Journalists, take notes.
Local and foreign reporters covering Myanmar’s historic vote in November will need to sign a form agreeing to follow the Union Election Commission’s (UEC) rules, according to Information Minister Ye Htut.
The senior official and government spokesman told Radio Free Asia that the UEC will set those guidelines for local and foreign media, but he didn’t specify what the rules might be or when this supposed form will be handed out.
“The Information Ministry does only one thing, and that is providing [one-month] visas for foreign journalists who are covering election news, but they have to cover it by following the election commission’s rules and regulations as well,’ he told RFA.
To get an idea of how open this election is going to be for the media, you need only read this quote.
“I can say that they [journalists] will have much more media freedom compared to previous elections, but our definition of ‘full media freedom’ and theirs might be different,” Ye Htut told RFA.
While Ye Htut didn’t spell out the guidelines, the UEC has already come under fire for attempting to micromanage movement of journalists on election day.
Photo / Coconuts Yangon
