Several Burmese media organisations boycotted the 65th International Press Institute’s World Congress, which was held in Yangon for the first time from 27 to 29 March.
U Soe Myint, the organiser of the congress and chief editor of Mizzima said: “It is their right to hold a boycott, but this is not a government organised congress. Among the panelists there are government officers and National League for Democracy (NLD) members. There will also be discussions between the authorities and the media.”
He said the IPI Congress will discuss topics of importance to the media such as press freedoms and the role of media in elections.
Because journalists have been beaten and unfairly imprisoned by the authorities the Myanmar Journalist’s Network (MJN) are urging Myanmar journalists to boycott the IPI Congress because the government information minister is attending.
The Facebook page of U Mint Kyaw, the general secretary of the MJN, said: “We urge Myanmar journalists to boycott the IPI International Congress being held on 27 to 29 March, which the information minister will be attending. We would like to also say that this is not a boycott of the IPI Congress, we are only boycotting [this Congress] because we do not want to cooperate with the government information ministry.”
Ko Nyan Soe Lin, the coordinator of the Southern Myanmar Journalists Network (SMJN) said: “The president and the information minister are responsible in the matters of beatings, arrests and imprisonment of journalists. If the minister does not attend we may join the congress. If people responsible [for arrests of journalists] attend we will boycott the event.”
Similarly, the editors from Burma News International (BNI), an ethnic media umbrella organisation, decided not to participate in the IPI Congress.
People who were due to talk at the conference included: Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize winner; David Kaye, the UN representative for freedom of speech; Austin Beutner, the publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times; Ohmur Chemur, an investigative reporter from Pakistan; U Ye Htut, the Burmese Information Minister; Charlie Sennott, the founder and multi-sector editor of the Global Post; and Jim Clancy, an ex-broadcaster and ex-reporter from CNN.
Panel Discussions included discussions on: press ownership models and the freedom of editors; the role of investigative journalism; challenges for ethical news coverage of conflicts and crises; hate speech; and the how to develop journalism in a global market place.
IPI was established in 1950 and is one of the most prominent and oldest organisations to promote press freedom. It is a network that includes prominent editors, media executives and journalists with members in over 100 countries.
The World Congress is a major IPI event where hundreds of editors and journalists who are responsible for front pages across the world can meet together along with top media executives.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
