Govt Media Crank Up Propaganda

Ten days ahead of a general election, one of Burma's main state-run newspapers has cranked up its propaganda in an editorial criticizing the opposition parties, armed ethnic groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and Burmese media in exile.

On Oct. 28, in a lengthy Pidgin English article in The New Light of Myanmar, columnist Dagonthar ran attacks on everything from the student demonstrations of 1988 to expatriate Burmese to the now defunct Communist Party of Burma.

Dagonthar also accused opposition parties, NGOs and The Irrawaddy of profiteering from the coffers of the international community.

“For them [the expatriate Burmese opposition], the most important thing is not the success of democracy revolution, but prolonging democracy revolution. Only then, can they keep on leading a life of luxury,” the columnist said.
The article also alleged that those who seek to boycott the election do not want change.


“No wonder they refuse to accept the concept that democracy transformation should go step by step through the upcoming election and are resolutely opposing the election and the change,” the article said. “In fact, the expatriates prefer to the rule of military government so that they can tell hard-luck stories about Myanmar people and deceive money from the donors.”

Observers interpret the editorial as intimating that democratic reform in Burma is a threat to the lifestyles of Burmese expatriates because they will no longer be able to request funding from international donors.

The Burmese military junta regularly utilizes the country's media to blame the pro-democracy opposition and armed ethnic groups for bomb blasts in the country, and routinely refers to the groups as “terrorists.” The regime also routinely blames media organizations such as the British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC), Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) for causing violence, generating public outrage and sowing hatred among Burmese people.

In Thursdays' article, the newspaper also highlighted The Irrawaddy, saying that the Danish government is “fed up” with the magazine and has stopped funding US $1 million annually to the Chiang Mai-based news group.

Dagonthar estimated that of the $1 million that the Danish government handed over to The Irrawaddy, only $15,000 per year was used to publish the magazine, leaving $985,000 as “miscellaneous expenses of boss U Aung Zaw and other 62 staff of the magazine.”

Win Thu, the office manager of The Irrawaddy, denied that any Irrawaddy staff member received any unauthorized payments, and said the magazine received only $70,000 annually from Denmark, beginning in 2008.

“All the Burmese state-run media's accusations are groundless—as always,” he said.

Source:http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19860

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