Myanmar Media Program (MMP)

Working with both national and local media (defined as media that function primarily to serve the information needs of a particular geographic area or a particular ethnic nationality), the programme implements a number of components to build the business and management capacity of newsrooms:

Coaching - MMP identifies senior media executives from the region to work as coaches with the management of selected media. Together, they discuss company strategy and design capacity-building plans tailored to the media's individual needs. Coaches make quarterly in-house visits to discuss implementation and assess impact based on mutually agreed targets for audience and revenue growth.

Workshops - MMP conducts workshops that are open to all MMP participants, addressing topics that include sales and marketing, digital strategies, business planning, and financial management. Gender and inclusion has been one focus area of the programme's capacity-building programme, as it is considered key to building sustainable media businesses (see Related Summaries, below). Following a workshop on the topic, in March 2019, the programme created an inclusion poster [PDF] for Myanmar newsrooms as a daily reminder of inclusion and gender Dos and Don'ts.

Specialist technical assistance - MMP matches media partners with South East Asian experts who provide short-term specialist technical assistance to address particular needs, such as website redesign, social media traffic growth, sales training, digital TV consultancies, and in-house financial management training. MMP is also facilitating the establishment of a company that will fulfil the digital service needs of its media partners at an affordable price, as well as creating a sales network for media to increase their access to Yangon-based advertisers and advertising networks.

Peer-to-peer visits - Recognising the value of sharing best practices among like-minded media, MMP facilitates exchanges of ideas and information through visits to counterpart media within Myanmar. It also organises study tours to media companies in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and India, as well as supporting participation at relevant regional and international conferences. This includes supporting media partner participation in MDIF's bi-annual Media Forum, which brings together 150 media, partners, funders, staff, and board members from nearly 40 countries.

Research - Besides commissioning or purchasing content analysis and market research data to further the programme's goals, MMP publishes its own reports and assessments on the Myanmar media sector. For example, in July 2020, MMP published a survey on Myanmar's Media Response to COVID-19, which confirmed that the impact of COVID-19 was damaging to media, particularly on the bottom line. (See Related Summaries below for some other reports published by the programme).

Grants - MMP provides technical assistance grants to selected participating media to enable them to cover specific needs contributing to their long-term sustainability.

For more information, see the MMP page on the MDIF website.

Media Development

Background information:
According to Sida, since 2015, Myanmar has been governed by an elected government, and "important reforms have been implemented. Yet its democracy still has major shortcomings - judicial systems and government institutions are weak and many people are subjected to discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, religion and gender. The military still wields great political power and controls large parts of the public administration. Corruption is rampant and citizens have limited opportunities to influence the country's policies."

About MDIF:
"MDIF is a not-for-profit investment fund based in New York, providing affordable financing and technical assistance to independent media in countries where access to free and independent media is under threat. With more than $105 million assets under management, since 1996 MDIF has invested more than $230 million in 120 independent media businesses in 42 countries. Its investments help independent media around the world provide the news, information and debate that people need to build free, thriving societies."