"In October 2008, the Myanmar censorship board suspended the publication of True News weekly journal for two months as the journal had violated the censorship rules. The censorship board, also known as the Press Security and Registration Board (PSRD), penalized the journal for publishing a photo of child labour on its front-page and failing to submit adequate information prior to publication. The suspension was a big loss for the journal that had been launched a month previously. It forced the journal to reorganize its editorial team and persuade its staff not to leave the paper. The most unfortunate effect was that the journal lost the bulk of its readership. Myanmar is one of the most highly censored countries in the world and it is not unusual for private publications to face punishments such as the one experienced by True News. Because of the strict nature of the censorship policy in Myanmar, private papers have to take extra care not to break the rules. In the authoritarian context, the rulers view the press as a servant of the state and the press is completely dominated by the state, whereas in the context of Libertarian theory the press is viewed as an independent institution that informs and entertains the general public, discovers the truth, promotes democracy and performs the role of watchdog of government accountability1. The Myanmar government, like other authoritarian regimes, heavily censors publications and penalizes the private press if they violate the censorship policy. Private newspapers in Myanmar are either directly or indirectly affected by the government censorship policy. An interest group called the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has described the censorship process in Myanmar as ‘arbitrary, intensive, and highly restrictive’2. Since publications are still facing suspension and closure orders, publishing a newspaper in Myanmar is considered to be a risky business. In addition, journalists who are associated with exiled media groups are targeted and arrested by the regime and given long prison terms. In September 2011, the nominally- civilian government gave a ten-year prison sentence to twenty-one year old Sithu Zeya who was working for the exiled media group Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based in Norway3. According to a CPJ 2011 Special Report, Myanmar ranked among the ‘world’s five worst jailers of the press for four consecutive years’4. CPJ said at least fourteen journalists and media support workers were in prisons across the country as of September 2011, while the independent media freedom monitoring group, Reporters Without Borders, reported that seventeen journalists and three netizens were behind bars as of 20115. The CPJ report said, “Journalists are typically charged with violating the country’s censorship laws, among the strictest in the world, or engaging in “anti-state” activities such as disseminating information to the outside world”6. Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2010 stated that Myanmar is one of the world’s most repressive countries, together with Iran, North Korea and Syria, toward the press and journalists. It put Myanmar at 174 out of 178 in its annual Press Freedom Index as the government imposed strict censorship rules on the press, restricted the freedom of journalists to report and detained journalists. Fortunately, True News has survived although it faced one of the most severe punishments in PSRD history. However, The Action Times journal that was banned for a month at the same time never appeared in the market again. In Action Times’ case, the journal was suspended for ‘modification of the approved version’ when it was published7. According to journalists interviewed, the suspension of The Action Times for a month so financially threatened the journal that is was forced to close. With a population of over fifty-eight million8 and total adult literacy rate of 92%9, the press industry in Myanmar has a lot of potential to expand its market. A report released by Reporters Without Borders in 2010 said Myanmar’s people are ‘big media consumers’. The report was based on a poll of 2,950 people across the country who were asked how the public get their news. The report said the rate of reading print media in Myanmar (36 %) is ‘high for a developing country’. Although the press industry in Myanmar has the potential to expand its market, many scholars, rights groups and media professionals claim that the development of press industry is hindered by the strict censorship policy. Nwe Nwe Aye (2010: 56) claimed that “the circulation of state-owned daily newspapers and private owned weekly journals combined remains relatively low compared to countries in the region”. For example, whereas Thailand with a population of sixty-five million published 3 million copies per day in 2007, Myanmar with fifty-four million people published only 400,000 copies a day in 2005. The Press Freedom Index shows that Thai media enjoys more media freedom than their counterparts in Myanmar. Critics claim that censorship undermines journalistic work and the development of private press industry as a whole. They say that media in an authoritarian context can neither assume a watchdog role nor promote democracy. 1.1 Rationale of the study The aim of the study is to access the impact of censorship on the private press industry and journalistic work in Myanmar. While the study will include discussion of the potential for more media freedom under the new government, it mainly focuses on the media under the military government from 1988-2010. This report is based on surveys and in-depth interviews with journalists, publishers and executives from newspapers, journals and publishing houses in Myanmar. The survey was carried out from August to September 2011, including 77 journalists who represent over 10 private publications in Myanmar. In addition, in-depth interviews with publishers were also included to study the impact of censorship on the business of private newspapers. The interviews with publishers and experts were conducted via emails and personal meetings throughout my fellowship period from October 2011 to March 2012. They were asked questions regarding censorship and how it impacts on their reporting and creativity, as well as on the business of the newspapers. The study focuses on Myanmar’s two biggest cities Yangon and Mandalay, which are home to most of the media companies in the country. In addition, the study also included journalists in Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital city where government ministries are located. The paper tries to answer two key questions: 1. What has been the impact of censorship on journalistic work and the quality of newspaper publishing? 2. What has been the impact of censorship on the private press industry? 1.2 Organization of the paper This paper has been organized into five parts. Chapter 1 includes an introduction that describes censorship in Myanmar and the rationale behind the research study. Chapters 2 will emphasize the history of censorship, why governments use censorship and how it evolves. In addition, a comparative study of the censorship of authoritarian states such as Zimbabwe, Syria, and Vietnam will be presented. Chapter 3 includes a brief history of print news media in Myanmar. This part will focus on the period after independence and up to the present day. Because the British introduced the newspaper to Myanmar, a brief background of colonial rule in Myanmar will also be included to explain the history of the press industry in Myanmar. In addition, newspaper history will be presented in order to compare the newspaper industry in the colonial period, after independence, under the socialist regime and most recently, under the military government. Chapter 4 contains the major part of this study, covering the impact of censorship on journalistic work and the production of quality newspapers. Moreover, it closely looks into the relationship between the development of the private press industry and censorship. Surveys and in-depth interviews with nearly 80 reporters and editors will be included to assess the impact of censorship on journalistic works and publishing quality newspapers. Interviews with ten publishers and media executives will be described in order to assess the impact of censorship on newspaper businesses. This section also explores the censorship’s impact on revenue, readership and brand image of the newspaper. In addition, this chapter will look at the prospect of media freedom and market potential. Chapter 5 is the conclusion of the report. This chapter will present major findings and give recommendations based on the findings..."