commbox Myanmar / Burma

When the News Takes Sides: Automated Framing Analysis of News Coverage of the Rohingya Crisis by the Elite Press from Three Countries

Hong Tien Vu, Nyan Lynn

Journalism Studies, volume 21, issue 9 (2020), pp. 1284-1304

"Triangulating several methods including automated framing analysis and assessment of textual elements, this study examines how the elite press from three countries frames the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017. Results from our framing and textual analysis show differences in how the press from the th ... more

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Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia
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Tina Burrett, Jeff Kingston (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), xii, 402 pp.

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Myanmar Media's Response to COVID-19

Thal Nyein Thu, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Tessa Piper (eds.)

New York: Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) (2020), 41 pp.

"In June 2020, MDIF conducted a survey of 36 Myanmar media outlets to gather information about the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses between March and May. They represent a mix of national media, as well as local media from the ethnic states and regions. Their operations are of various sizes: t ... hree media have 70-150 staff, 7 have 20-69, and 26 have 1-19. All the media surveyed felt the impact of COVID-19 almost immediately. Not surprisingly, as this has generally been the experience of media worldwide, commercial revenue decline was often dramatic: half of the survey respondents reported more than a 75% drop in income. Thirty-two of the 36 respondents had advertising revenue prior to the start of the pandemic, and all of them reported that it was negatively affected. All 19 media with print products were obliged to either reduce or even halt production. In response to collapsing revenues, 31 of the 36 survey respondents instituted spending cuts between March and May including, in some cases, cutting salaries and staff. Even as they reeled from the economic impact, Myanmar media also had to adapt their working environments. All the media surveyed quickly instituted work from home practices or else established social distancing in their offices and provided protective equipment for their staff. At the same time, more than half of the media reported having to contend with safety and security challenges. These came in the form of restrictions on movement, websites being blocked, on and offline surveillance, staff harassment and arrests. In common with media in other countries, one bright spot in this bleak picture has been audience growth. MDIF’s survey found that almost all media saw both their digital audiences, and audience engagement, increase. This had a positive knock-on effect for the media, with 30 respondents reporting that during this period they were able to strengthen their digital skills and knowledge due to the increased focus on their online content. The good news that 21 of the 31 respondents that sought emergency funding during the survey period obtained it, is tempered by the reality that the impact of COVID-19 has been deep and will be long lasting. The future for media in Myanmar is precarious." (Introduction) more

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Women and Puppetry: Critical and Historical Investigations

Alissa Mello, Claudia Orenstein, Cariad Astles (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2019), 222 pp.

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Counter-Narratives: Myanmar's Digital Media Activists

Sarah Oh

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 377-386

"In the months before Myanmar's national elections in November 2015, Khin Oo says she began to engage directly with Facebook users to dispel rumours and misinformation that, in her view, propagated hate and inflamed intercommunal tensions. She posted "right speech" and "right information" by comment ... more

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Epilogue: Media Studies in Myanmar. Where Do We Go from Here?

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 387-394

"Academic studies of Myanmar media in English are few and far between, although this is starting to change as the country continues to open and a new generation of Myanmar scholars emerges. Many of the studies that do exist fall into common conceptual traps, such as an overemphasis on journalism or ... more

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Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar

Brad Ridout, Melyn McKay, Krestina Amon et al.

Singapore: Save the Children; University of Sydney (2019), 137 pp.

"Most young people lack the digital citizenship skills required to protect themselves from the online dangers and emotional and mental health impacts of social media highlighted in this report. The study finds evidence that young people across Myanmar suffer from ‘hate speech fatigue’, often exa ... more

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Silencing a Snakehead Fish: A Case Study in Local Media, Rural-Based Activism, and Defamation Litigation in Southern Myanmar

Jennifer Leehey

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 151-176

"My focus in this chapter is on civil society mobilization in Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar, and particularly in Kanbauk, a village of about 1,500 households in the Tanintharyi Hills, eighty kilometres north of the regional capital, Dawei. In recent years, Kanbauk villagers have contended w ... more

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Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change
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Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), xix, 407 pp.

"Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change is the first volume to overview the country’s contemporary media landscape, providing a critical assessment of the sector during the complex and controversial political transition. Moving beyond the focus on journalism and freedom of th ... more

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The Metamorphosis of Media in Myanmar's Ethnic States

Jane Madlyn McElhone

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 210-228

"In this chapter I explore the challenging move from the borderlands and the growth of the media sector inside the ethnic states. The outlets launched inside now outnumber those that have moved inside. BNI's members - now totalling fourteen - are also in the minority. Yet in many ways it is Burma Ne ... more

Whispered Support: Two Decades of International Aid for Independent Journalism and Free Expression

Jane Madlyn McElhone, Lisa Brooten

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 95-130

"This chapter is drawn primarily from Jane Madlyn McElhone's thirteen years of in-field experience in Myanmar and other nations in transition, as well as key informant interviews she conducted in 2017 and 2018 [...] Our discussion is driven by a series of interlinked questions. Who were the key medi ... more

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New Video Generation: The Myanmar Motion Picture Industry in 2017

Jane M. Ferguson

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 287-306

"Following a summary of secondary and primary sources on the subject of film production in Burma, I will present an overview of the history of the Burmese film industry, from the British colonial period, to independence, to the years of the Burmese Socialist Program Party, and then the SLORC/SPDC ye ... more

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Exploring Digital and Mobile Cultures in Myanmar 2019

Thant Sin Oo, Ye Min Thant

Phandeeyar (2019), 41 pp.

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The Business of Chin Media: News Audiences Challenges Survival
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New York: Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) (2019), 90 pp.

"This report analyses the Chin media sector. It is based on research conducted by MDIF from late 2018 through December 2019, as well as a quantitative and qualitative survey conducted by Myanmar Survey Research (MSR) in May 2019. The report provides data on the Chin media operations themselves, as w ... more

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Social and Behaviour Change Communication with Maternal and Child Cash Transfers in Myanmar: Lessons Learned from Tat Lan, LEGACY and Bright SUN Programmes

Save the Children (2019), 76 pp.

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Media and the 2015 General Elections

Carine Jaquet

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 251-264

"The first section of the chapter provides a brief overview of the legal framework that defines the concept of media space, with a specific focus on election day. Regulations included constraints on journalists' ability to cover the elections, which affected their access to polling stations. The sec ... more

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Myanmar's Pop Music Industry in Transition

Heather MacLachlan

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 267-286

"I begin this chapter with a review of the scholarly literature on music scenes during and after political transitions. Next, I report on how Myanmar's popular music scene developed in the immediate wake of the cancellation of censorship. I argue that the popular music scene is being significantly a ... more

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Health Education Through Mass Media Announcements by Loudspeakers About Malaria Care: Prevention and Practice Among People Living in a Malaria Endemic Area of Northern Myanmar

Pyae Linn Aung, Tepanata Pumpaibool, Than Naing Soe, Jessica Burgess, Lynette J. Menezes, Myat Phone Kyaw, Liwang Cui Cui

Malaria Journal, volume 18, issue 362 (2019), 11 pp.

"Background: Interventions to raise community awareness about malaria prevention and treatment have used various approaches with little evidence on their efficacy. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of loudspeaker announcements regarding malaria care and prevention practices among peopl ...

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From Blogging to Digital Rights: Telecommunications Reform in Myanmar

Htaike Htaike Aung, Wai Myo Htut

In: Myanmar Media in Transition: Legacies, Challenges and Change

Lisa Brooten, Jane Madlyn McElhone, Gayathry Venkiteswaran (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2019), pp. 366-376

"The uptake of telecommunications technology in Myanmar has been nothing short of dramatic. After years of restricted access to information and freedom of expression, it has been a remarkable journey for civil society groups like MIDO to witness the growing interest and demand, especially among the ... more