Myanmar media guide

Myanmar Times newspaper with the headline 'State of Emergency' among other newspapers for sale are seen on display a day after Myanmar's army detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's president in a coup. February 2021Getty Images

February 2021: Myanmar newspapers the day after the army detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup

The 2021 coup "shattered the media landscape" and the junta - which "tolerates no alternative to its narrative" - quickly banned outspoken outlets, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

By the end of 2022, Myanmar had the third-highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world, after Iran and China, says the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

The state media "are just propaganda outlets that receive scant attention from the population", says RSF.

Critical outlets operate underground or from exile. Some other outlets "tread a delicate path between trying to inform their fellow citizens and the need to not offend the generals". 

Foreign broadcasters serving audiences in Myanmar include the BBC, Voice of America, and US-backed Radio Free Asia.The junta has repeatedly restricted online connectivity by ordering internet shutdowns and blocks, says Freedom House. It says mobile service providers must block all websites, except for 1,200 addresses approved by the military. 

There were 28.5 million internet users by July 2022, comprising 52% of the population (Internetworldstats.com).

Press

Television

Radio

  • Myanmar Radio - state-run, operated by MRTV

  • City FM - run by Rangoon City Development Committee

  • Shwe FM - commercial

News agency/Online

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