![]() But the censorship was eventually lifted, and the newspapers resumed reporting insurgent activities with a surprisingly unbiased point of view. At the height of the rebellion, in 19, censorship was imposed and the offices of four newspapers were raided by the police after they published stories considered detrimental to national security. The first real confrontation between the press and the government was provoked by differences of opinion as to how the Communist and ethnic insurgency should be covered. In the absence of any real opposition to the AFPFL, the press functioned as a public watchdog, especially with its frequent interviews with the prime minister. Post-independent Burma's politics-and the parliament-were dominated by the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). ![]() Its circulation reached more than 20,000 during the mid-1950s, and its popularity was partly due to the dynamic Law Yone. The centrist English-language Nation, founded by editor Law Yone and first published in 1948, was often critical of the government but positive in its comments. The right-wing Hanthawaddy (the name of a township in lower Burma) daily was close to Prime Minister U Nu but did not hesitate to criticize him if it viewed him as too sympathetic to the left. ![]() ![]() Of the Chinese papers, the most influential was the Communist pro-Beijing Freedom Daily. By political affiliation, there were three types of newspapers: pro-government, opposition leaning to the right, and opposition leaning to the left. When Burma became independent in January 1948, there were 39 newspapers: 21 in Burmese, 7 in English, 5 in Chinese, 2 in Hindi, and 1 each in Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu. ![]() Bertil Lintner, in Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications, 2003 III.A Burma ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2023
Categories |