US embassy cable - 04RANGOON58

UNCLAS RANGOON 000058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO USAID/ANE - D. MCCLOSKEY AND C. WEGMAN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KDEM, KPAO, BM 
SUBJECT: CULTIVATING THE FOURTH ESTATE 
 
1.  The Rangoon American Center hosted Burma's first 
journalism training course, conducted by the Indochina Media 
Memorial Foundation (IMMF), an independent media support 
foundation based in Thailand, November 10 to 23, 2003.  The 
two-week course was designed to introduce young journalists 
to the highest standards of international journalism, to 
sharpen their writing and reporting skills, while raising 
their awareness of ethical issues and the journalist's role 
in society.  PAS Rangoon selected 12 participants from four 
of the leading quasi-independent publications in the 
country, those who struggle to print real news while 
contending with the regime's censor board.  The program 
supported two MPP goals: Gaining Acceptance for U.S. 
Institutions and Values, and Supporting Democracy and Human 
Rights. 
 
2.  The participants, ranging in age from 20 to 35, included 
seven women and five men.  (Because of Burmese government 
policy making it difficult for women to get passports, only 
Burmese men have been able to participate in IMMF's past 
training sessions in Cambodia and Thailand, thus our 
emphasis on including women.)  They are working journalists 
at four of Rangoon's leading privately owned newspapers: 7 
Day News Journal, Kumudra News Journal, Living Color 
Business Magazine, and Today Media Group.  We call these 
publications "quasi-independent" because all content here, 
even that of privately owned media (including publications 
of the American Center), must be passed by the Ministry of 
the Interior's Press Scrutiny Board. 
 
3.  Trainer Jeff Hodson led two weeks of intensive hands-on 
training in journalistic skills.  Using discussion, 
lectures, videos, case studies, individual feedback from the 
instructor, group critiques, and a variety of 
reporting/writing assignments, the participants practiced 
bread-and-butter skills such as interview techniques, how to 
write a strong lead, how to recognize good quotes from bad 
quotes, and how to write a good profile.  And they debated 
journalism ethics, international journalism standards, and 
the role of the journalist in their society.  They discussed 
Burma's unique press environment and their particular 
difficulty of how to predict what the Press Scrutiny Board 
will allow to be published. 
 
4.  The training course was held in a classroom of the 
American Center's English Teaching Program designed and 
wired for such training sessions.  Because they easily fit 
in with our usual English Class crowd, the journalists 
aroused no suspicion with the Military Intelligence who sit 
outside the American Center gate.  An added benefit of 
post's robust English Teaching Program is the ability to 
hold this and other types of training sessions without 
rousing the regime's attention.   This type of training 
could be replicated in Mandalay, as well, if a branch 
American Center is opened there. 
 
5.  COMMENT:  In a country that has no press freedom, there 
has been no institution to provide training to the people 
working for the quasi-independent media in Burma.  Thus, the 
younger generation of journalists has to rely on on-the-job 
training by their chief editors, the majority of whom have 
not received any systematic journalism training themselves. 
The training offered a rare opportunity for young 
journalists to get real training and gave them exposure for 
the very first time to international standards of 
journalism.  The journalists, their editors, and the 
American Center are all eager to repeat this type of 
training and to take it further.  We will be working with 
the IMMF as well as Internews, both of whom receive Economic 
Support Funds (ESF), to increase opportunities for this type 
of training inside Burma. 
MARTINEZ