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

important that MRTV is reflecting Myanmar’s diversity. Theindentation to establish and to further build up regional officescould foster the inclusions of a diverse range of regionalissues in the future.Achievements and ChallengesMyanmar’s first elected president after a half-century of militaryrule said in his new year’s message of 2013: “The worldwas amazed at Myanmar’s impressive political progress in2012.” However, while almost every international and nationalmedia organization welcomed the government’s intentionto increase media freedom, concerns about the forthcomingcommitment to a freer journalistic environment are beingraised. After three years of Thein Sein’s government, politicaltransition continues to be top down, with basically the samepolitical elite. This applies to all governmental institutions,including MRTV. It can be concluded that despite official declarationsthe political influence on the strategic direction aswell as on editorial processes of MRTV will likely be presentin the mid-term. It will take time to build and strengthen theindependence of this broadcaster.As the transformation process of MRTV is still in its veryearly stages, it is difficult to identify particular achievementsas milestones but some seeds for the future have been planted.The implementing and drafting of new media laws, mostnotable the Public Service Media Law, is essential for right tofreedom of expression. Even though the draft Public ServiceMedia Law still has significant shortcomings, it would providea legal framework for MRTV, which in itself would be amajor achievement.At the time of writing it is far too early to speak about realimprovements in the quality of broadcasters programming.The lack of basic journalism and technical skills as well as operationalmanagement skills is prevalent. Small improvements,however, can be witnessed. Up till recently, MRTV broadcastedonly mute pictures, interviews and sound bites were not includedin the news. The audiences could only listen to the voicesof the presenters, reading out the script provided by MNA.At least during special events, e.g., the Southeast Asian Gamesin 2013, radio reporters started to conduct interviews and usedsound bites in news. The daily program broadcasting from parliament,featuring sound bites from different political parties,can also be considered a first.There are 135 officially recognized ethnic groups living inMyanmar, which are hard to reach due to language barriersand location. Ongoing ethnic and religious conflicts make thepromotion of ethnical diversity and the support for culturalexpression also of minorities, involving civil society, communityand private media, even more important and should be apriority of the transformation process. This is in line with thefindings of the United States Institute of Peace, which concludedthat broadcast media in Myanmar have a severe influenceon ethnic and conflict-affected areas and “the need to bridgethe divide between Burmese and other ethnic communitiesthrough media.” 106 The establishment of the National RacesChannel can therefore be seen as a promising development.It holds the potential to serve as a platform of information forthe ethnic minorities and it could strengthen MRTV’s programin terms of diversity and inclusion. It is therefore not onlynecessary that MRTV ensures not only broadcasting in diverselanguages but reporting in a balanced and impartial way toease the long-lasting tensions within society.One major challenge in the transformation process ofMRTV is the location of the headquarters in Tatkone. Only acouple of years ago MRTV moved its broadcast center to an isolatedlocation outside the capital Naypyidaw. This is in strongcontrast to MRTV’s future role as a public service broadcaster,serving the diverse needs of audiences. The isolated locationrequires the entire personnel to live on site, excluded fromsocial life and often separated from family and friends. But tobe able to cover socially and politically important issues in atimely and local manner, journalists should not only live withbut be integrated within society, as public service is all aboutserving the public. Inviting interviewees, experts, artists, andother guests to the studio also remains difficult due to the location.Another challenge that comes with the special characteristicsand constraints of the relocation of the broadcasteris MRTV’s problem filling one third of their vacancies and retainingtheir staff. It appears, that especially younger peopledo not want to relocate to such an isolated work place, far awayfrom a vibrant lifestyle. As a consequence, new untrained staffis being recruited from neighboring communities.As media organizations, particularly public service media,can play an essential role for a functioning democracy and ahuman rights culture, they should act as an independent observerof power and as a servant of citizens. To fulfill public servicefunctions, journalists must inform, analyze, investigateand sometimes also advocate for a certain political programor perspective. In this context, MRTV is not only facing a majorchallenge in terms of professional skills, but also in mindsets,including values and attitudes of the personnel. Being understate control, journalists were not capable of developing professionalstandards. They are accustomed to a working culturethat can be characterized by ‘blind’ obedience, one-sidednessand a passive newsgathering approach. They need to be encouragedto think and act independently. At present it seemsthat they are not aware that public service broadcasters arebroadcasters with a specific function and that it comes withcertain responsibilities. 107Transformation ApproachesAt the beginning of 2014, more and more observers have askedif Myanmar’s recently-begun democratization process willbe sustained, questioning the government’s sincerity. Internationaland national experts consider political events likeimplementing the first census after more than 30 years and150