Conference discusses present and future direction of Burma’s ethnic media
People read weekly journals to buy at a roadside shop in Yangon, Burma. Pic: AP. 
Ethnic media organisations, journalists and donors made the long journey to the remote Chin State capital Hakha, for the BNI (Burma News international) ethnic media conference from 18-20th March.
The conference was held to discuss the present state and future direction of ethnic media in Burma. It was also an opportunity for representatives of media organisations from all the ethnic areas of Burma to meet up and exchange ideas.
The sense of camaraderie at the event was enhanced because of the remoteness of the location. Hakaha, deep in the mountains of Chin State is the most remote state capital in Burma, the closest airport at Kale is an eight hour drive away on rough roads and many of the participants had taken a bumpy, dusty 32 hour bus ride from Yangon to reach the conference. For many it was their first trip to Chin State.
The conference was held in Carsson Hall, a large airy hall built by Baptist missionaries at the turn of the century on one of the few areas of flat land in Hakha.
It was organised by BNI, an umbrella group for 13 ethnic media news organisations that runs training for ethnic media groups and publishes their articles on its website in Burmese and English.
Representatives and journalists from ethnic media groups, representatives from donor groups, representatives from state media groups Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) and National Races Channel (NRC), writers, poets and photographers attended the event.
This was BNI’s third annual ethnic media conference. Amongst the panels held over the three days there were panels on media law, the role of community radio and television, ethnic media development and marketing and sustaining ethnic media. There were also workshops that discussed, amongst other things: networking, using ethnic languages and business models for ethnic media.
One of the recurring themes of the conference was whether ethnic media, which at present is supported by donor funding, could ever become self-sustaining.
Any form of government support was emphatically rejected as he participants thought it would come with too many conditions attached.
Ideas for funding included syndicating ethnic stories to mainstream media and advertising. It was suggested that ethnic media organisations could band together and offer advertising across all their titles.
Daw Nan Paw Gyi, a BNI board member and the editor of Karen News explained how in the future ethnic media could make more money by syndicating stories to mainstream media.
She said: “Mainstream media understand ethnic media is important for the country, but some mainstream media use our news stories without permission and without credit and we are not happy with it. Before they pay they should request and compromise with us to use the stories.”
It was also suggested that BNI could publish a nationally distributed newspaper that would include stories from all the different ethnic media agencies.
There was also optimism about producing and distributing online content in the future, but due to the present poor internet penetration in Burma it would be a while before online content would be available to a majority of people in ethnic areas.
This was neatly demonstrated by the almost non-existent availability of any internet connection in Hakha.
It was agreed that for the time being published newspapers were still the best way to reach the majority of the population in ethnic areas.
According to representatives the biggest obstacle to printed newspapers was the lack of printing presses in remote areas. This means that ethnic newspapers can only be printed in large towns, which leads to delayed distribution and logistical problems.
Nyo Min, the BNI assistant manager, said: “We need to set up printing houses for each state in order to compete with mainstream media.”
The most popular alternative to print media for the delegates was community FM radio.
Kyle James, a consultant who trains groups in how to set up local radio stations, spoke on the panel entitled ‘The Role of Community Media Including Radio and TV’: “Radio is an easy medium to access, for instance in areas with poor roads and where it is hard to deliver newspapers. People do not have to be able to read and radio is inexpensive.”
Unfortunately radio is not a viable option at present as government permission is needed to run radio stations and the government is not granting permission.
Delegates agreed that pressure should be put on the government to grant ethnic media licenses to run community radio stations, but that until such licenses were granted it would be impossible to implement any plans for community FM radio.
Nyo Min still thought community FM radio was a viable option.
After the conference he said: “Our first priority is community radio. We are not sure about licensing, but we believe the ministry of information will approve them [licences] because they are under pressure.”
At the end of the conference a vote was taken on where he 2016 ethnic media conference should be held and the winner was Mrauk U in Rakhine State.
The conference finished off with a meal accompanied by Chin wine that ensured all the delegates ended up dancing to the Chin band that was playing.
