Soe Thein

The media landscape in Burma is more open than ever, as President Thein Sein releases imprisoned journalists and abolishes the former censorship regime. But many threats and obstacles to truly unfettered reporting remain, including restrictive laws held over from the previous military regime. The wider government’s commitment to a...

A short article posted on Foreign Policy's website by veteran journalist Soe Thein (also known by his pen name Maung Wuntha) is a seasoned perspective

Just ahead of this weekend's highly anticipated Burma by-elections, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi today denounced the vote as not "free and fair." Indeed, Thein Sein government's harassment of opposition media in the run-up to the polls raises disturbing questions about the country's reputed new democratic direction after...

When President Thein Sein pardoned over 300 political prisoners last week in Burma, CPJ reported that at least nine journalists were among those released. Since then, the exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) has announced that all of its jailed reporters, including a group of eight who had remained...

Bangkok, January 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of nine journalists who were freed as part of a mass release of at least 600 political prisoners in Burma on Friday, but calls on President Thein Sein to release reporters still being held in detention and to...

Thein Sein’s new civilian government has promised reform, but authorities continue to censor and imprison journalists. Those who report for critical, exile-run media remain at great risk. A CPJ special report by Shawn W. Crispin...

A conflicted European Union considers a new approach toward Burma. Press freedom advocates and human rights defenders are wary. By Jean-Paul Marthoz...

Burma's newly installed democratic government has sent tentative signals that it intends to allow for more media openness as the country transitions from military to civilian rule. The continued detention of more than 2,100 political prisoners, including as many as 25 journalists, however, belies President Thein Sein's recent press-promoting...

h7 {float:none;width:auto;height:auto;font-family:sans-serif;font-weight:normal; margins:5px;} Top Developments • Junta bars foreign reporters, censors speech prior to national election. • Aung San Suu Kyi freed, but government still jails journalists, critics. Key Statistic 13: Journalists imprisoned as of December 1, the fourth‐highest figure in the world. After nearly five decades of uninterrupted...

Burma's military junta imposed tighter internet restrictions after the Saffron Revolution. But news continues to flow thanks to the exile-run media and their resilient undercover reporters....