Myanmar's press freedom ranking gains ground in 2014

Last year, Myanmar was at the 151st among 180 countries, which showed a big improvement from the169th in the previous year. It has witnessed the continued improvement following a series of reforms having been launched since 2011.

“The substantial reforms in Burma, which could become a regional model for a transition to democracy, were reflected in a big leap in the 2013 index. As the reform process begins to flag, the ‘Burmese model’ has yet to prove itself,” said Reporters Without Borders which compiled the annual rankings.

Notably, it is the first time that the journalism-advocate group referred to the country as “Myanmar.” The country was called “Burma” in the previous years’ rankings.

Now, the working environment for journalists in the country is considered better than that in countries which are ranked lower, such as Bangladesh, Malaysia, Russia, the Philippines, Singapore, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, or Saudi Arabia. Holding the lowest ranking is Eritrea.

In the statement dated February 4, RSF raised concerns over the freedom of journalists in Myanmar, following the detention of Unity Journal reporters and the jail sentence awarded to Eleven Media reporter Ma Khine.

It condemned the detention of these journalists and called on the authorities to release them without delay. It said the violation of freedom of information is “indicative of legislative gaps in Burma, which is finding it hard to adopt a media law. The public has a right to be informed on a subject of general interest like this.”

Unity Journal late last month published a story that the chemical weapons plant was built in 2009. 

This led to the arrest of its reporter Lu Maw Naing on January 31. The weekly magazine’s CEO, Tint San, and three more reporters - Yarzar Yarzar Oo, Paing Thet Kyaw and Sithu Soe - were arrested the next day. They are now facing a trial.

In the latest development, the journal’s driver, Myo Ko, was interrogated on February 12.

“This morning about 9, investigators came and called him for interrogation. He was released before 9 pm. He said that he (the driver) was in the Magway trip, and so he was being called. He was just a driver and now our staff are in fear of being interrogated,” said Thiha Aung, spokesman of CEO Tin San of Unity Journal.

The CEO’s nephew, Aung Win Tun, was questioned on February 5.

According to the Information Ministry, the five detainees are charged with violating Myanmar Secrecy Laws over their news reports on the No-24 Defence factory.

 

 

SIDEBAR/BOXED 

 

According to RSF, Finland tops  2014 Press Freedom index for the fourth year running, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year. At the other end of the index, the last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, three countries where freedom of information is non-existent. Despite occasional turbulence in the past year, these countries continue to be news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them.

This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than last year. The new entry, Belize, has been assigned an enviable position (29th). Cases of violence against journalists are rare in Belize but there were some problems: defamation suits involving demands for large amounts in damages, national security restrictions on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and sometimes unfair management of broadcast frequencies. 

The United States is ranked the 46th, which fell 13 places, amid increased efforts to track down whistleblowers and the sources of leaks.

The breakdown of the indicator’s scores by region shows a worsening in all continents except Asia, where it was unchanged. Like last year, the European Union and Balkans obtained the best score (17.6), followed by the Americas (30.3), Africa (35.6), Asia-Pacific (42.2), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (45.5) and finally Middle East and North Africa (48.7)