Reporting from the Frontline
Possibilities and Limits of Southeast Asian Media Responses to Covid-19

Ye Ni
The Irrawady

Is the COVID-19 Lockdown
Undermining Journalism inMyanmar?
Abstract
The global outbreak of Covid-19 has placed an unprecedented
situation for the media in very testing times. Most of the news
agencies have been working remotely since COVID-19 wave emerged
from the end of March in 2020. Journalists and media workers have
faced travel restrictions due to the government’s strict new stay-athome orders.
The situation in Myanmar is further challenged by the launch of
new Counter-Terrorism Law in Myanmar and the use of fake-news tostop publication of any news on Covid-19.
For the newsroom, the challenges in times of Covid-19 are varied
from the personal safety of the team members who are traveling out
in the field, at the risk of getting infection, to the dependence moreheavily on digital collaboration tools like Zoom. Dramatic changes
include online editorial conferences, remote editing, and virtual
brainstorming.
Working from home may has made the journalists more efficientcomparatively but the quality and creativity of the coverages havesuffered to a lesser degree.

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Is the COVID-19 Lockdown Undermining
Journalism in Myanmar?
The COVID-19 outbreak in Myanmar is currently growing steadily. Daily cases have reachedaround 1,200 and dozens of deaths in recent days and they have increased from less than 10 per
day in early August. During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, from late March to earlyAugust, Myanmar recorded just 360 cases and 6 deaths. On December 7, however, Myanmar reported 100,431 COVID-19 cases, including 2,132 deaths and 79,240 recoveries, according to the Ministryof Health and Sports.
However, the second wave of Covid-19 has overwhelmed Myanmar’s poor and understaffed
health infrastructure. Nevertheless, the spread of the virus since day one has led to a partial lockdown of Yangon. The former capital of Myanmar has a population of over 5 million. 67% of Yangon
Region’s population live in urban areas, and the remaining 33% in rural areas. Effective as of the 21
September 2020, the government announced stay-at-home orders for all of the Yangon Region.
The government has announced stay-at-home restrictions and curfews, bans on public gatherings, and closures of public events, entertainment venues, and religious places. In the Yangonregion, residents must abide by the following orders:
1) Stay at home unless going to/from work.
2) Employees of private organizations and businesses must telework (those working in bankingand finance, gas stations, food and refrigeration services, production and manufacturing ofpharmaceutical products, medical equipment production, and the distribution of drinking water and personal hygiene items are exempt).
3) Only one person per household is allowed to do grocery shopping, and only two people perhousehold are permitted medical treatment.
4) A mask must be worn at all times when out of the home.
5) Only vehicles transporting people for one of the permitted activities are allowed to passthrough other townships.
6) In addition to passenger(s), only one driver is allowed in a vehicle for the permitted activities.
7) Advance approval from the respective ward administration is needed for anything that falls
outside of these permitted activities.
Failure to comply with this order will warrant action under the Prevention and Control of Commu1

nicable Diseases Law. However, when the government designated essential industries exemptedfrom stay-at-home orders during the lockdown, the Myanmar media was not on the essential industry list. Although several professions are excluded from restrictions, such as doctors, emergency
workers, and police officers, the restrictions still apply to journalists. Most of the newsrooms in
Myanmar have been working remotely since COVID-19 emerged. And most journalists in Yangon
have been reporting from home as suggested by the government. Yet, for photojournalists and video journalists to do their jobs, it’s necessary to go into the field and they have to go out from time totime.

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The Law Amending the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law https://www.mlis.gov.mm/mLs-

View.do?lawordSn=7794 (Accessed 10 December, 2020)2

Whenever journalists are on the streets, they are concerned that they will be arrested andcharged under the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law. This restriction also
stops the work of drivers of newspaper delivery trucks. As such, lockdown restrictions have impacted on the media industry, particularly the production of newspapers since all private nationalnewspapers are based in Yangon. Four national newspapers, The Standard Time, 7 Day Daily, theMyanmar Times, and the Voice Daily announced their decision to suspend circulation of the newspaper from 23 September 2020.
The Myanmar Press Council has submitted a request to the President to lift the restriction formedia workers in light of its crippling impact on the industry. A member of the Myanmar PressCouncil, Myint Kyaw, commented: “I don’t think the government simply forgot to exempt the media. Maybe the government thought state-owned media would be sufficient to keep the public informed and that people could also get information from health authorities. The government failed
to exempt the media, in my view, because it does not understand the nature of the media environment. Or it believes private media are not important” (Irrawaddy 10 Oct, 2020 ) .
In fact, in the beginning of coronavirus pandemic in Myanmar, authorities took advantage ofthe pandemic by persecuting independent journalists, attempting to shut down media sites andfurther restricting public access to information. On March 23, Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs
designated the Arakan Army (AA) as a terrorist group under the Unlawful Associations Act.
The next day, the government issued an order to ban access to a number of independent news
websites for supposedly “spreading misinformation.” Sites targeted include Development MediaGroup (DMG), Narinjara, Karen News, Voice of Myanmar and a number of other independent
news agencies, including some that operate in local ethnic languages.
On March 30, Nay Myo Lin, the editor in chief of Voice of Myanmar, a Mandalay-based news
site, was arrested, purportedly for interviewing an AA member. He has been charged under anti-terrorism laws.
On the same evening, police raided office of Narinjara News in Sittwe, capital of RakhineState. Three reporters were detained and the editor went in hiding. Police also searched the houseof Hline Thit Zin Wai (AKA Tha Lun Zaung Htet), the editor in chief of Khit Thit Media, a Yangon-based independent news site, for republishing the Voice of Myanmar interview with an Arakan Army member.
In response of Myanmar’s harassment on the media, 250 civil society groups released theirstatement on 2 April, 2020 expressing concern that the government was taking advantage of the corona pandemic in order to censor legitimate information.
Meanwhile the Myanmar Press Council submitted a request to the military chief and he military-controlled Ministry of Home Affair to drop the case against the journalists and lift the restriction on press in times of coronavirus pandemic. Later Myanmar authorities dropped its accusations
against the journalists and allowed to reopen the news websites. However, COVID-19 is a perfectstorm for us.
Lockdowns and restrictions have created economic uncertainty. It has led to a steep decline inadvertising revenues for news organizations. With distribution systems devastated, a major sourceof revenue has dramatically dropped, while fixed costs such as rents and staffing still have to bepaid, inevitably many publications have decided to downsize and layoffs.
My organization, The Irrawaddy, is relatively small. Before COVID-19, we had 80 people including journalists, correspondents, marketing stuff, IT team, and administrative staff. Now we have
dropped down to forty.
Overall, we are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic which we have never expect-3

ed and experienced in our lifetimes while also trying to confront the need for various forms of internal change.
Currently The Irrawaddy is turning our newsroom into a hybrid model – with some staff in theoffice, some working from home, and some in the field. Since the beginning of the first wave of
COVID-19 at the end of May, as the government introduced lockdowns and safety restrictions, wehave changed the way we produce news.
Almost overnight, our newsroom has completely changed from physical ones to virtual ones.
Unexpectedly we have experienced a dramatic change to our workflows, including online conference, remote editing, and virtual brainstorming. Our newsroom has been forced to rely heavily on
Zoom and Messenger to support working from home practices. Yet, at this point, I’m concernedthat it makes us less creativity at some levels.
Journalists need physical contact to debate ideas, share thoughts, and to develop contents. Of
course, for people who know each other well, it’s possible to work from home efficiently. But doing
so lacks the unexpected and immediate conversations that can sometimes lead to great ideas. Furthermore, the health and safety of staff reporting on the ground also is another concern.
In late October, 10 journalists including from Yangon tested positive for COVID-19 (FOJO April2020). And 90 journalists were admitted to facility quarantine centers as they had a close contact
history or secondary contact with confirmed cases. According to the 2016 report of 5th Myanmar
Media Development Conference, Myanmar has about 2,000 accredited journalists across the country, but some believe the actual number could be higher than that. Due to lack of archives and updating system, the working journalist population remains unknown until now. In order to oversee
this data crisis, the Press Council says it is documenting, but the end is not in sight.
Meanwhile many journalists have said that they were challenged to secure their jobs. During
one event the Myanmar Press Council and UNESCO jointly launched comprehensive guidelines
for journalists to report on COVID-19 based on professional standards, while protecting themselvesfrom physical and psychological risks, Ohn Kyaing, the late Chairman of the Myanmar Press Council, said that since the COVID-19 outbreak, 80 journalists had lost their jobs in Yangon alone andmore than 300 journalists across the country had reached out to the Council for support. As such,
we fear that these numbers will definitely increase by the end of year 2020.
When life is hard, many unemployed journalists earn a living by selling foods in the streets,
online salesmen or became deliverymen for businesses despite the high risks outside. In responseto this situation, Myanmar Press Council (MPC) initiated a one-time COVID-19 relief package –cash payments – for individual journalists. It offers 2 lakhs of MMK (approximately US $160) forjournalists who contracted COVID-19 and were admitted to hospital for medical treatment and topeople under virus surveillance centers while those under home isolation are given 1 lakh of MMK(approximately US $80). Until the end of September, MPC distributed COVID-19 financial aid to 87
individuals (FOJO April 2020).
Another non-profit group, the Committee on Social Welfare for Journalists-CSWJ also contributed 3 lakhs of MMK (approximately 240 USD) for virus infected journalists and 1 lakh of MMK for
quarantined groups. The group was able to support 53 reporters in September. The Ministry of Information also stepped in. In a virtual meeting with six non-profit local media networks in October,the ministry agreed to support 30 million MMK financial aids.
Two groups among those recipients, the Myanmar Journalist Network (MJN) and Myanmar
Women Journalists Society (MWJS) handed out financial relief for the journalists in its own networks while Myanmar Journalist Association (MJA) donated to the central Covid-19 prevention
department.

4However, you will hear not only the bad news, but also the good. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Myanmar authorities allowed the journalists to report freely during the election’s periods. On
the election day of 8 November, we observed and reported that millions of people voted, with longlines outside polling booths, which opened at 6 am local time.
Irrawaddy journalists from the different regions of Myanmar used Facebook’s Livestream app
through their mobile phones to cover the election day for live reporting. We received over 100,000
viewers for each broadcasting within an hour.
Television broadcasts also showed early ballots being counted in the presence of candidates,
election officers and observers. On that day the most popular election coverage was Mizzima live
broadcasting. State-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV channel), however, was heavily
criticized by the independent journalists and political commentators for its lack of election day coverage. Many observers pointed out that state-owned media funded by taxpayers’ money should not
be used just for propaganda, but to be reformed into public service broadcasting.
In an interview with Aung Hla Tun, the deputy minister for information and sports ministry,
recognized that the role of independent news media is essential to a democracy. He said: “Overall,some media outlets have found that they are more professional and ethical than I expected. I amvery pleased to think that we now have quality media that we can count on for the future of thecountry” (Zin Lin Htet 18 Nov, 2020).
Still Myanmar is struggling to get back to normal for not in terms of democratization, also
making better public health.
Another good news is that Myanmar is planning its purchase, distribution and vaccinationof COVID-19 as the United Kingdom has begun vaccinating its citizens with a fully vetted andauthorized the Pfizer COVID-19 shot. Hopefully we can begin to control the pandemic in 2021. At
present, the decision for purchasing a vaccine will be taken by the central committee on COVID-19
Prevention, Control and Treatment led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
In the meanwhile, we still need to follow safety measures. Practicing and implementing thehealth authorities’ safety guidelines, properly wearing masks, often washing hands and practicing
social distancing are the golden rules whenever we go outside to do our reporting.

References
Committee on Social Welfare for Journalists. Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/Committee-on-Social-Welfare-for-Journalists-CSWJ-105156184531225/ Accessed 10 December, 2020.
Fifth Conference on Media Development in Myanmar. Inclusive In dependent Media in a New Democracy. 7-8November, 2016. https://themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/Report_5th_Conference_on_Media_Development_in_Myanmar_2016.pdf Accessed 10 December, 2020.
FOJO Media Institute. April 2020. Covid-19 Second Wave: A Fragile State for Myanmar Journalists. FOJO: MediaInstitute, Linnaeus University. https://fojo.se/en/covid-19-second-wave-a-fragile-state-for-myanmar-journalists/
Accessed 10 December, 2020.
Free Expression Myanmar. 2, April 2020. 250 Organizations Condemn Myanmar Government Order to Block Websites.
http://freeexpressionmyanmar.org/250-organisations-condemn-myanmar-government-order-to-block-websites/
Accessed 10, December, 2020
Irrawaddy. 10 October, 2020. Will COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions on Myanmar News Media Undermine the Workof Journalists During a Time of National Crisis? https://www.irrawaddy.com/dateline/will-covid-19-lockdownrestrictions-myanmar-news-media-undermine-work-journalists-time-national-crisis.html Accessed 10 December,2020.
Ministry of Health and Sports. 2020. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surveillance Dashboard https://mohs.gov.

5mm/Main/content/publication/2019-ncov Accessed 10 December, 2020.
Myanmar Press Council. 2020. http://myanmarpresscouncil.org/ Accessed 10 December, 2020.
Myanmar Journalists Association. 2020. Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/mjournalistsa/
Nyein Nyein. 4 December, 2020. Myanmar Moves Ahead with COVID-19 Vaccine Plans. Irrawaddy. https://www.
irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-covid-19/myanmar-moves-ahead-covid-19-vaccine-plans.html Accessed 10December, 2020.
UNESCO. 6 July, 2020. New guidelines for Myanmar journalists to report safely and professionally on COVID-19
https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/new-guidelines-myanmar-journalists-report-safely-and-professionally-covid-19 Accessed 10 December, 2020.
U.S. Embassy in Burma. COVID-19 Information
https://mm.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ Accessed 10 December, 2020.
Zin Lin Htet. 18 November, 2020. မီဒယီ ာမိတဆ် ေွ များအားလုးံ ကို ကျေးဇူးတင်တယ်. Thanks to all the Media Friends (Burmese)https://burma.irrawaddy.com/opinion/interview/2020/11/18/233574.html Accessed 10 December, 2020.

Bio Note
Yeni (a) Myo Min Oo is a senior editor at The Irrawaddy. He joined The Iraawaddy in 2004 and his current position isEditor-in chief for Burmese language edition since my organization moved back to Myanmar’s business capital Yangon.
From 2007 to 2013, He was the news editor for both English and Burmese language editions at The Irrawaddy when theoffice was based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. From 2004 to 2007, He was a reporter at The Irrawaddy. In 2012, He received
the degree of Master of Business Administration (International Business) from Payap University at Chiang Mai,Thailand. His project submitted for the degree was “Critical Success Factor of Social Enterprises: A Case Study of Five
Social Enterprises in Chiang Mai, Thailand.” His current responsibilities are mainly writing editorials, opinion pageediting, strategic planning, content development and client relation.

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