The document summarizes the findings of a media monitoring project in Myanmar from August 1 to September 15, 2017. It analyzes coverage in television, radio, newspapers and online media. Key findings include: - State media and some private media devoted the most coverage to the government and military, portraying political actors positively. - The National League for Democracy received the most party coverage. - Coverage of the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State largely reflected the government perspective due to access restrictions. - International organizations accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing, which the government denied. Some local media included more balanced international reporting.

2. Monitoring of Political Diversity in Myanmar Media Reporting
1st
August – 15th
September 2017
၊ ႈ
(၁ ၊ ၊ ၂၀၁၇ - ၁၅ ၊ ၊ ၂၀၁၇ )
11st
March 2018, Yangon
The Myanmar Institute for Democracy (MID), an independent, non-partisan
organization dedicated to freedom of expression and the media, in cooperation with
the Slovak media watch-dog MEMO 98, has been systematically monitoring the level
of political diversity in Myanmar media reporting. The overall objective of this
initiative is to keep the public informed about the conduct of media, in particular
through a comprehensive analysis of trends and tendencies of media reporting, and to
facilitate a discussion about the objectivity and quality of media reporting. The
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has supported the one-year long project.
The monitoring is intended to offer professional, comprehensive, and objective
assessment of political diversity, accuracy, and balance in news and current affairs
coverage on four television channels, two radio stations, four newspapers, and two
online media outlets.1
The project’s findings are not intended to support any one
political actor, but the integrity of the media environment as a whole. This is the first
of three monitoring reports concerning media performance that are to be disseminated
to the public, media, civil society, political parties, and international community.
The methodology was developed by MEMO 98 which has carried out similar projects
in more than 50 countries in the last 20 years, including in Myanmar.2
Given its
comprehensive content-oriented approach, the methodology is specially designed to
provide in-depth feedback on pluralism and diversity in media reporting, including
coverage of chosen subjects and themes, examined in the proper context, and
incorporating detailed comparisons and analysis.3
1
Television: MRTV, Myawaddy TV (state-funded), Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Skynet
Up to date;
Radio: Radio Myanmar (state-funded) and BBC Radio (foreign service)
Newspapers: Myanmar Ahlin (state-funded), Eleven , Voice and 7Day
Online media: Irrawaddy and Mizzma
2
For previous projects conducted in 2010-2011 and 2015 see www.memo98.sk
3 The media monitoring includes quantitative analysis of the coverage, which focussed on the amount of
time allocated to each subject, as well as the tone of the coverage in which the relevant political subjects
are portrayed: positive, neutral or negative. The qualitative analysis assesses the performance of the
media against specific principles or benchmarks – such as ethical or professional standards – that cannot
be easily quantified. Monitors report on lies, distortions, unbalanced coverage, unfairness, inaccuracy,
bias, and anything else that is relevant to presenting the quality of reporting. This data is reported
separately and integrated into the comments and conclusions of the narrative reports.

3. ၁၁ ၊ ၊ ၂၀၁၈ ။
Myanmar Institute for Democracy (MID)
႔ ႔
။ ႔
ႈ
။
ႈ ႊ ႈ
ႈ ႈ
။
။
၄ ၊ ၂ ၊ ၄ ၊
၂ ႈ၊
ႈ၊ ႈ ႈ ၊ ႈ ၊
ႈ ။
ႈ
။
၃
။ ၊ ၊ ႈ
၊ ။
၂၀
၅၀ ႈ
။ ႊ ႈ
(content-oriented)
၊
ႈ ႈ
ႈ ႈ ႈ
။
_____________________
4
Broadcast: MRTV and Myawaddy TV (state-owned media), Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Up to
Date
Radio: Voice of Myanmar (state-owned) and BBC (Myanmar language programme)
Print Media: Myanmar Ahalin, Eleven, The Voice and 7 Day
Online Media: Irrawaddy and Mizzima

4. Background
Myanmar Institute for Democracy (MID) is an independent, non-partisan civil society
organization promoting freedom of expression and media independence. Since the General
Election 2015, MID has been carrying out media monitoring project funded by The
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), with technical support from MEMO 98, a
Slovakian-based media experts organization. MID has been systematically monitoring the
level of political diversity in Myanmar media reporting. The overall objective of this
initiative is to keep the public informed about the conduct of media, in particular through a
comprehensive analysis of the trends and tendencies of media reporting and to facilitate
discussion about the objectivity and quality of media reporting.
Following is the summary of the main monitoring findings covering the period from 1
August till 15 September 2017:
Expressions referred to in this report are the expressions used in the media outlets
monitored in the above-mentioned monitoring period.
႔ ႔ ။ The
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) ၂၀၁၅
၊ ႔ MEMO 98
။
။
ႈ
ႈ
ႈ
ႈ ။
၁ ၊ ၁၅ ၊ ၊ ၂၀၁၇
႔ ။
ႊ ။

5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 The government continued to dominate the coverage of most monitored media.
Compared to the previous period in 2017, the State Counsellor was given less
coverage, but remained among the most presented political actors, attracting
significantly more media attention than the president or Speaker of the
Parliament.
 Other key political actors who received extensive coverage were local
government and the Tatmadaw.
 Among parties, the National League for Democracy (NLD) clearly dominated
the media coverage, and received significantly more airtime or space than other
political parties. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and
Arakan National Party (ANP) were two parties to receive also some notable
shares of coverage allocated, overall.
 State-owned media as well as some private ones continued to portray political
actors in a predominantly neutral or positive way. Critical views were limited
and were noted in few media outlets, mainly in BBC.
 The massive exodus of Bingali/Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence from the
Rakhine state and finding refuge in the neighbouring Bangladesh overshadowed
the monitoring period. Regrettably, neither local nor international journalists
were able to access those areas, generally preventing local and international
audiences from receiving objective information on what sparked the violence.
The local Myanmar media generally presented the situation in Rakhine from
the perspective of the authorities, including the Tatmadaw, being barred from
directly reporting from on ground news sources.
 The U.N. High Commission for Human Rights4
told the media that “ethnic
cleansing was taking place against Rohingya in Rakhine state”, a claim denied
by the Myanmar government which faced pressure from human rights
campaigners and international organizations.
 Few local media which attempted to report about the situation in a more
balanced way used in their reports information reported by some international
news agencies.
4
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22041&LangID=E

6.  ႈ ႊ ။ ၂၀၁၇ ၊
ႈ ႊ ႔
ႈ
။
 ႈ
႔ ။
 ႔ NLD)
ႊ ႈ ။
ႈ (ANP)
(USDP) ႔ ႈ
။

၊
ႈ ႔ ႈ ။
၀ ႈ
။ ။

႔ ႔ ႔
႔ ။ ၀
႔
။ ႈ ႔
၍
။
၀ ၊
။
။
 ႔ “
။
႔ ႈ
။
 ႔
။

9. MEDIA MONITORING FINDINGS
Television
MRTV
MRTV devoted 43 per cent of its political news coverage to the government, while the
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi received 7 per cent of the coverage. MRTV
emphasized in its news coverage the performance of the government, minsters, chief
minsters, statemtnets coming from State Counsellor’s office. Performance of the State
Chief Minister and the Union Minister were covered in a neutral or positive light, but
this could be said also about the overall coverage of other political actors presented.
The State Counsellor’s Office and that of the Office of the Chief Defence concerning
the situation in Rakhine state were aired frequently accompanied with photos and
interviews. The news coverage also focused on the Tatmadaw’s operation. As for the
coverage of parties, the NLD was given 20 per cent, while the USDP received over 2
per cent of coverage, similarity as the ANP. The news about Parliament were aired in
a separate program.
MRTV provided over 40 per cent of its news coverage devoted to topics to Politics,
followed by Sport (16 per cent) and Foreign news (also 14 per cent). A total of 2.9 per
cent of its news coverage were allocated to the National Peace Process (NPP). While
it is an obligation of the publicly or state funded media to give voice to voiceless,
different types of minorities received insignificant coverage on MRTV during the
monitoring period. More specifically, only 2.2 per cent was devoted to Ethnic
Minorities (EM), 2 per cent to Social Minorities (SM) and 1 per cent to Religious
Groups. Within these categories, negotiations, agreements, peace talks (NPP), youth-
related issues (SM) and Buddhist religion (EM) dominated the coverage.

10. ႈ
ႈ ၄၃ ႈ
။ ႈ ၇
ႈ ။ ၊ ၀ ၊ ၀ ၊
၀
။ ၀ ၊ ၀
႔ ၀ ။ ႔
၊
။ ႔
၊ ႔ ႈ ။
။
႔ (NLD) ၂၀ ႈ ၊
၂ ႈ ။
(ANP) ၂ ႈ ။ ႊ
႔ ႊ ။
MRTV (၁၄ ႈ )၊ (၁၆ ႈ ) ႈ ၄၀
ႈ ။
၂.၉ ႈ ။
MRTV ႔
၀ ႈ
။ ႔ (၁) ႈ ၊
(၂) ႈ ၂.၂
ႈ ။ ႈ ၊ ႈ ၊
၀ )၊
( ႈ ) ၀ ။

12. Myawaddy
Myawaddy TV (MWD) offered an extensive and very favourable coverage of the state
authorities. The channel devoted over 68 per cent of the coverage to the Tatmadaw,
the second most presented subject was the government that was allocated over 21 per
cent. Other subjects received only a limited amount of coverage, largest shares of
which were allocated to the NLD and also to the vice president who received about 2
per cent respectively of the channel’s news coverage. MWD predominantly covered
the activities of Tatmadaw and the government. It also aired songs praising the peace
process and Tatmadaw. MWD mainly presented announcements made by Tatmataw
News and information Department. It also broadcasted visits of diplomats to Chief of
Defencse during the Rakhine conflict.

13. Myawaddy TV allocated largest share of its news coverage focusing on topics
Religious Groups, some 30 per cent, followed by Politics with 17 per cent, and Health
Care issues with 12 per cent of the coverage. The leading topic – Religious Groups
almost solely concentrated on the Buddhist religion. The National Peace Process as
whole was also given prominent coverage.
ႊ ႈ ( )
၊ ႈ ႈ ႈ ႊ
။
ႈ ၆၈ ႈ
ႈ ၂၁ ႈ ။ ႈ
။ ႈ ႔ (NLD)
ႈ ၂ ႈ ။ ၀
ႊ
ႈ ႊ ။
ႊ ။ ၀ (MWD)
ႊ
။ ႔
႔ ႊ ။
၁၇ ႈ ၊ ႈ
၁၂ ႈ ႔ ၃၀ ႈ
။ ႔
။ ႈ
။

15. Up to Date
The privately owned television Up to Date also devoted majority of its coverage to the
authorities. Similarity as MWD, also Up to Date portrayed the political actors in a
very positive manner. The government received 31 per cent (plus additional almost 7
per cent of relevant news coverage was allocated to the State Counsellor Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi) followed by the local government with 24 per cent of the coverage. The
NLD received 20 per cent and the Tatmadaw over 6 per cent. While most subjects
were predominantly presented in a positive light, some news about local governments,
government and the Tatmadaw included also some critical views on these subjects.

16. Up to Date allocated 20 per cent of its news coverage focusing on topic to Politics,
followed by Foreign news (18.5 per cent). Religious groups received 8.2 per cent of
coverage (the vast majority of this time was allocated to the Buddhist religion) -
Ethnic Minorities received 2.6 per cent, Social Minorities 2.1 per cent and the
National Peace Process was allocated 1.3 per cent of the coverage of various topics.
Up to Date
Up to Date ႈ
။ ၀ ႔ Up to Date
၊
ႈ ။ ၃၁ ႈ
၇ ႈ ၂၄
ႈ ။ ၆ ႈ ႔ (NLD)
၂၀ ႈ ။ ႈ
၊
၀ ၀ ။
UP to Date ႈ
၂၀ ႈ ၁၈.၅ ႈ ။ ႔ ၈.၂
ႈ ( ႔ ႔ ႊ ။
၁.၃ ႈ ၊
၂.၁ ႈ ၂.၆ ႈ ႔ ။

18. DVB
In early August DVB news prioritised news related to outbreak of H1N1 virus and
how people were affected. While it has focused primarily on the government,
parliaments and regional parliaments, it also showed some protesters’ camps in
Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi demanding the resignation of the government. It
also covered the court proceedings of the journalists who were attending TNLA’s drug
burning ceremony charged under section 17 of the (Unlawful) Association Act.

19. The sources quoted with regard to presentation of the situation in the Rakhine state
included the State News Committee, the government and the office of Chief Defense
while there were also interviews with internally displaced people, such as the Hindu
and other ethnic groups. In interviews the direct quotes, which are strongly charged
and emotive, were aired. When presenting issues related to situation of
Bingali/Rohingyas, DVB often quoted international news agencies such as AP and
AFP.
DVB allocated 24 per cent of its news coverage devoted to topics to Politics, followed
by Foreign news with 16 per cent and Business/Economy with 15 per cent. By
contrast to MRTV, Ethnic Minorities received a much bigger share of the coverage
amounting to 9.4 per cent, followed by the Social Minorities (6.5 per cent of the
coverage). The National Peace Process was allocated 2, 4 per cent and Religious
Groups 1.1 per cent of the coverage. Youth, Women and Internally Displaced Persons
were often presented within these topics.
DVB
DVB (H1N1)
ႊ ။ ႊ
၀ ၊ ႊ
၊ ႈ
။ ၀ (TNLA)
၀ ႈ ႔
၀ ႈ ၁၇-၁
ႊ ။
DVB ႔
၊ ႔ ႈ ႊ ၊
၊
ႊ ။ ႔ ႈ ႈ
၀ ။
ႊ ႔
ႊ ။
DVB ၁၅ ႈ ၊ ၁၆
ႈ ၂၄ ႈ ။ MRTV ႈ
၉.၄ ႈ
၆.၄ ႈ ။ ၁.၁ ႈ
၂၄ ႈ ။ ၊
႔
။

21. Radio
Myanmar Radio
The state-funded Myanmar Radio allocated the majority of its political news coverage
to the activities of government that received almost 58 per cent of the coverage,
followed by the Tatmadaw with almost 9 per cent, local governments that received 8
per cent and the NLD with 7 per cent of news coverage allocated. State Counsellor
was given 6 per cent of the news coverage. The actors were primarily portrayed in a
positive manner.

22. Myanmar Radio allocated 26 per cent of its news coverage devoted to topics to Sport,
followed by 20 per cent of airtime allocated to Politics, and almost 9 per cent to
Foreign news. Religious Groups received 6.4 per cent, Social Minorities 4.5 per cent,
Ethnic Minorities 4.1 per cent and National Peace Process 2 per cent of this coverage.
Buddhist religion (RG), Negotiations/agreements/peace talks (NPP) and disabled
(SM) clearly dominated these selected segments of news programmes on Myanmar
Radio.
ႈ ၅၈ ႈ ။
၇ ႈ ၊ ၈ ႈ ၉ ႈ ။
၆ ႈ ။ ႈ
ႈ ။
၉ ႈ ၊ ၂၀
ႈ ၂၆ ႈ ။
၂ ႈ ၊ ၄.၁ ႈ ၊ ႈ ၄.၅
ႈ ၆.၄ ႈ ။
ႈ ၊ ႈ ၊ ၀ ၊
ႊ ။

24. BBC
In BBC the government received 25 per cent of coverage, followed by the NLD with
21 per cent and the Tatmadaw with 19 per cent of coverage. The State Counsellor
received almost 9 per cent and local government 8 per cent of coverage. The ANP
received also 8 per cent followed by USDP with 3.5 per cent. Compared to other
monitored broadcast media, BBC presented the most critical coverage of presented
institutions including the government, the Tatmadaw, State Counsellor and local
governments. The portrayal of parties - NLD, ANP and USDP - was overall neutral or
positive.

25. BBC devoted 33.5 per cent of its coverage allocated to topics to Politics, followed by
Foreign news with 28 per cent of the coverage and Business/Economy with almost 8
per cent. The National Peace Process was allocated 6, 9 per cent, Ethnic Minorities
received 3.9 per cent, Social Minorities 2.7 per cent and Religious Groups 0.1 per
cent of the coverage. Youth, Women and Internally displaced Persons were presented
often within these topics. Negotiations/agreements/peace talks and ongoing fights
dominated the coverage of the NPP topic.
BBC
BBC ၁၉ ႈ ၊
႔ (NLD) ၂၁ ႈ ၂၅ ႈ ။
၈ ႈ ၉ ႈ ။
(USDP) ၃.၅ ႈ (ANP) ၈ ႈ
။ ႊ ႈ ႔ ၊
၊ ၊ ၀ ႔ ၀
။
BBC ႈ ၈ ႈ ၊ ၂၈
ႈ ၃၃.၅ ႈ ။ ၃.၉
ႈ ၊ ၂.၇ ႈ ၊ ၀.၁ ႈ ၊
၆.၉ ႈ ။
႔ ၊ ။
၊
၀ ၊ ၊ ႈ ။

27. Newspapers
Myanmar Ahlin
State-owned Myanmar Ahlin allocated majority of its coverage to the authorities as
follows: the government received 47 per cent, the local government 10 per cent and
the State Counsellor over 9 per cent of coverage. The NLD was given also 9 per cent,
and the Tatmadaw received over 6 per cent. The portrayal of these subjects was
primarily neutral. While there was also some positive coverage, the critical views
were overall missing.

28. Myanmar Ahlin featured the State Counsellor’s meeting with ethnic parties
delegation led by Mon leader. It often featured the activities of the government, the
Tatmadaw, and the local government in response to the situation in Rakhine. It
frequently published the statements released by the State Counsellor’ office, the local
government and the Tatmadaw. Press conferences of the Rakhine Advisory Council
were also covered.
၉ ႈ
။
။ ၀
။
႔ ။
၊
။ ၊
၀ ။ ႔
။

30. Eleven
The privately owned newspaper Eleven also focused on the government which
received over 42 per cent of the coverage, followed by the NLD with 14 per cent,
local government with 11 per cent, the Tatmadaw with 10 per cent and the State
Counsellor who was given 8 per cent of the coverage. The ANP with 5.5 and the
USDP with 2.5 per cent of the coverage followed. All these subjects were presented in
an overall neutral or positive light, but the government and the Tatmadaw were at
times portrayed also in a negative way, military being criticized for some of its
operations while the government for mismanagement. Eleven demonstrated efforts to
provide balanced coverage, but at times showed support to some actors, e.g. to some
local ethnic groups. It offered almost no coverage of the situation with Bangali
(Rohingya).

31. Eleven
Eleven ၈ ႈ ၊
၁၀ ႈ ၊ ၁၁ ႈ ၊ ႔ (NLD) ၁၄
ႈ ၄၂ ႈ ။
(USDP) ၂.၅ ႈ (ANP) ၅.၅ ႈ ။
( ႔ ) ႈ ။ ႔
႔ ႈ ႈ ၀ ( )
၀ ။ ႔ ၀
ႈ ။ Eleven
ႈ ႔ ႔
။ ( ) ႈ
။

33. Voice
Voice allocated 31 per cent of its coverage to the government, followed by 23 per cent
of the coverage allocated to the local government and almost 15 per cent to the NLD.
The Tatmadaw received 12 per cent and the State Counsellor 8 per cent of coverage.
Voice portrayed all subjects predominantly in a neutral light. It allocated some
coverage also to the conflict in Rakhine State, usually transmitting news from
international news agencies.

34. Voice
Voice ႔ (NLD) ၁၅ ႈ ၊
၂၃ ႈ ၃၁ ႈ ။
၈ ႈ ၊ ၁၂ ႈ ႔ ။ Voice
ႈ ။
။

36. 7 Day
7 Day allocated 24 per cent of its coverage to the government, and further almost 20
per cent to the State Counsellor. The NLD received 18.5 per cent. Local government
followed with almost 14 per cent and the Tatmadaw received almost 9 per cent.
Overall, the presented subjects were mainly portrayed in a positive and neutral light
but there were also some critical views presented.
In the monitoring period, the paper also covered news related to H1N1 virus, Ma Ba
Tha’s (The Patriotic Association of Myanmar) movement to overthrow the
government and cases of journalists who were attending TNLA’s drug burning
ceremony arrested under unlawful association charges.

37. 7 Day also covered news related to the conflict in the Rakhine state almost on a daily
bases. It focused its coverage on viewpoints of the Office of the Chief of Defence and
portrayed Bingali/Rohingya in a rather negative manner. It also presented peace
process and covered both sides of conflicts, the Tatmadaw as well as ethnic groups.
7 Day ၂၀ ႈ
၂၄ ႈ ။ ႔ (NLD) ၁၈.၅ ႈ ။
၉ ႈ ၁၄ ႈ ။
( ႔ )
။ ႔ ၀
၀ ။ 7 Day
(H1N1) ၊ ( )
၀ (TNLA)
၀ ႈ ႔
(၃) ႈ ၁၇-၁
။
7 Day
။ ။ ( )
။
၊
။

40. Online media
Irrawaddy
Irrawaddy allocated almost 26 per cent of its coverage to the Tatmadaw, followed by
the State Counsellor who was given 19 per cent, and the government that received 17
per cent of the coverage. The NLD received 16 per cent, and the ANP 6.5 per cent of
coverage. Irrawady was not shy to criticise the subjects it presented at times. The
coverage of the key presented actors including the Tatmadaw, the State Counsellor,
the government as well as the NLD was overall neutral.
The most frequently featured issue was the peace process. Irrawaddy covered the
voices of the ethnic armed groups in interviews and articles. It also presented the
government and the army’s points of view. When covering conflicts in Rakhine state,
it concentrated primarily on views of the army and the office of the chief of defense.
To lesser extent other views were also presented including some representing
Bingali/Rohingya. Ma BaTha were portrayed in negative way in regards to their
protests against the government.
၀
၀ ၁၇ ႈ ၊
၁၉ ႈ ၂၆ ႈ ႔ ။ (ANP) ၆.၅ ႈ
႔ (NLD) ၁၆ ႈ ။ ၀
၀ ႔ ။ ႔ (NLD)၊ ၊
၊ ၀
။
။ ၀
႔ ၄ ႔ ႔ ၊
။ ၊ ။
ႊ
။
( ) ၀
။ ႔
ႈ ။

43. Mizzima
Mizzima provided the largest share of its coverage to the government (30 per cent),
followed by the Tatmadaw (17.5 per cent) and the NLD (almost 16 per cent). The
State Counsellor received 15 per cent and the local government 10 per cent of the
coverage. All these subjects were presented in an overall neutral manner. Mizzima
attempted to provide a balanced coverage, but usually focused on the government’s
statements and views. In the early stage of the conflict in Rakhine state, it focused on
the statements of the government. Later, it featured the news reported by the
journalists participating in the government-sponsored tour. The coverage was
accompanied with the photos and interviews from the IDP’s camps. Some civil
society organizations were also presented in connection with the situation of
Bingali/Rohingya.
၃၀ ႈ ႈ
႔ (NLD) ၁၆ ႈ ၁၇. ၅ ႈ
။ ၁၀ ႈ ၁၅ ႈ
။
ႈ ။
။ ႔ ။
။ ႊ
႔ ။
႔ ႔ ၀ ။ ( )
႔ ။

44. CONCLUSION
The state authorities, primarily the government and the State Counsellor, continued to
dominate the media coverage. Similarity as in the past and during the previous
monitoring periods, the portrayal of the political actors remained neutral or positive,
with only a few media offering critical views. The developments in Rakhine state
reflected in the situation of Bingali/Rohingyas was presented in most media only from
the perspective of authorities including the Tatmadaw. MID and MEMO 98 will
continue their media monitoring to provide regular feedback on the quality of
Myanmar media reporting.
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For More Information
Myo Min Zaw, Project Coordinator, Myanmar Institute for Democracy
No. 10, 2nd
floor, 53rd
Street, Middle Block, Botahtaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Mobile : 09 4500 16483
E-mail : myominzaw1998@gmail.com
Online : Facebook/Myanmar Institute for Democracy