Myanmar Press Council to boost safety of journalists
Levels of violence against journalists in Myanmar have been rising in the last year. This is both due to targeted attacks on journalists, but also due to the fact that more journalists are in the field, covering the country’s religious and ethnic conflicts and street riots to provide first-hand witness accounts
To strengthen the safety of journalists in Myanmar, a new programme is set to be rolled out from mid 2015 by the Myanmar Press Council (Interim) (MPC) in cooperation with IMS.
The programme aims to improve knowledge and awareness amongst journalists of how best to safeguard themselves while reporting. It will also seek to institutionalise safety practices and guidelines for editors and staff within newsrooms in Yangon and Mandalay initially. The first pilot training commenced on Wednesday, 17 June in Yangon followed by a training of trainers in the last week of June. Journalists from Yangon, Mandalay and several other major cities will participate in these programmes.
“Safer conditions and a safe working environment for journalists are crucial to enabling journalists to carry out professional, independent and diverse journalism. Journalists who are informed about how to prepare for and behave in a threatening situation will be better equipped to secure their own safety. At the same time, we want to ensure that there are better operating procedures within the industry,” said U Khin Maung Lay (Phoe Thaukkyar) Vice Chairperson of the Myanmar Press Council (Interim).
Together with International Media Support (IMS), an organisation with significant global experience in working with journalist safety issues, the MPC will appoint a safety committee comprising members of the MPC and IMS. The Committee will oversee the planned activities within the programme. These include the safety training of journalists, the provision of safety equipment and the development of guidelines and protocols for newsrooms.
“While the Myanmar media sector has taken tremendous strides over the last four years towards more professionalism and independence, the issue of the safety of journalists has been neglected”, said Lars Bestle,” Head of International Media Support’s Department for Asia.
“The involvement of the Myanmar Press Council is crucial to anchoring practices around the safety of journalists in the media sector. Safety of journalists is not only the responsibility of the individual journalists themselves, but also of their editors, the media owners and ultimately the authorities.”
International Media Support (IMS) is a non-profit organisation working to support local media in countries affected by armed conflict, human insecurity and political transition. In Myanmar, IMS works to strengthen the ability of Myanmar media to inform and support the democratic transition process and national reconciliation efforts.
June 17, 2015
