In response to a media blackout in Arakan State, local journalists have launched a free journal to provide residents with accurate information about the latest developments in the state.
Local journalists distributed more than 200 copies of the Arakkadesh journal in Thandwe, Myebon, Mrauk-U and Minbya - townships that have been liberated by the Arakkha Army (AA).
"Arakan State has lost phone and internet services. People don't know what is happening, and they don't have access to correct information," explained Ko Teza Aung, the lead journalist behind the publication. "This journal aims to provide people with correct information amid the news blackout."
Arakkadesh, first published in the second week of October, will be a biweekly journal featuring news reports, feature articles, and educational pieces about the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance. The next issue will be distributed free on November 1.
Phone and internet services have been cut off in Arakan State, where power cuts are also a daily fact of life, making it almost impossible for people to share information.
Meanwhile, the average unit cost of a journal has increased from 600 kyats before the 2021 coup to 16,000 kyats now, according to local media outlets that are struggling to publish journals due to power cuts and shortages of production materials.
Editor-in-Chief U Aung Marm Oo of Development Media Group (DMG) said: "We need equipment and paper to publish a journal. We don't have electricity now. We also have financial constraints. But we are trying to publish a journal next year."
DMG published the 'Development News Journal' from July 2012 to 2019, when publication was halted as the Ministry of Information refused to renew the news outlet's publishing licence.
Arakan State residents said news journals would contribute greatly to public access to accurate information at a time when false news is rampant amid escalating fighting in Arakan State.
"Even if we can't immediately know what is happening today, we want to know it tomorrow," said one Ponnagyun resident. "We feel like we are detached from the world when we don't know about things in real time."
