Myanmar to get 16 new dailies next month
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Yangon - Myanmar has given permission to 16 media groups to start publishing daily newspapers next month, ending five decades of state monopoly over daily news, media reports said Tuesday.
The government's Central Supervisory Committee for Printers and Publishers on Monday gave eight new media groups permission to publish dailies as of April 1, the state-owned Mirror newspaper reported, bringing the total of new licences to 16.
The Myanmar-language Mirror is one of three state-run newspapers that have monopolized daily news since the 1960s, when all publication were nationalized as part of the then government's move to socialism. The New Light of Myanmar is an English-language version of the Mirror.
On March 1, publishing licences were granted to eight other media groups, so now altogether 16 new dailies are in the offing on April 1, when the current government marks its second anniversary in power.//DPA
