INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS IN TRANSITION: A CASE - STUDY FROM MYANMAR HOW TO INFORM, EMPOWER, AND IMPACT COMMUNITIES
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar How to inform, empower, and impact communities Mon State, Myanmar Pilot Study Part One: Research Findings
ABOUT THE AUTHORS ABOUT THE RESEARCH TEAM executive summary
Andrew Wasuwongse is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Established in 1995, Myanmar Survey Research (MSR)
University’s School of Advanced International Studies in is a market and social research company based in
Washington, DC. He holds a master’s degree in International Yangon, Myanmar. MSR has produced over 650
Relations and International Economics, with a concentration research reports in the fields of social, market, and
in Southeast Asia Studies. While a research assistant for environmental research over the past 16 years for UN
the SAIS Burma Study Group, he supported visits by three agencies, INGOs, and business organizations.
Burmese government delegations to Washington, DC,
including officials from Myanmar’s Union Parliament, ABOUT INTERNEWS in MYANMAR
Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Industry. He has worked
as a consultant for World Vision Myanmar, where he led an Internews is an international nonprofit organization whose
assessment of education programs in six regions across mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people
Myanmar, and has served as an English teacher in Kachin the news and information they need, the ability to connect
State, Myanmar, and in Thailand on the Thai-Myanmar border. and the means to make their voices heard. Internews
He speaks Thai and Burmese. provides communities with the resources to produce local
news and information with integrity and independence.
Alison Campbell is currently Internews’ Senior Director With global expertise and reach, Internews trains both media
for Global Initiatives based in Washington, DC, overseeing professionals and citizen journalists, introduces innovative
Internews’ environmental, health and humanitarian media solutions, increases coverage of vital issues and helps
programs. She recently relocated to the US from Asia, establish policies needed for open access to information.
where she founded Internews Burma project in 2001, started
the Internews Burma Journalism School and has been The Internews Burma project opened its doors in January 2001
and has worked for the last 14 years to strengthen the capacity
M
deeply involved in the recent exciting developments in the
media scene in Burma/Myanmar over the last few years. of Burmese media outlets both inside the country and within yanmar’s recent relaxing of political, The report draws from quantitative and qualitative
With a background in both journalism and humanitarian the exiled and international Burmese media community. Over research commissioned by the Internews Center for
the years Internews has provided comprehensive support economic, and social restrictions has
relief, she specializes in the design and troubleshooting
Innovation & Learning (the Center) from December 16,
of media projects in conflict, post conflict, peace building for Burmese and ethnic language publications, websites, provided a unique opportunity to conduct
and other transitional environments. Alison has worked bloggers, broadcasters, editors, managers and publishers. 2012 to January 5, 2013 in Mon State, Myanmar. The
This support includes training and mentoring in reporting on
research in Myanmar’s ethnic states. This report on research sampled respondents from across Mon State,
in various capacities for Internews over the last 15 years,
most recently as Regional Manager for Africa Programs environment, human rights, elections, gender, policy issues, Mon State’s information ecosystem is the first in a and combines quantitative data from a 500 household
overseeing projects in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda, media management, media law, small grants and technical
planned series of studies into the demographic, news survey covering urban, rural, non-conflict, and former
Uganda and South Sudan. She also established the support for publishing and production. As part of this program, conflict areas, with qualitative data from 12 focus
Internews program at the International Criminal Tribunal for Internews operated the first in-residence journalism school media, and information dynamics that characterize
group discussions and 24 key informant interviews in
Rwanda, providing a foundation for the important work that for Burmese and ethnic reporters in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Mon State as well as Myanmar’s six other ethnic
Internews still does in Rwanda. Before joining Internews, school trained hundreds of journalists and media professionals, both non-conflict and former conflict areas.
Alison worked in radio, print and television newsrooms and equipped a new generation of Burmese and ethnic media states—Chin, Kachin, Kayah (Karenni), Kayin
in South Africa and in the UK before spending four years professionals with the skills to work full-time. Internews trained (Karen), Rakhine (Arakan), and Shan. The research focuses on three themes. Firstly, it
as a press officer for CARE, managing press relations and and provided technical and financial support to more than identifies and maps the information environment
policy in humanitarian emergencies including Rwanda, 15 different local organizations, both along the border and An information ecosystem is not a static entity; it is in Mon State in terms of technology and media
Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Bosnia. inside the country. These organizations have gone on
by nature constantly evolving and changing. Nor is it use across urban, rural, non-conflict, and former
to play leading roles in disseminating quality news and
information about Burma to the world and to the Burmese a discrete form; it can be defined at many levels, from conflict geographic areas. Secondly, the flow of news
cover photo population alike. Internews’ work in Myanmar continues global to national to community to interest-based and information is examined to see how individuals
today, and has expanded beyond support for traditional groupings within communities. Any examination of receive information and then make decisions about
Man reads journal and listens to radio media to include the country’s first-ever hackathon in an information ecosystem goes beyond traditional sharing it with others. Thirdly, the report examines
Kyaik Hto - Moke Ka Mawt Village. 2014, which brought together 76 of the country’s most audience research on media access and consumption; the dynamics underlying the trust and influence of
talented young developers, designers and entrepreneurs.
it adds considerations of information needs and news and information among individuals in Mon
www.internews.org information creation and distribution as fluid systems State.
that adapt and regenerate according to the broader
developmental challenges and needs of a given
community.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
PART ONE: RESE ARCH FINDINGS
executive summary
despite the high cost of mobile access in In this study, news and information sources that are It is true to say that media content and media and
considered trusted—with trustworthiness defined in information channels will always be primary factors
Myanmar at the time of this research, terms of a source’s accuracy and reliability—tended of supply in any information ecosystem. However, it is
nearly half of all urban Mon State strongly to be the sources that were best-known and necessary to guard against drawing conclusions about
respondents have a mobile phone familiar to respondents. Few people indeed trust what media access and “openness” based on a “production
they are not familiar with. As a result, friends and family + distribution = better informed citizenry” model
ranked highest for trust, but perhaps surprisingly, so did that cannot adequately account for the quality of the
state-owned media, such as MRTV (jointly-operated information available, or flow, trust and uptake factors
with the private Forever Group Ltd.) and Nay Pyi in complex environments.
There can be few places left in the world where almost The research indicates that, despite the high cost of Daw Myanmar Radio National Service (Nay Pyi Daw
half the population does not know what the internet is. mobile access in Myanmar at the time of this research, Myanma Ah-Than). Overall, however, people in Mon In Myanmar today there exists the risk that under
The Mon State pilot research has particular value in nearly half of all urban Mon State respondents have State remain generally skeptical of the news they hear, the guise of increased media access, the formerly
attempting to describe the information ecosystem of a a mobile phone. This penetration would have been a habit held-over from a time when information sources “information dark” ecosystems which prevailed
target community situated at an unprecedented tipping unthinkable just a few years ago. Nevertheless, were few and rumors abundant. Most people regularly across much of the country under military rule
point in the history of a closed society. Key structural widespread lack of electricity continues to significantly validate the news and information they hear against may be seamlessly replaced with “information lite”
factors (governance, technology, economy) are hamper full mobile phone usage. Furthermore, only other sources, never fully trusting any source completely. ecosystems in which unsophisticated media audiences
changing suddenly, simultaneously exerting profound 2% of mobile phone users in Mon State use their consume primarily entertainment and “managed”
change in the ways in which citizens access and use phones to access the Internet. In the urban areas of Findings around the reach and impact of formerly news content. This sleight of hand would replicate
information. Whilst experience drawn from other Mon State, TV has replaced radio as the main source exiled (pro-democracy) media indicated little the information ecosystems of the “disciplined
political transitions may be indicative of future trends of news and information. However in rural locations, awareness of exiled print media. However, there is a democracies” of Singapore, Malaysia and China - to
in Myanmar, there has rarely been an opportunity to qualitative interviews indicated that TV is mainly used solid recognition of shortwave international Burmese which Myanmar aspires - by (at best) doing nothing
track and chart such sudden and extreme change, and as an entertainment medium, not to access news and language services, and strikingly high recognition for to foster the development of an informed citizenry
establish a baseline before social media and other forces information. However, a large proportion of Mon State Democratic Voice of Burma TV. and (at worst) perpetuating state influence over the
disrupt and transform the information environment. residents do not watch TV at all. Nearly half of the architecture of public information and discourse.
total sample said they had never watched TV (46%). Serious consideration needs to be given to the more
Some of the key findings of this report are consistent nuanced, and perhaps less rosy outlook brought to For those who wish to see an increase in both the
with the current image of Myanmar opening its doors In rural and former conflict areas, radio is the most the surface by the ecosystem research responses quantity and quality of content feeding into local
and airwaves to a brave new influx of information. common source. Once information enters a community on trust. Not only did state-owned radio show up information ecosystems as a way of enhancing
More frequently there emerges a mixed picture as to however, its flow is overwhelmingly face-to-face sharing as significantly better recognized and trusted than development or democracy/governance goals, it will
access, and some thought-provoking findings around through word of mouth. Moreover, this information flow the international stations, but qualitative research be important to temper runaway excitement about
trust and flow of information. largely takes place in the home (78% of respondents), revealed mixed or decreased trust in foreign news Myanmar’s “opening” with an understanding of some
and to immediate friends and family. Indeed, only sources. This is primarily due to strong perceptions of the constraints and idiosyncrasies in the country’s
28% of respondents saw themselves as a source of among some respondents of biased reporting on the national and local information ecosystems. It is the
news for the greater community, indicating that most conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine contention of this paper that a better understanding
information exchange tends to stay close to home. State by foreign news media. of the information ecosystem of any given community
or population will be helpful in developing holistic
strategies that harness dynamics in that ecosystem to
improve the chances of information actually reaching
its destination.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS
executive summary 1 Most Trusted Broadcaster:
State Television MRTV 30
ABOUT INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS 5 Radio - Most Trusted Source
for Information In Former Conflict Areas 30
Eight Critical Dimensions International Radio - Perceived Bias
of Information Ecosystems 6 In Coverage Of Conflict In Rakhine State 32
ABOUT THE RESEARCH 8 Print – the need
for local language publications 34
Relevance of Mon State Study information flows 36
to Myanmar as a whole 11
From Burma to Myanmar: Trust and Verification –
Information Ecosystems at Work 12 No Single Source Is 100% Trusted 38
Information Ecosystems under Military Rule 13 INFORMATION FLOW MAPPING 41
Control and Propaganda 13 INFORMATION FLOWS IN ACTION – CASE STUDIES 41
A
Alternative Information Supply CASE STUDY 1: EARTHQUAKE IN SANGAING
as a Pro Democracy Tactic 14 t the heart of the Internews Center for An information ecosystem is not a static entity; it is
AND MANDALAY REGIONS, NOVEMBER 2012 42
New Perspectives: Supply vs Consumption 15 Innovation & Learning’s work is the vision by nature constantly evolving and changing. Nor is
CASE STUDY 2: U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK it a discrete form; it can be defined at many levels,
Ecosystems OBAMA’S VISIT TO MYANMAR, NOVEMBER 2012 44 that healthy information ecosystems are a
in Political Transition 16 from global to interest-based groupings within
CASE STUDY 3: COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN RAKHINE root solution to furthering human progress. The communities. Any examination of an information
Myanmar Media Landscape 2012-2014 16 STATE, JUNE – DECEMBER 2012 46
Increased Access Does
term Information Ecosystems refers to a loose, ecosystem looks at information needs, creation and
Not Necessarily Mean Better Informed 17 conclusions & recommendations 48
dynamic configuration of different sources, flows, distribution as fluid systems that adapt and regenerate
How Information Permeates: according to the challenges of a given situation.
Conclusion 49 producers, consumers, and sharers of information
trust, need, flow and exchange 18
LESSONS LEARNED 50 interacting within a defined community or space. More formally, the Internews Center for Innovation &
findings 19
abbreviations and glossary 52 For anyone interested in improving information Learning (hereafter referred to as the Center) currently
Use of Media and Technology: Key Findings 21 access, flow and uptake in target communities, defines an information ecosystem as follows:
Information Flows: Key Findings TIMELINE 2012-2014 53
21 an understanding of Information Ecosystems are
Information ecosystems are complex adaptive
Understanding Trust appendix 1: research design 54 increasingly recognized as being key to the design
And Influence: Key Findings 22 systems that include information infrastructure,
Research Objectives 54 of appropriate and effective interventions. tools, media, producers, consumers, and sharers.
Interpreting the Key Findings 22
Methodology and Approach 54
They are complexes of dynamic social relationships;
Electricity Availability
Limits Use of Technology 24
Borrowed from environmental studies, the term information moves and transforms in flows. Through
“information ecosystem” is used to describe how information ecosystems, we can see information as a
Mobile – Significant Expansion Despite Cost 25
local communities exist and evolve within particular master resource, like energy, the lack of which makes
Internet Awareness Low - information and communication systems. Within these everything else more difficult.
Half the Population of Mon State
Doesn’t Know What The Internet Is 27 systems, different types of news and information may
be received from outside then passed on to others—
SMS and Internet Penetration – Complicated
by Illiteracy and Lack of Written Language 28 through word of mouth, key community members,
phone, the Internet, and the like. An examination of
Television – Overtaking radio in Urban Mon
State But Half of Mon State Residents Have an information ecosystem looks at the flow, trust, use
Never Watched 28 and impact of news and information.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS
Through information ecosystems,
Eight Critical Dimensions we can see information as a master
of Information Ecosystems resource, like energy, the lack of
which makes everything more difficult.
1. Information needs: Are they known to 5. Use: What does the audience / users do with
information producers? Are the needs of all the information? Does information facilitate civic
groups being served? Populations’ information engagement?
needs are diverse and changing.
6. Impact of information: How has information
2. Information landscape: What are the physical enabled or constrained individual and community
and institutional infrastructures that support opportunity, health, and economic development?
information production and flow? What are the How does the community organize around
characteristics of the information providers? different types of information? (How) has
What are the intermediary organizations: media, information informed community planning and
government, civic? Are they robustly equipped to action?
verify, filter, sort, and disseminate information?
7. Social trust: How do networks of trust
3. Production and movement: Are a variety of influence the flow and use of information? How
types of information available (e.g. government is trust built around information? Where are the
services, community news)? Who are the disruptions in trust tied to information (or its In late 2012, the Center started to experiment Despite the challenges of implementing this research,
producers of information and the owners of the lack)? What are the challenges in building trust with new methods to understand the information using and adapting techniques from the field of
means of production and dissemination? What is around information flows? dynamics of communities, particularly those in design and ethnographic research proved an excellent
the role of word of mouth, social media, bulletin restrictive environments where the usual quantitative approach to understanding from the ground-level the
boards? (How) are rapid changes in internet and 8. Influencers: Who are the people, organizations, and qualitative research approaches (surveying, complexities of information access and use in areas of
mobile media impacting the flow of information? and institutions that influence how information depth interviews, focus groups etc.) have inherent the Tribal Areas of Pakistan. This approach proved
What types of content are available and to whom? flows? Who builds trust and how? How do points limitations (logistics, security, accuracy). The capable not only of capturing the expected outputs of
How does our perspective on these dynamics shift of influence shift over time, especially during potential of ethnographic and design research to conventional research approaches, but also revealed
if information flows are framed as storytelling? disruption?14 reveal the intricacies of human experiences and subtle but significant nuances of the information
relationships within highly complex systems in environment, notably those related to trust, influence
4. Dynamic of access: What is the environment support of the creation of appropriate, innovation and adaptive behaviors using new technologies. 15
in which information flows (e.g. political, cultural, solutions clearly appeared as a potentially valuable
time, cost, and other factors)? How easy is it for approach for this study. Working alongside Reboot, Based on the work conducted in Pakistan, the Center
residents to access, find, use, and share different a social enterprise supporting improved global turned to focus on the unique opportunity afforded
types of information? What are the barriers to governance and development, the Center implemented by the rapid removal of political, economic, and social
participation? What about the broader structures a groundbreaking study investigating the information restrictions in Myanmar, to conduct research on the
that influence access: governance, legal, political, ecosystems in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas. flow of news and information in this previously tightly
economic, and infrastructural factors affecting controlled country, particularly the ethnic states.
access?
14 Internews Center for Innovation & Learning, “Information
Ecosystems Literature Review” (2014). 15 Internews Center for Innovation & Learning, “Trust, Influence,
and Connectivity – Understanding Information Ecosystems in
Pakistan’s Tribal Areas. A Design Research Approach” (2013).
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT THE RESEARCH
However, no surveys to date can claim to present specifically, the pilot aimed to capture an ecosystem
either comprehensive or granular data that allows for at a particular point in time, poised at the brink of
deep-dive analysis or comparative explorations of the profound change at the local and national level. Mon
different ways in which different population groups State is, after all, a local information ecosystem within
across Myanmar access and exchange information. a national one, both of them dynamic. The nature of
Little to no work has yet been done on looking at each and the convergent/divergent dynamics between
what factors contribute to differentiated information them are fascinating in and of themselves, especially
flows in various parts of the country, and therefore when their current and future manifestations are
little is understood about how best to ensure that considered in the light of the last half-century
people access information that could be useful to of Burma’s history. However the real utility and
them in their lives. Up until very recently, it has value of the ecosystem research perspective will be
been impossible to reach many of those areas where demonstrated over time, when repeat surveys and
citizen access to information and media consumption improvements to methodology and analysis will prove
M
has long been a mystery – notably the conflict areas. increasingly capable of identifying and understanding
edia access and consumption surveys have would-be researchers to guard against assumptions Some of these are still inaccessible today, and even the relationships between the multiplicity of factors
been conducted infrequently in Myanmar about information needs, especially in situations in the medium term future are likely to retain many that constitute an information ecosystem.
over the last decades. In one survey where research is being used to inform planning of the idiosyncratic dynamics described above for
information ecosystems associated with prolonged The report draws from quantitative and qualitative
conducted clandestinely in 1999 for internal use by for development or democracy and governance
conflict, politicization, militarization, ethnic identity research commissioned by the Internews Center for
one of the international broadcasters, respondents interventions. issues, underdevelopment, fear and mistrust of Innovation & Learning (the Center) from December
listed their top information needs as religious and government. 16, 2012 to January 5, 2013 in Mon State, Myanmar.
health information, with news featuring low on the Surveys by InterMedia and Gallup for the Broadcasting The research sampled respondents from across Mon
Board of Governors (BBG) have been conducted An important part of the Center’s exploration into State, and combines quantitative data from a 500
list of preferences.16 This finding seemed counter-
more regularly in the last 5 years, concerned largely understanding information ecosystems is developing household survey covering urban, rural, non-conflict,
intuitive to western pro-democracy expectations with assessing the reach and listenership of Voice of the tools and capacities to capture these dynamics in a and former conflict areas, with qualitative data from 12
that all the citizens of Burma were hungry primarily America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) shortwave rigorous, inclusive way. As a pilot study, the research in focus group discussions, 24 key informant interviews
for political news, and led researchers to warn radio and TV services. For many years these services, Mon State was primarily intended to provide a baseline and 12 photography-centered observations in both
that much of the information they gathered was with the BBC World Service and the Democratic Voice for the evolution of media and information systems non-conflict and former conflict areas. In-country
of Burma, were assumed to be a primary source of in the next months and years. However, another research was carried out through the services of field
probably unreliable as respondents would have been independent news and information for Burmese key objective was to support the iterative process of contractor Myanmar Survey Research (MSR).17
reluctant to speak openly about their information citizens, especially those in the conflict-affected designing appropriate tools and methods to provide
needs and consumption habits. In fact much of the ethnic states. In recent years the BBG surveys showed a broad view of the information and communication
research done since then, and right up to today, an increase in penetration of satellite TV, latterly FM environment alongside a level of granularity that
radio, and apparently robust audiences for all the speaks to the experience of individuals and reveals the
indicates that religious and health information does international services. In 2012 it noted many of the key complex nuances of trust, influence and information
in fact regularly rank highly in needs and listening media consumption trends present in the Internews flows.
habits of many citizens of Myanmar, frequently research in Mon State.
higher than political news. This story cautions Internews research in Mon State was carried out
primarily to trial a methodology capable of reflecting
an information ecosystem rather than just patterns
16 The survey findings contain proprietary information and are not 17 For details of the research and sample design, see Appendix Two
publicly available. of media dissemination and consumption. More – Research Design.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT the research - MAP
18
BAGO KAYIN
KYAIKTO BILIN
18,409 146,633
31,870 131.897 India
Relevance of Mon State Study to Myanmar as a whole
MAP
18 China
Laos Present day Mon State was created in 1974. Mon State state of Monland. In 1948, a Mon separatist movement
THATON is an administrative division of Myanmar. With a land began under the banner of the Mon Peoples Front
55.680 196,388 area of approximately 12,200km2, it is located between (MPF) and fighting broke out, just as other similar
Thailand Kayin State on the east and by the Andaman Sea on the ethnic rebellions were developing across the country.
West and shares a short border with Thailand to the
17°N
Southeast. The state capital is Mawlamyaing.19 By 1958, MPF separatists took up an offer of amnesty
Gulf of
MAWLAMYINE and accepted a ceasefire agreement. However, a
YANGON Martaban 208,089 69,160 In the absence of official data, the population of Mon new faction, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) took
State was estimated to be 3,193,000 in 2012. 20 The leadership of the armed resistance soon after. The
majority of this population are ethnic Mon who also NMSP and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation
PAUNG account for 2 percent of the population of Myanmar.21 Army (MNLA), continued armed struggle in Mon State
34,413 214,323 In Mon State there is a large number of ethnic Bamar, against the Myanmar military government for the next
KYAIKMARAW THAILAND as well as members of the Kayin and Pa-O ethnic 40 years, from their base in the Ye river valley, near the
14,611 198,786 groups and a small, dwindling Anglo-Burmese Thai-Myanmar border.
community. Many of these groups are isolated and
do not understand or speak Burmese. There is a Thai Following the fall of NMSP headquarters to the Burmese
CHAUNGZON
Community in Kyaikkami. The majority of people Army in 1990, ceasefire negotiations between the
6,223 151,209
MUDON are Buddhist. 22 Mon has three primary dialects, all government and the NMSP took place from 1993 until
53,018 160,453 mutually intelligible and area dependent – Central, Ye 1995. The NMSP signed a ceasefire with the military
and Bago. regime in 1995, which resulted in initial economic
Legend assistance from the central government, but no political
Population Density
Since independence in 1948, Myanmar has foremost negotiations.
(person/sq.km)
THANBYUZAYAT faced a challenge of national unity. In Mon State, a
< 100
32,335 137,615 Mon nationalist movement arose shortly after the end The ceasefire continued until 2010 when it broke down
100 - 200 of World War II, calling for an independent sovereign over refusal by the NMSP (along with other ethnic
200 - 400 minority armed groups across Myanmar) to surrender
· Map ID: MIMU841v03
Andaman Sea · Creation Date: 19 “Mon State,” Wikipedia, control of its armed forces to the central government
400 - 1000 6 February 2013.A3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_state (August 12, 2014).
· Projection/Datum:
and transform into a Border Guard Force under Burmese
1000 - 1984 20 “Myanmar,” City Population,
Geographic/WGS84 Army control. A new ceasefire agreement was reached
YE · Data Sources : http://www.citypopulation.de/Myanmar.html (August 12, 2014).
NUMBER OF PERSON 36,027 221,068 Population - HMIS (2011), 21 “Briefing: Myanmar’s ethnic problems,”
in February 2012, however, with no fighting occurring
Ministry of Health,
· Boundaries - WFP/MIMU
IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis, between the NMSP and the Burmese Army during the
http://www.irinnews.org/report/95195/briefing-myanmar-s-ethnic-problems
· Base Map - MIMU (August 12, 2014). interim.
info.mimu@undp.org
www.themimu.info 22 “Mon people,” Wikipedia,
URBAN RURAL TANINTHARYI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_people (August 12, 2014).
18 MIMU Myanmar Information Management Unit, http://www.themimu.info/.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT the research
arrest, torture, imprisonment or extra judicial killings
Information Ecosystems for “crimes” of meeting, expressing opinions and
under Military Rule imparting or exchanging news and information in any
way. Newspaper editors played cat-and-mouse games
with their censors on the Press Scrutiny Board, finding
subtle and convoluted ways to signal resistance or insert
Control and Propaganda sensitive topics into their articles, to the extent that
Under a succession of brutal and secretive military generations of Burmese talk about their skill in “reading
regimes, Burma was rendered one of the most isolated between the lines.”
countries in the world. With western sanctions in place,
limited access for tourists and draconian restrictions In parallel to strategies for information control,
on the activities of civil society and foreign NGOs, the regime in Burma devoted significant effort to
there were only narrow windows into the daily lives of disseminating propaganda not only through its
Burmese and ethnic citizens. These were provided by broadcast channels and state newspapers but also on
Burmese and international pro-democracy and human billboards in public places, at state events and other
rights activists and journalists operating covertly or citizen gatherings across the country. The signature
cross-border to gather and disseminate to the world messages of the regime promoted the military as the
information on the state of the country. protectors of the people and guardians of a “united
Burma,” and warned against the toxic influences of
Amongst the litany of human rights abuses reported foreigners and other agents of destabilization intent
Villagers watching movies in video theater - Kyaikhto, Mokekamaw Village during these dark decades, there ran an important on tearing the nation apart. The overwrought and
theme that is generally consistent across all despotic surreal style of the propaganda became something of
communicating with Myanmar citizens. The reasons regimes, that of restrictions on access to and exchange a joke amongst educated pro-democracy Burmese and
From Burma range from the drive to open commercial markets of information amongst citizens. This was evidenced westerners (as North Korea’s propaganda is today).
to Myanmar: Information to the promotion of governance and social and most clearly in the (now infamous) media regulatory However, the message of the state and the army as a
economic development. This holds especially true environment that ensured state monopoly of protector of the people against insidious foreign forces
Ecosystems at Work for the remotest, least developed and chronically broadcast media and entrenched tight control of print is one that has nationalistic resonance with Burmese
conflict-affected ethnic minority areas that will media through licensing and legal edicts hostile to the going back to colonial times. While it is to be expected
increasingly become the focus of interest for national principles and practice of independent journalism. that this kind of propaganda would have had little
Until recently, few might have predicted the political, and state government, the international development Burma languished for decades at the bottom of media traction in conflict-affected ethnic areas, it cannot
social and economic developments now taking place community, corporate investors and resource hungry freedom indexes.23 be assumed that it was wholly ineffective, or even
in Myanmar. For the first time in 50 years, Myanmar’s opportunists of all stripes. Yet in a country where unwelcome to many Burmese who spent their whole
military has eased its total control of the state, allowing control and manipulation of information was for There exists a wealth of documentation on the lives without access to alternative information.
a quasi-civilian government and the participation of so many years a central and fundamentally twisted suppression of media freedom and access to information
opposition political parties in parliament. Political feature of the relationship between state and citizen, in the country. All citizens, but especially those in For the purposes of understanding the significance of
prisoners have been released, ceasefire agreements and between citizens themselves, no straightforward the minority ethnic states, lived in fear of arbitrary information ecosystems in Myanmar, it is important
signed with rebel ethnic groups, and media censorship assumptions can (or should) be made about the ways to note that draconian laws governing media access
has significantly eased. in which people will access and utilize information in 23 According to Freedom House, in 2013 Myanmar continued to
and press freedoms, and the heavyweight propaganda
the rapidly morphing information ecosystems of the be classified as “Not Free.” Since 2005, the Press Freedom score
consistently rated in the mid to high 90’s, falling slightly in 2012
environment, were only a part of the country’s
The recent quasi-democratization of the country has future. to 85 and 72 in 2013. “Freedom of the Press,” Freedom House. overall information ecosystem. Under notorious
http://www.freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-press#.UzRDsK1dVk4 (August
created rapidly intensifying interest from a multitude 12, 2014). Military Intelligence Chief Khin Nyunt, the reach
of actors (local and international) in engaging and
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT the research
AS activists and journalists strove the Open Society Institute, the National Endowment would share their content by word of mouth. In
for Democracy and others. Through the late 90s and absence of the ability to conduct conventional audience
to source information and expose it to through the 2000s, thousands of small newspapers research, the effort to provide people in Burma
international attention, an enormous in Burmese and ethnic languages were produced and with independent information started to gear itself
effort was expended on maintaining moved through covert networks across the border. around more nuanced notions about the information
ecosystems that lay on the other side of the border. It
a flow of information into the country This supply effort was considered an important aspect was recognized, for instance, that in each ethnic state,
of the pro-democracy struggle, based largely on pro- and even in different parts of each ethnic state, the
democratic assumptions about demand, access and information arriving in communities through radio
of the state security apparatus was pervasive. His All these groups weighed in with the intention not reach inside the country. It presumed that many and newspapers would reach and spread amongst
units infiltrated almost every organization in the only of moderating the impact of propaganda with people in Burma distrusted state media and hungered citizens in uneven ways that would change over time,
country, and maintained networks of spies in almost independent information, but also to encourage and for independent news and information about political depending on external factors (i.e. balance of power
every neighborhood. These networks relied in turn support pro-democracy elements inside the country. developments (or lack of them) in the country. It was between the military and the ethnic armies, security,
on local informants who routinely passed along next to impossible to conduct any systematic audience transport, access to electricity and radio sets, and
snippets of information under coercion or to gain The tactic of introducing supplies of alternative surveys in the country, so evidence of the extent to even the personalities of key community figures or
favors or protection. Christina Fink’s aptly named information (or even outright counter-propaganda) which citizens accessed both shortwave radio signals military commanders who might facilitate or obstruct
“Living Silence: Life under Military Rule in Burma” to the information ecosystems of closed or contested and publications was anecdotal and patchy, gleaned information flows).
describes a society infected with fear and mistrust territories is as old as the strategy of propaganda from the distribution networks themselves, and from
that divided even close knit communities, family itself. From 1940 onwards, the BBC World Service in refugees and exiles arriving at the border. The success The relevance of this background to those seeking to
and friends. Information was both a precious and Burmese was a key source of news and information on of the supply effort had to be estimated primarily as understand and work with the concept of information
dangerous commodity, closely linked to notions of shortwave radio for citizens of Burma, a role that peaked a quantitative function of production+distribution. ecosystems is the way in which environments such
risk and power, traded through formal and informal in political significance during the student uprisings Broadcast footprints plus numbers of publications as Burma (closed states, restricted environments,
channels invested with a range of trust and attitude of 1988. During this time citizens in far-flung parts of coming off the presses were summed up to estimate media dark areas, conflict zones etc.) challenge us
factors by different parts of the population. “Living Burma were made aware that radical dissatisfaction the extent to which people became better informed to think about information dynamics beyond typical
Silence” describes an unusually highly charged and was being openly expressed in the capital. In the years about what was going on in their own country. What assumptions about (or measurements of) media
multi-faceted information ecosystem. that followed, the BBC Burmese service was joined on was (and still is) less well understood is the extent to supply and media consumption. It further challenges
shortwave by the Voice of America (VOA) Burmese which these efforts actually reached their intended us to consider the fact that the media is frequently not
Alternative Information Supply service and the official “voice of the pro-democracy audiences and whether the information was useful a primary source of information for the majority of
as a Pro Democracy Tactic movement” the Democratic Voice (DVB) of Burma to those audiences (i.e. did it meet their information citizens in these kinds of complex closed environments,
At the same time that activists and journalists strove out of Oslo. In Thailand a plethora of small activist needs and help them to make decisions relevant to and what the implications of that may be for reaching
to source information from inside the secretive state publications sprang up, some of them products of their lives?). people with information that can improve their lives.
and expose it to the radar of international attention, the information offices of the ethnic armies, many of In low tech and low literacy environments, the primary
an enormous amount of effort was expended on them intermittently published and of poor quality, New Perspectives: Supply vs Consumption mode of information exchange (flow) is likely to be word
trying to maintain a flow of news and information but all aiming (or claiming) to reach people inside As time went on and the sophistication of the nascent of mouth from family, friends, community leaders and
into the country. This came from the US, UK, Burma. The logistics of doing this were daunting, as Burma media community in exile grew, questions others, a mechanism intrinsically related to circles
Scandinavia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia the publications had to be hand smuggled across the arose around factors that might influence the spread of of trust and subject to a multitude of influences and
and a multitude of actors including the exiled wing of border, where carriers and readers alike could receive the information contained in the media disseminated, perceptions shaped by other community dynamics.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy a mandatory seven year sentence for possession of including literacy levels, ability of ethnic people
(NLD) party, exiled ethnic leadership, international this kind of literature. There was no paying market to read Burmese language, the likelihood that One example of this is the extent to which the Burmese
donor governments, civil society organizations, for these publications so they relied on international publications would be passed from hand to hand, and army itself became a significant source of information
human rights and media development organizations. grant funding and training supplied by Internews, the expectation that those who read the publications for the ethnic communities that it oppressed, not only
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGS
ABOUT the research
A few years ago, simply displaying a
Ecosystems picture of the opposition politician
in Political Transition in a Burmese newspaper would risk
arrest and imprisonment
Myanmar Media Landscape 2012-2014
Myanmar’s media landscape has changed dramatically
in the last two years since the 2010 election, the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and the particularly by satellite TV services, have expanded the evolving. In Mon State, Nay Pyi Daw Myanmar Radio
commencement of the current government-managed range of content and programming available within broadcasts Mon language programs, which have proved
reform process. A few years ago, simply displaying the country. These range from rich political discussion popular with many respondents, while MRTV does
a picture of the opposition politician in a Burmese via DVB-Burmese to a variety of entertainment, not have the appearance of being government-owned,
newspaper or on the streets of Yangon would risk arrest including popular Burmese and Korean soap operas running everything from music and food programming
and imprisonment. Foreign news sources such as the and even Myanmar Idol, a Burmese version of the to game shows.
BBC and Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Burmese exile popular music competition.
media including the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), For Internet, three providers exist in Myanmar: Red
The Irrawaddy, and Mizzima News, were outright However, despite Myanmar’s expanding media Link Communications, Sky Net MPS, and Yatanarpon
banned. Today, such restrictions on media access no choices, most options remain limited to urban centers Teleport. All three work under the regulation of state-
longer exist. Importantly, pre-publication censorship and entrenched in old interests. According to a report owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications
of all media has been abolished. In June 2011, the from Reporters Without Borders, “There are more (MPT), which controls all aspects of Myanmar’s
Myanmar government began easing media control by than 300 newspapers in Burma, of which around 100 communications sector, including landlines, street
7 Day News Journal - Kyaik Hto - Zay Yar Mon Ward allowing non-political newspapers to publish without are based in and around Rangoon and only about 30 phone kiosks, and mobile phones. At the current time,
first submitting all articles to the Press Scrutiny and cover the news.”24 Moreover, according to the NLD connecting to the Internet outside of Internet cafes
Registration Division (PSRD), the Orwellian-sounding elder statesman Win Tin, “Only 25 percent of the is beyond the financial reach of most of Myanmar’s
government censorship bureau. By August 2012, the newspapers are independent, that is to say, entirely citizens and the country still has one of the lowest
government had announced the end to prior censorship financed by the private sector. The other 75 percent degrees of internet penetration in the world: 1-2%.
for all publications, a practice that began in 1964 during are linked to military leaders.”25
through formal edicts, but counter intuitively, also the early days of General Ne Win’s military regime. Increased Access Does Not
through formal and less formal relationships that Publishers of exiled media, including Mizzima, DVB, Similarly, in TV and radio, the stations with the Necessarily Mean Better Informed
developed between soldiers and citizens in areas where and Irrawaddy, have now officially entered Myanmar most extensive reach and popularity remain in the It is intuitive to think that an overall increase in the
they lived in close contact for decades. The ethnic and set up bureaus in Yangon. In April, for the first time government’s hands—state-run Nay Pyi Daw Myanmar supply of media inputs channeled to local and national
armies (often highly mobile) were also key sources of since the 1960s, the government began allowing private Radio National Service (Nay Pyi Daw Myanma Ah-Than) information ecosystems will result in all citizens
information for citizens in conflict zones. Meanwhile daily newspapers to print. has served as a government mouthpiece and had little becoming “better informed.” Similar assumptions
state radio was the most accessible media source to all in the way of entertainment programs, while popular lie behind Communication for Development
parties – a ubiquitous kind of information “wallpaper” Media choices in Myanmar are growing quickly MRTV is a joint venture between the government and approaches that inject public service messages into
common to all. Such a situation raises intriguing and offer the prospect of greater choice and range the private firm Forever Group Ltd. Still, even these are target communities. There is, however, a body of
questions about citizen attitudes towards choice, of viewpoints, but remain primarily defined by the evidence that suggests these assumptions are not
agency and trust in ecosystems where information has mainstream media that vary in accessibility and necessarily well founded: that both media content and
24 Reporters Without Borders,
traditionally been owned and transmitted primarily quality. Newspapers have been proliferating in “Burmese Media Spring” (December 2012). C4D messages can easily miss their mark, and that
by those vested with some sort of authority. the cities while new television programs, driven 25 Ibid. unintended consequences can ensue. For those who
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGSABOUT the research
wish to see an increase in both the quantity and quality on the press’s responsibility to society than on the
of content feeding into local information ecosystems freedom of the press. Moreover, the ways the laws are
as a way of enhancing development or democracy being crafted gives significant power to the state to
and governance goals, it will be important to temper disrupt the media environment through business and
runaway excitement about Myanmar’s “opening” licensing practices rather than through the brute force
with an understanding of some of the constraints of censorship. Thus its controls can be quite powerful
and idiosyncrasies in the country’s national and local but less visible.”
information ecosystems. It is the contention of this
paper that a better understanding of the information How Information Permeates: trust,
ecosystem of any given community is crucial in need, flow and exchange
order to improve the chances of information actually Methodologies for analyzing local information
reaching its destination. ecosystems in historically marginalized areas like
Mon State introduce a layer of complexity to the
In a recent report for Internews entitled “The Business overarching supply equation by revealing localized
of Media in Myanmar,” leading media management “demand side” factors such as patterns of access, flow
consultant Michelle Foster26 warns of the emergence and exchange as functions of trust and need. What
of significant pressures on the media environment, this means is that even where surveys show expanding
primarily legal and economic. The report serves to audiences in Myanmar accessing new radio, TV and
highlight one of the most important supply equations internet channels, questions need to be asked about
that lies at the heart of any information ecosystem: the quality of news and information available, and how
that is the relationship between information access readily it is able to permeate effectively into complex
(the channels of delivery) and the quality (relevance, local information ecosystems across large swathes of
utility) of the information available on those channels. the country.
“The government, which has always monopolized the There exists the risk that under the guise of
broadcast sector, now is exerting equal dominance in increased media access, the formerly “information
the print field. Although it claims to be converting dark” ecosystems which prevailed across much of
into a public service media organization, it continues the country under military rule may be seamlessly
to hold unfair advantages that directly and indirectly replaced with “information lite” ecosystems in which
affect the ability of independent media to succeed. unsophisticated media audiences consume primarily
It has converted its journals to daily newspapers, entertainment and “managed” news content. This
charges only 50 kyats for them wholesale (compared sleight of hand would replicate the information
to 140-170 kyats for the independent dailies) and uses ecosystems of the “disciplined democracies” of
its military transportation infrastructure to ensure Singapore, Malaysia and China - to which Myanmar
nationwide daily distribution of more than 200,000
copies. The various media laws, well-detailed
elsewhere, are being set up to operate under the “social
aspires - by (at best) doing nothing to foster the
development of an informed citizenry and (at worst)
perpetuating state influence over the architecture of
findings
responsibility model”… that places more emphasis public information and discourse.
26 This report can be accessed here:
https://internews.org/sites/default/files/resources/Internews_Burma_Business_
Report2014.pdf Mobile phone shop Mawlamyaing - Pan Bae Dan Ward.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
part one: rese arch findings PART ONE: RESEARCH FINDINGSfindings
W
hilst Myanmar’s ethnic states are Mon State therefore provides an excellent opportunity
enormously diverse, they do share key to case study an environment that remained Use of Media and Technology: Key Findings
information dark in many respects during these
features in terms of underdevelopment,
periods of turmoil. It also contains significant areas • 67% of respondents in Mon • 21% of respondents own a • 100% of radio listeners have heard
remoteness, and their history of conflict and political that can broadly be divided into those that were State have a TV and DVD/ mobile phone. 54% of all urban of Nay Pyi Daw Myanmar Radio
repression. Of all the conflict-affected ethnic states relatively unscathed by conflict – termed “non-conflict VCD player in their home. respondents have a mobile National Service, Myanmar’s state-
phone in their household, while run national radio service. 98%
in Myanmar at the time of the research, Mon State areas” for the purpose of this analysis -- and “former • TV use is highest in urban areas.
47% own one themselves. have listened to its programs.
conflict” areas. Comparison of these two types of In rural or former conflict areas,
offered the most stable and accessible environment access to TV stations without • Only 2% of mobile phone users use • Two other domestic radio stations
areas allows for another important element in the a satellite connection is either their phones to access the Internet. are highly popular, Padauk Myay
for research in former conflict and non-conflict understanding of how information flows are exposed challenging or not possible. and Shwe FM. Each are known
• In former conflict areas, radio is
areas. Research in Mon State might bring to light to different kinds of internal and external disruptions. by close to 90% of radio listeners
• Radio use has declined in Mon the main preferred technology
and listened to by over 80%.
findings that could be expected to broadly correlate State overall as access to TV source for news and information.
However, beyond the Myanmar/Mon State context, the and electricity has improved. • Weekly journals and newspapers
to the contexts of other ethnic states. • 90% or more of radio listeners have
research methodology piloted here has the potential • 77% of the sample did heard of the BBC, VOA, and RFA
are typically only available in
towns, and rarely in villages.
The Mon State pilot research has particular value in to supply important insights into how information not have access to grid- radio stations, but only 60% have
attempting to describe the information ecosystem ecosystems help determine a community’s ability connected electricity. listened to programs on them. • 98% of respondents have never
used the Internet. Over 70% either
of a target community situated at an unprecedented to thrive by metabolizing change. This is a key
do not know what the Internet is
tipping point in the history of a closed society. Future determinant of community resilience. Such insights or do not know how to use it.
iterations of this research in Mon State will make an in turn can further an understanding of the role that
important contribution to ongoing analysis of the role healthy information ecosystems may play in the ability Information Flows: Key Findings
played by local and national information ecosystems of communities to adapt to future change including
in the political, economic and social development of shocks such as natural disasters, conflict, or major • The most common sources of • Information is most often • Only 2% of the sample—
Myanmar. political events. news and information are radio, shared by word of mouth business owners, professionals,
friends and family, and TV. (88% of respondents), while military, and students—strongly
just 5% of respondents share viewed themselves as a source
• TV is the most important source
news over the phone. Just of information for others.
in urban areas (used by 62%
1% share by email or SMS.
of urban respondents), while • Over 26% of respondents in
radio is the most important • The most frequently shared types former conflict areas do not
source in rural areas (used by of information are disaster news share news and information at all.
62% of rural respondents). or weather forecasts (shared However, qualitative interviews
by 79% of respondents), health revealed an active network of
• In the former conflict areas where
information (67%), religious information exchange before
access to news and information is
information (57%), and news the ceasefire to protect villagers
most limited, trusted interpersonal
about ethnic conflict (54%). from the location of landmines
sources are the most used.
or potential battle zones.
• Less than one-third of
• Currently, just 1% of respondents
respondents saw themselves • Despite the prominence of
use the Internet to get news
as a disseminator of news and monks in recent political events in
and information. Qualitative
information to other members Myanmar, such as the 2007 “Saffron
interviews indicated that university
of the community. Most news is Revolution,” respondents in Mon
students use the Internet more
passed on to friends and family. State did not consider monks to
than any other demographic.
be a source of political news or
An Internet information, and only sought them
cafe in out for religious information.
Mawlamyine
town.
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INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS in transition: a case study from myanmar how to inform, empower, and impact communities
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