Mixed Signals: Democratization and the Myanmar Media

Tina Burrett

doi:10.17645/pag.v5i2.831

Abstract

This article investigates the media context of Myanmar’s recent political reforms and transition of power. Drawing on interviews with 57 Yangon-based media professionals, the article analyzes the media’s role as both an agent and subject of political change as Myanmar prepared for parliamentary elections in November 2015. It asks to what extent changes in the Myanmar media system adhere to existing theories of the media’s role in the democratization process. Specifically, the article analyzes the features and functions of Myanmar’s media during the country’s liberalization from 2010 to 2015. The article concludes by assessing what Myanmar’s experience adds to our theoretical understanding of the media’s transformation during liberalization.

Highlights

2016 was a monumental year in Myanmar
In March 2016, the National League for Democracy (NLD)’s Htin Kyaw became Myanmar’s first civilian president since the military coup in 1962, a role denied to Aung San Suu Kyi by the juntadrafted constitution because she married a foreigner
Voltmer theorizes that the functions performed by the media in liberalizing autocracies vary depending on the impetus for liberalization (2013, p. 79)

Summary

Introduction

Parliamentary elections in November 2015 delivered a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). In March 2016, the NLD’s Htin Kyaw became Myanmar’s first civilian president since the military coup in 1962, a role denied to Aung San Suu Kyi by the juntadrafted constitution because she married a foreigner. The new president initiated a series of reforms leading to a substantial opening of the former pariah state (Hlaing, 2012). Most dramatically, these reforms include allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD to contest parliamentary by-elections in April 2012, following her release from house arrest in November 2010.

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion