''Myanmar Now'' () is a

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency ma ...

based in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(Burma). ''Myanmar Now'' journalists publish bilingual Burmese and English articles on an eponymous online news portal. The agency provides free syndication throughout the country, with a distribution network of over 50 national and local media outlets that regularly republish its stories. , ''Myanmar Now'' had a readership of over 350,000, and a team of 30 journalists. The news service is noted for its in-depth reporting on high-impact issues, including

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, and

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

History

''Myanmar Now'' was established by the

Thomson Reuters Foundation Thomson Reuters Foundation is a London-based charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, a Canadian news conglomerate. The Foundation is registered as a charity in the United States and United Kingdom and is headquartered in Canary Wharf, London. Ant ...

in 2015 to support in-depth independent journalism, in the lead-up to the

2015 Myanmar general election General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2015, with the National League for Democracy winning a supermajority of seats in the combined national parliament. Voting occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by the mili ...

. The news service officially launched in August of that year. The agency is led by Swe Win, its chief correspondent and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

. Its founding chief correspondent was Thin Lei Win, a

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

journalist. Since the inception of the news service, several ''Myanmar Now'' journalists, including Swe Win, have been threatened and assaulted by military and legal authorities for their work. After the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

, the military junta cracked down on independent journalism in the country. Authorities detained ''Myanmar Now'' journalists, including Kay Zone Nwe. On 8 March 2021, soldiers raided the ''Myanmar Now'' headquarters, before the military junta revoked operating licenses of ''Myanmar Now'' and four other media outlets, namely Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Khit Thit Media, and 7Day News, amidst the ongoing protests.

Awards

In 2016, Htet Khaung Lin, a ''Myanmar Now'' journalist, was awarded the European Commission's Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, for a piece on underage sex workers in Myanmar. That same year, it received an honorable mention in the Society of Publishers in Asia Awards for investigative reporting, namely a piece on the 969 Movement. In 2019, Swe Win won the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...

for Emergent Leadership, for his leadership in fostering journalistic integrity and quality in Myanmar as ''Myanmar Now'''s editor-in-chief. In a group with other collaborating news organizations, ''Myanmar Now'' was awarded an

Online Journalism Award The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of digital journalists headquartered in Washington D.C., United States. The founding members first convened in December 1999 in Chicago. The group include ...

for "2020 Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships", specifically for reporting on pangolins. In June 2022, ''Frontier Myanmar'' won the SOPA Award for Excellence in Human Rights Reporting for "Human responses to the junta's cruelty."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MyanmarNow Burmese news websites News agencies based in Myanmar 2015 establishments in Myanmar Mass media in Yangon

History

Awards

See also

References

External links