attendant of the conference was Myat Swe, a.k.a. Sonny Swe, who co-founded the English-language Myanmar Times and recent became CEO of former exile media group Mizzima. Sonny Swe told The Irrawaddy that he thinks, for now at least, print media will remain dominant in Burma.

“In Burma, publishers can survive for longer than in other regional countries because the newspaper market is still strange for readers,” he said. “They have not been free for more than 50 years.”

Although mobile phone and Internet access are expected to boom in coming years—two international firms are set to launch affordable SIM cards with 3G technology next year—Sonny Swe said newspapers could retain a strong place in the market for another decade.

“The main thing for the digital media market is we need very good infrastructure in our country. Compared to even regional countries, we’re still behind them,” he said.

Myint Kyaw, a freelance journalist and member of the Myanmar Journalist Association, agreed that significant digital media market would take time to emerge in Burma.

“Burma will take at least 10 years to change to digital because online media is only used by people like tycoons, NGOs, government officials, politicians and people in the media industry,” he said. “It means very limited users here. Internet connectivity is also still poor, so the print market will still go on, against the global trend.”

Pichai Chuensuksawadi, editor-in-chief of the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, said much depended on how fast Burma’s telecommunications infrastructure can be improved.

“I think print will survive for a while, but it depends on how much the young generation uses new media in Burma,” he said. “It also depends on the penetration and use of smart phones. If penetration and usage is high, then newspapers may be in trouble.”

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Media
Kyaw Hsu Mon

Kyaw Hsu Mon

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America
World

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America

by Naung Naung
February 10, 2025
7.1k

The billionaire’s call to shut down the US-funded media organizations, which reach hundreds of millions of people globally, follows his...

Read moreDetails
Illustration entitled ‘Rebellious Reporters’ by Harn Lay for The Irrawaddy.
Specials

Our Fight For Press Freedom

by The Irrawaddy
May 3, 2024
103.4k

To mark World Press Freedom Day, The Irrawaddy presents a compendium of its articles on press freedom and the repression...

Read moreDetails
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rages Against E. Timor President After Defection Call

by The Irrawaddy
December 14, 2023
5.2k

The regime’s newspapers were filled with tirades against José Ramos-Horta after he urged junta troops to defect, and its backers...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 20, 2024
4.5k

Also this week, China appeased after Taiwan election, forced recruitment as resistance threatens to decouple main cities, power plea for...

Read moreDetails
Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar
Guest Column

Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar

by Zung Ring
June 18, 2024
2.6k

The media’s increasing obsession with ‘national disintegration’ is playing into the junta’s hands and threatening progress toward peaceful federalism.

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More

by The Irrawaddy
November 25, 2023
2.3k

Also over the past seven days, Min Aung Hlaing failed to boost morale in battered army, while the junta tried...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Electricity Rate Hike Delayed Amid Parliamentary

Electricity Rate Hike Delayed Amid Parliamentary, Public Pressure

Tensions High at Letpadaung Mine as Police Gather at Protest Camps

Tensions High at Letpadaung Mine as Police Gather at Protest Camps

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

1 week ago
1.7k
Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

3 days ago
1.2k

Most Read

  • China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

    China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Sagaing Protesters Condemn Civilian Govt Toll Charges

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Sagaing Region Braced for Myanmar Junta Airstrikes After Jet Crash

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Attacks to Reclaim KIA’s Jade and Rare Earth Strongholds

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.