edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

The newly launched NRC, broadcast from Tatkone, consists ofseveral programs, such as music, dance, news, documentary,and movies, in 11 ethnic languages, running from 6 a.m. to 12noon, before the program repeats itself for the rest of the day.Currently, programs in Kachin, Kayah, Mon, Rahkine, Shan, andWa are 60 minutes long, while the five remaining languagesare 30 minutes each. According to U Myint Aung, Director ofthe National Races Channel, there are 166 people working forNRC, with up to 13 employees for each ethnic program. 41Additionally, MRTV holds shares in MRTV-4 and MyanmarInternational TV and provides the technical platform for MyawaddyTV, produced and controlled by the military and theFarmer Channel, primarily run by the Ministry of Agricultureand Irrigation. The latter was launched in September 2013 onMRTV in order to disseminate agricultural knowledge andskills to farmers across the country. MRTV-4 started airing in2004 as a joint venture with the Forever Group and is now a 24-hour free-to-air channel. The channel broadcasts in Burmese,carrying entertainment and infotainment programs, whichare mainly produced by the Forever Group. In cooperationwith Shwe Than Lwin Group, MRTV broadcasts Myanmar InternationalTV, a 24-hour English-language program directedtowards an international audience and the diaspora.Myanmar National Radio Service, formerly known as BurmaBroadcasting Service, went on air in February 1946 andcurrently consists of three channels: the government-ownedMyanmar Radio and two further channels for ethnic minorityprograms. The main radio channel, Radio Myanmar, broadcastsa traditional program schedule. From April 2013 onwards,the number of hours of information programs during primetime has been doubled from 30 to 60 percent. 42 Almost theentire program is pre-recorded, except news. MRTV also producessome 15 ethnic language programs for the minorityprogram channels. Similar to the TV cooperation, MyanmarNational Radio Service has joint ventures with several privateFM stations, but is not contributing to their program. Whilesome observers find that “Myanmar Radio seems to have lostvirtually all its appeal and listeners,” 43 media researchers stillcome to the conclusion that 44 percent of the populationlisten to Myanmar Radio at least once a week, which meansthat it still has the highest rating among the radio channels inMyanmar. 44 However, at this point one should bear in mindthat access and usage of information in rural areas is primarilysubject to availability.In 2012, Myanmar Radio and Television had approximately3,000 staff positions but one third are currently vacant. 45MRTV’s enormous difficulties to recruit and retain staff arepartly linked to the special characteristics and constraints ofthe relocation. In 2007/2008, MRTV moved its headquartersentirely to Tatkone, a remote area of the country outside thecapital Naypyidaw. As will be discussed later in more detail, thelocation may hinder MRTV’s transformation process not onlyin terms of retaining and recruiting personnel but fulfillingpublic service functions as well.Stakeholders in the Transformation ProcessMany countries are responding favorably to the opening up ofMyanmar and the government’s commitment to reform of itsmedia sector. This is attested to by a significant increase in theamount of development assistance. In 2012 and 2013, the EuropeanUnion (EU) spent over 200 million Euros on developmentassistance, and is planning to increase its further assistancesubstantially by up to 90 million Euros per year (2014–2020). 46Along with other countries, Germany has re-established its bilateraldevelopment cooperation with Myanmar in 2012 andcommitted 46.8 million Euros. 47The enhancement of official development assistance is justone indicator out of many that the international interests inMyanmar, including in the media sector, increased significantly.In 2012, a Media Conference was held in Yangon, whichconstituted a forum for government representatives as wellas international and local media organizations and initiativesto exchange and discuss current media developments. 48 Asfor the transformation of MRTV the broadcaster works withinternational media organizations as well as former exile media.The most important ones will be briefly introduced below,starting with former exile media.Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima MediaSeveral exile media organizations have returned to Myanmar,which can be interpreted as a positive sign for Myanmar’sreporting landscape. For many years, exile media have beencommitted to the task of criticizing and questioning the rulingparty, a function local media from within the system could notfulfill. Nevertheless – or perhaps exactly for that reason – thegovernment requested that the former exile media (DVB andMizzima Media) assist in the training process of MRTV’s personnelearly in the transformation process. The organizationsheld short-term journalistic training sessions focussing onbasic news writing and basic video production. Moving froma critical opponent to a cooperation partner, the engagementwithin MRTV caused some arguments, within the organizationsand the media landscape in general. The cooperationwas phased out within a very short period of time. Intervieweesdid not specify why the cooperation was stopped. 49 Butit may be assumed that the organizations were worried thatthe engagement with the government could have jeopardizedtheir editorial independence.International Media Support (IMS)Still active in this field is International Media Support (IMS),one of the leading media training organizations in Denmark.IMS was amongst the first active international organizationsin Myanmar, starting as early as 2006 with the support of exilemedia. Since 2012, IMS has worked closely with members ofthe government and with civil society groups, private mediaorganizations and institutions and has implemented variousmedia projects in the following areas: “Supporting Peace and144