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          Burmese Journalists Look Back at 2008—or was it 1984? Burmese Journalists Look Back at 2008—or was it 1984? By SAW YAN NAING Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Journalists in Burma faced Orwellian-type scrutiny and were subjected to imprisonment and intimidation throughout 2008 while exiled Burmese media groups were also attacked—via their computers. 2008 should have been a year when Burma’s reporters reached a worldwide aud 借貸ience. The country was constantly in the global spotlight—hundreds of political activists from September 2007’s monk-led demonstrations were imprisoned, the Irrawaddy delta was devastated by a killer cyclone and a junta-sponsored constitutional referendum was pushed through. Yet except for the state-run mouthpieces, Burma’s private newspapers, journals and magazines we 好房網re muzzled while their reporters faced summary harassment by thugs employed by the Burmese authorities. At least ten journalists in Burma were detained last year. Some received prison sentences of up to 19 years. Fortunately, there were no reports of Burmese journalists killed. Nevertheless, international media watchdog Reporters without Borders included Burma in its overview of per 宜蘭民宿secution of journalists in the same breath as Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. 2008 was a year in which the officials of Burma’s notorious censorship bureau, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, found themselves pouring over pages of print with magnifying glasses and mirrors, looking for hidden anti-regime messages within the texts. The measure followed a case in February when a poet, Saw W 膠原蛋白ai, published a verse in the weekly “Love Journal ” which contained a hidden message mocking regime chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe. The poet was sentenced for two years. Other bureaucrats scanned the Internet, moving to plug the flow of information. The editor of a weekly journal in Rangoon who asked to remain anonymous told The Irrawaddy said that degree of censorship in Burma had increased from previous years. 東森房屋 He said that many articles submitted to the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division were rejected in 2008. “Reporters in Burma have to be careful about every single word they write and speak,” he said, adding that they could be fired if the authorities didn’t approve of their coverage or found the material too sensitive. He said editors and publishers in Burma often send expensive gifts to the heads of the Press Scrutiny a 酒店經紀nd Registration Board in the hope of getting favorable treatment and speedy approval of their publications. “Every editor here, at one time or another, has been reprimanded by the censorship board,” he said. In August, Saw Myint Than, chief reporter for Rangoon-based weekly Flower News was summoned by police and rebuked for a story he and another reporter has written about the murder of a couple in Rangoon. The authorities do not approve of 房屋買賣 crime being reported.In another case, a journalist at 7 Day News Journal was reprimanded by authorities after writing a story about the murder of five people in a house near the residence of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was sternly reminded that Suu Kyi’s name cannot be mentioned in the media—unless of course the article seeks to slander the democracy icon. In spite of the risks and the threats, the salary for a reporter is only 35,00 酒店工作0 to 70,000 kyat (US $30—$60) per month. Editors generally make about 80,000 kyat ($70) and a chief editor will take home 200,000 to 300,000 kyat ($170—$260) monthly. “For a journalist in Burma, possessing a mobile phone and a laptop is like a dream,” said one reporter, adding that his expenses often exceeded his wages. More than 30 local and national journals and magazines were unable to pay their license fees for 2008 and were forced to close down. 2008 also saw an 賣房子 intense campaign by the junta to target citizen journalists, bloggers and Internet users. In November, well-known blogger Nay Phone Latt, 28, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for espousing anti-government rhetoric online. Giving interviews to exiled media publications and radio stations is also a risky affair. Burma’s best-known comedian, Zarganar, who has his own blogsite, was sentenced to 59 years imprisonment after helping cyclone survivors in the Irrawaddy delta. For 小型辦公室more....  .