The Democratic Voice of Burma ( my, ဒီမိုကရေတစ်မြန်မာ့အသံ, abbreviated DVB) is one of Myanmar's largest independent media organisations. DVB was founded as a non-profit media organization based in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Run by Burmese expatriates, it made

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

broadcasts aimed at providing uncensored news and information about

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Since 2012 DVB gradually moved back into Burma, where it became one of the country's largest and most well-respected TV broadcasters. In March 2021, the organisation was banned by Burma's military dictatorship and moved back underground. In July 1992, DVB began broadcasting programming into Burma from studios in

and transmitting via

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

radio from the Norwegian transmitter at Kvitsoy. Now the broadcast is sent via

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

and free-to-air

digital tv Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

. On May 28, 2005, DVB expanded its programming and began

television broadcasts into the country. The organization stated that it hoped to reach some ten million Burmese through this new effort (which it claims is the first free and independent

Burmese language Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the coun ...

television channel), which was funded in part by

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

s such as

Free Voice of the Netherlands Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

, the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

, and the

Freedom of Expression Foundation Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

. In 2012, DVB started multimedia operations inside Myanmar openly, running a branch office with its former underground VJs. On March 24, 2018, DVB started broadcasting on

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

MRTV Myanmar Radio and Television ( my, မြန်မာ့အသံနှင့်ရုပ်မြင်သံကြား, abbreviated MRTV), formerly the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS), is the parent of the state-run Myanmar Radio National ...

DVB-T2 DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial tele ...

multiplex system. Following the violent military coup staged on 1 February 2021, the Burmese Military began systematically cracking down on freedom of speech within the country. On 8 March, DVB—along with four other networks—were banned by the junta. The arrests and torture of journalists is an ongoing theme of Burma's 2021 military coup. Thus far, five DVB staff have been detained or arrested following violent abductions performed by the Burmese military. In the first half of 2021, the police in Thailand arrested three journalists. They face the charge of illegal entry into Thailand.Arrest of journalists a litmus test for how Thailand treats those fleeing persecution in Myanmar
/ref> DVB's work has been used by news networks the world over
Myanmar's Military Ambitions
an expose of the Burmese military's nuclear ambition, was broadcast by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

in 2011. The PBS documentary
Eyes of the Storm
is an account of 2008's Cyclone Nargis shot largely by DVB film makers. The Oscar nominated documentary, Burma VJ, recounts the experiences of DVB reporters during Burma's 2007 Saffron Revolution.

Mission

DVB states that it has four primary goals: *the provision of "accurate and unbiased news to the people of Burma" *to "promote understanding and cooperation" among Burma's religious and ethnic populations *to "encourage and sustain independent public opinion" and to provide for "social and political debate" *to "impart the ideals of democracy and human rights" to the Burmese people

References

External links

Official websiteNBC News report (video)
Dawna Friesen, "Myanmar regime trying to suppress protestors", September 26, 2007
Burmese officer wants asylum in Norway

Live streaming on Livestation''Eyes of the Storm''
PBS documentary shot primarily by Democratic Voice of Burma {{Authority control International broadcasters Mass media in Myanmar Human rights in Myanmar Burmese democracy movements Television channels in Myanmar Radio stations established in 1992

Mission

See also

References

External links