Govt gives ‘green light’ to private dailies

Published on Friday, 28 December 2012 16:27

Myanmar will allow the publication of independent private newspapers beginning from April 1 as a gesture to hail the second anniversary of the government,  the Information Ministry announced on its website on December 28.

Individual Myanmar citizens or organizations can apply for the publication of newspaper mentioning with the targeted areas and the language to be used.

The ministry will accept the application forms for this starting from February 1, 2013.

The announcement includes those who will apply for publication of private newspaper may be Myanmar citizen or legal citizens who have been 18-year-old.

The application must be submitted together with the objectives, the intended readers, the genre, the organizing structure, the code of ethics, the code of conduct and the code of practice of the publishing house on publication.

It is also required to submit the community standard on these matters in both Myanmar and English languages.

Moreover, the potential publishers who will buy  printing machines for this plan must mention detail facts of purchasing documents, and the duty slip for tax payment.

Myanmar announced on August 20, 2012 that it will stop censoring media before publication.

Newspapers in the past

Before British colonisation, local media was very active.

Throughout the colonial era, there was a steady increase in the number publications in circulation. In 1911, there were 44 periodicals and newspapers in circulation, and 103 in 1921.

After Myanmar regained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the country experienced a temporary period of democracy and free media until 1962. The country had one of the freest presses in Asia, with constitutional guarantees on freedom of the press in the 1947 Constitution.

There are a total of 20 news agencies based in Myanmar, including Agence France-Press, Associated Press, Reuters and Xinhua.