An Unfavorable Business: Running Local Media in Myanmar's Ethnic States and Regions

"Media infrastructure issues, whether government media involvement, restrictions on use of digital media platforms, or a lack of local printing capabilities, are all critical to the economic survival of local media outlets."

From April through August 2018, Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)'s Myanmar Media Program (MMP) gathered data on local media outlets operating around the country to build up a picture of the overall local media landscape. This report shares the results of that investigation.

MDIF, a non-profit fund that invests in independent media in countries where access to free and independent media is under threat, notes that Myanmar's local media outlets face a variety of internal and external obstacles hampering their prospects for sustainability. Myanmar's states and regions face political instability, economic stagnation, and security concerns caused by weak government and decades-old armed conflicts. Many areas, particularly those that are rural, still lack access to any form of media outlet. Journalists working in ethnic states are at particular risk of arrest on charges of unlawful association simply for reporting on certain ethnic armed groups. Even when local outlets adequately mitigate the risks of physical danger and arrest, there remains the challenge of accessing government-held information, particularly with regard to conflict and security.

In that context, the 3-year MMP, supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), was designed as a business capacity building initiative to strengthen Myanmar's independent news sector by providing customised coaching, training, and consulting to 12 selected independent media outlets. Five of the participating media outlets are local; their profiles are included in this report, along with analysis by their coaches. (For example, one case study looks at Dawei Watch, the company that publishes the print publication Tanintharyi Weekly, which is surviving admist the explosion of digital news media. (Myanmar's internet population has reached 18 million - an increase of 29% since 2017.) While thinking about market development, Dawei Watch has not neglected its main calling: providing information about, and for, local people. The establishment of the Dawei Watch Foundation has further amplified their education role. They offer political, social, economic, and regional knowledge courses, journalism courses, personal development training (including communication skills), and leadership coaching for young people.)

For the purposes of this report, MDIF gathered information from 55 local media outlets operating in Myanmar's 7 ethnic states and 7 regions that serve the information needs of particular geographic areas or ethnic nationalities. Results are shared throughout the report, including in the form of a series of local media data charts. In short, the research found that local media establishment has surged since the political opening in 2011, with 38 of the 55 media launched over the past 7 years. There is at least one media outlet in each of the country's 7 ethnic states; an interactive map produced by MDIF shows the locations and basic information about each of the 55 outlets. Forty-four of the 55 outlets are multimedia, with both print and digital platforms, including Facebook pages and, in some cases, websites, as well as, increasingly, online video and audio. Ten are digital only; one is print only.

The existence of dozens of local media in Myanmar may suggest a healthy environment for these outlets, but the report identifies multiple internal and external obstacles that hamper their prospects for sustainability and continued existence. Most notable among them are uneven advertising market development, continuing government domination of the media sector, and an uneven digital media transition. "The business environment is heavily stacked against the survival of local media", says MDIF's Program Director for South East Asia, Tessa Piper. "And if that wasn't challenging enough, they also have to deal with growing threats to free expression and media freedom, increasing conflict, and a fragile peace process."

The report concludes that many of the problems faced by local media are structural and require a focused strategy by the national and state- and region-based governments, as well as by media development agencies. According to MDIF, a priority should be to set a framework for long-term strategies for media and revenue development, organisational development, and, ultimately, sustainability. (A series of questions is included in the report to help guide the development of such a strategy.) As founding director of Yangon and Mandalay Journalism Schools Ye Naing Moe explains, the survival of local media is vital. "Local media outlets strive to hold local authorities accountable, to meet local public information needs and to protect the rights of local people. Thanks to local media outlets, local people in the ethnic states and regions have a voice for the first time in our country’s modern history."