Indeed, the Rakhine crisis serves as a barometer of Nay Pyi Taw's attitude toward information dissemination and sharing with the local media. Without adequate and timely reports by local media, foreign media will continue to serve as the primary source of information on the crisis. Until 2015, the press freedom indexes of key international media freedom monitoring organisations placed Myanmar among the top four in the 10-member Asean. As a result, they focused on three broad areas -- public media law, freedom of information legislation and professional training. To sustain the government's public support, local media must be given a bigger space and wider access to information.

Source: Bangkok Post December 11, 2017 23:37 UTC