Home > South-East Asia >> Burma

Journal punished after publishing Suu Kyi interview

Irrawaddy - September 7, 2011

Ba Kaung – Burma's press censorship board has punished a Rangoon-based journal for violating the country's draconian media laws – apparently for publishing an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi and putting a large photograph of the pro-democracy leader on its front page.

Earlier this week, the weekly journal Messenger became the first local publication to receive permission to run an interview with Suu Kyi. The journal's latest issue quickly sold out because of the interview, according to local journalists.

However, on Wednesday, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), Burma's state censorship board, informed the journal's editors that they would not be permitted to publish a regular supplement in the next issue of the journal because they had violated censorship rules.

The PSRD did not specify which rules had been broken, but local journalists said it appeared to be related to the large photograph of Suu Kyi on the front cover.

The supplement, which usually contains more up-to-date information than the journal itself, is important for generating sales.

The move comes amid a recent relaxation of control over media coverage of Suu Kyi, seen as part of the new, nominally civilian government's effort to reach out to the democratic opposition in a bid to win greater international recognition.

This week, the PSRD permitted another weekly, The People's Era, to publish an article written by Suu Kyi about her trip to the ancient Burmese capital of Pagan in July.

Journalists have also been allowed to attend recent parliamentary sessions in Napyidaw, albeit on the condition that they avoid reporting in a manner damaging to the "dignity of the Parliament and the State."

Despite such signs that the government is opening up to greater public scrutiny, however, it continues to detain a number of reporters accused of working for exiled media outlets.

See also:


Home | Site Map | Calendar & Events | News Services | Links & Resources | Contact Us