"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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e living in the malaria endemic villages of Banmauk Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
Methods: Four villages among the most malaria-burdened areas were randomly selected: two villages were assigned as the intervention group, and two as the control. Prior to the peak transmission season of malaria in June 2018, a baseline questionnaire was administered to 270 participants from randomly selected households in the control and intervention villages. The loudspeaker announcements broadcasted health messages on malaria care and prevention practices regularly at 7:00 pm every other day. The same questionnaire was administered at 6-month post intervention to both groups. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and the t-test were utilized to assess differences between and within groups.
Results: Participants across the control and intervention groups showed similar socio-economic characteristics; the baseline knowledge, attitude and practice mean scores were not significantly different between the groups. Six months after the intervention, improvements in scores were observed at p-value?0.001 in both groups, however; the increase was greater among the intervention group. The declining trend of malaria was also noticed during the study period. In addition, more than 75% of people expressed positive opinions of the intervention.
Conclusions: The loudspeaker intervention was found to be feasible and effective, as shown by the significant improvement in scores related to prevention and care-seeking practices for malaria as well as reduced malaria morbidity. Expanding the intervention to a larger population in this endemic region and evaluating its long-term effectiveness are essential in addition to replicating this in other low-resource malaria endemic regions." (Abstract)
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"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
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ell as the news and information needs and preferences of their actual and potential audiences in Chin State and Sagaing Region [...] What we have found is that, in many respects, Chin media face very similar problems to their counterparts elsewhere in Myanmar. They have often been set up by individuals who are deeply committed to serving the information needs of their communities, and they are often an important source of information for their audiences. We also have found that Chin media are dealing with challenges managing the digital transition that are similar to both their national and local media counterparts, and that more than half of them are also simultaneously continuing to produce print publications that remain a valuable news source for local communities. And, like local media all over the country, MDIF’s research has confirmed that Chin media are facing a major struggle to survive financially, often having to rely on local donors and personal savings as well as more traditional revenue sources such as advertising and print copy sales." (Introduction)
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"Radio Veritas Asia-Myanmar Service (RVA-MS) had been broadcasting socio-political and religious programming in Shortwave (SW) since November 11, 1978. However, on 30 June 2018, RVA stopped broadcasting in SW and migrated to the internet-based multiplatform broadcasting along with the use of Social
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media. Based on the researcher’s experiences working in RVA-MS, personal observations and the country’s recent developments, this study tries to find out differences between SW and online broadcast, challenges in migrating from SW technology to that of online and its consequences, and future perspectives of this present development i.e., online-based multiplatform broadcast both using websites and social media. Both experiences in SW and Online of RVA as a producer, and data analysis from personal interviews of selected cyber missionaries show that engaging in online ministry in Myanmar is found to be positive and favorable in many ways especially young people and creating a new group of participants.This study determines future online communication ministry of the Myanmar Church and to integrate to an “Online Church” through collaboration and communication by realizing the individual online/cyber missionaries, media professionals and allocating the resources." (Abstract)
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"In this chapter we use the twin concepts of precarity and mobilization to explore the tensions associated with media reporting about Myanmar over time, analysing the reporting of the (formerly) exiled media publication The Irrawaddy. The chapter explores coverage through an examination of the sourc
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es utilized and the substantive content and tone of the articles.We begin by reviewing The Irrawaddy's history and then position it through the lenses of mobility and precarity. After a discussion of methods, we compare the coverage in The Irrawaddy of three natural disasters, in both the English and the Burmese editions, and supplement our analysis with interviews with members of staff. Our findings indicate that risks associated with reporting have lessened considerably, but tension remains as The Irrawaddy is harmstrung by conflicting goals that influence its coverage." (Pages 177-178)
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"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
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cerbated by repeat exposure to fake news and propaganda targeting specific communities. Over time, this effect limits young Myanmar users’ willingness to seek out and engage with reporting and blocking functions that may help combat fake news and hate speech online. Understanding the impact of social media on social and political discourse in Myanmar is of urgent, critical importance. While the young people in this study saw great potential for social media to increase empathy and understanding between different groups, the struggle to curb anti-Muslim hate speech in particular, and the structural and violent oppression it begets, is still very real." (Publisher description)
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"When comparing media freedom in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, so-called “fake news” appears as threats to a deliberative (online) public sphere in these three diverse contexts. However, “racist propaganda”, “information operations” and “negative campaigning” might be more accurat
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e terms that explain these forms of systematic manipulative political communication. The three cases show forms of disinformation in under-researched contexts and thereby expand the often Western focused discourses on hate speech and fake news. Additionally, the analysis shows that harmful disinformation disseminated online originates from differing contextual trajectories and is not an “online phenomenon”. Drawing on an analysis of connotative context factors, this explorative comparative study enables an understanding of different forms of harmful disinformation in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The connotative context factors were inductively inferred from 32 expert interviews providing explanations for the formation of political communication (control) mechanisms." (Abstract)
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"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
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ond section presents two very different -and often diametrically opposed - views held by the Union Election Commission (UEC) leadership and private media representatives. The root causes of the deeply entrenched mistrust that I observed will be placed in the context of recent private media expansion in the country following the lifting of pre-publication censorship. This includes very different institutional cultures, fundamental disagreements about the role of private media, and diverging political preferences. As a result of the mistrust, there were numerous missed opportunities that could have improved communication among key stakeholders and, in turn, increased awareness about the voting process among the general public. That being said, on election day, media played a fundamental role in legitimizing the vote and enabling a wider acceptance of the results." (Page 252)
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"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
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the conflation of "media" and "journalism"; the tendency to analyse texts combined with a relative lack of attention to audiences' uses of, trust in, and interpretations of media; a media-centric focus that does not take into account the context in which events occur or pay attention to the political economy of the media or those key structural issues such as the interconnections between ownership, economics and political interests that also influence content. Much of the recent media research is focused on digital media, especially Facebook and its role in the violence that began in 2012 in Rakhine State. Major gaps in the English language scholarship on Myanmar media, which mirror critiques of media studies generally, are the relative inattention to the study of Myanmar language media, the study of audiences, and research on the political economy of media. Those studies in English that analyse content tend to focus on English-language media in Myanmar." (Page 388)
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"This report—based largely on interviews in Myanmar and analysis of legal and policy changes since 2016—assesses the NLD government’s record on freedom of expression and assembly in its more than two years in power. It updates Human Rights Watch’s prior report, “They Can Arrest You at Any
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Time”: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Burma, issued in June 2016, focusing on the laws most commonly used to suppress speech. We conclude that freedom of expression in Myanmar is deteriorating, directly affecting a wide range of people, from Facebook users critical of officials to students performing a satirical anti-war play. Domestic journalists are particularly at risk." (Page 2)
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"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
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a development actors during the time of the military junta, what kind of support did they offer, and who benefited from it? What were the assumptions driving the aid? With hindsight, what are the lessons learned that can be applied to Myanmar's contemporary media development sector, and to regional and international media development efforts? What is the legacy of the many years of pre-transition aid? What have we learned from the response to the Rakhine crisis?" (Pages 96-97)
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"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
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ing on other users' comments and posts to correct misunderstandings and challenge errors and misinformation. Khin Oo is one of several Facebook commenters or social media activists I spoke with in 2015 and 2016 who identified themselves as working to counter hate speech. Some are Muslim, but some are not; in fact some are monks worried about protecting their religion. Many are youths and students, but some are older, in their 30s and 40s. They all, however, collectively feel the weight of the future of their country. They desperately want to take action against online hate speech and the spread of misinformation. These individuals, almost all of whom asked to remain unnamed, describe their work as "sharing" new points of view and "talking about different ideas". A review of some of the posts and comments they have distributed and collected, however, shows they are much more intentional and strategic about their actions." (Page 379)
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"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
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ars of strict censorship. I will then turn to the 2000s, the advent of the Yangon Film School, and finally the blossoming of film festivals in the past decade. With the public presentation of films, which no longer require the same level of approval from the censor board as they did in years past, filmmakers have increasingly been able to openly discuss social issues in the country, though some circumstances will curtail that openness, and controversial topics can still be off-limits. Through recent interviews with contemporary filmmakers, this chapter will discuss the ways in which they see the relationship between film, documentary, and social change in Myanmar." (Page 288)
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"This chapter focuses on the role of Myanmar's fastest growing form of media—social media—in formulating notions of citizenship and nation amid Myanmar's transition. It begins with an overview of the history of mobile and internet access in Myanmar. The chapter explores the new social and politi
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cal opportunities, tensions and dynamics that are emerging as a result of Myanmar's liberalisation, particularly of the telecommunications sector. It explains how the technologies interact with and alter pre-existing social networks, relationships and communication practices, opening up new spheres for activism and advocacy of various kinds including the reforging of civil-military relations and notions of citizenship. The chapter discusses a call for future research to recognise the interaction between online-offline action, and how this may influence the emergence of a 'national' culture in Myanmar. In addition to enabling civilian humanitarian action, cyber-space has also become one of the primary domains through which civil-military relations are being reforged after decades of authoritarian rule." (Abstract)
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"This mapping of the Myanmar media development sector is informed by three activities: a status update of the recommendations in the 2016 Assessment of Media Development in Myanmar report based on UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators, an online survey conducted in March and April 2018, and a seri
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es of key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The two Top 10 lists of priority areas – the first for the Union Government and the second for media donors and implementers – are informed by the research findings." (Executive summary)
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"The model of journalism we practice in Asia is an adversarial one driven by conflict reporting, a model we have borrowed from the West. This book is an outcome of a project implemented by the Faculty of Communication Arts of Chulalongkorn University and funded by the International Program for the D
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evelopment of Communications (IPDC) of UNESCO. The project incorporates Asian philosophical ideas and communication theories emanating from Buddhist, Hindu, and Confucius teachings for developing a curriculum to train Asian journalists. It is designed to frame a new paradigm of reporting tha could form a new approach to development communication. It covers areas such as realizing social harmony, protecting nature and environment, respecting cultural diversity, and encouraging sufficiency economic models. This book focuses on using such a path of communication to promote sustainable development." (Preface)
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"To inform the development of a new radio drama for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, BBC Media Action carried out a small scale qualitative research study that sought to understand more about Rohingya men and womens’ understanding and attitudes towards child marriage, intimate partner violence
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and sexual exploitation and abuse. Eight in-depth interviews and four mini focus group discussions were held with Rohingya men and women living in two camps in Cox’s Bazar, as well as key informant interviews with humanitarian practitioners working on issues related to gender-based violence (GBV). The study found that intimate partner violence and child marriage are deeply rooted and normalised within the Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazar. The perceived economic and social benefits of marrying their daughters off early greatly outweigh the risks of child marriage for parents, who have little knowledge of the health risks of early childbirth, and fear social criticism if their daughters are not married within two to three years of going through puberty. Both Rohingya men and women accept intimate partner violence as a normal part of life, and believe it is the husband’s right to abuse his wife if she does not fulfil her duties. Women rarely speak out about violence against them, for fear they will be socially ostracised and their husbands will remarry, leaving them with no financial stability and no opportunity to remarry. These findings have clear implications for communications initiatives, including the need to work towards de-normalising gender-based violence, by engaging both male and female audiences in storylines which encourage them to question existing practices and norms." (https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction)
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"Until the state and its aligned media operate in a fair and competitive media market, there will be little space for independent news media to survive, much less make the investments needed to innovate and survive in this raucous, frontier environment. Myanmar has a much smaller overall advertising
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sector than neighboring countries, and audiences are rapidly shifting to digital/mobile platforms. Outside Yangon, ethnic and regional news media, often operating in rural and conflict-filled environments, have little possibility of generating sufficient amounts of market-derived revenue to support their operations. To lose their voices would be to lose the plural, local and diverse voices of an inclusive society. To create a vibrant overall media sector, the government must have the political will to create a vibrant public service media sector. To repeat: at the very least, it should stop competing for revenue against the news media it licenses, regulates, can sue, prosecute and imprison. The Broadcasting Law has provisions for this; the government should embrace them. It must also further develop the legal infrastructure supporting media, including copyright, intellectual property, and online privacy laws. For all the laws governing journalists and journalism, there are few that protect their work product or that support the news media industry and its role in the broader economy." (Conclusion)
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