SEAPA Alert: Burmese censors go digital, journalists alarmed

SEAPA Alert: Burmese censors go digital, journalists alarmed
10 March 2009
Source: Mizzima News

The media in Burma are alarmed at the plan of the junta's Press
Scrutiny and Registration Board--better known as the Censors'
Board--to censor the digital copies of articles to be published in
Burmese journals and magazines.



Burmese journalists said they see this new system as impractical as
the Internet speed in the country is too slow for downloading and
uploading of such a big amount of files.

Also, an editor who usually deals with the Censors' Board said this
new system which uses digital and electronic media to censor
articles will enable the censors to manipulate the contents of each
article as they can easily insert the text they themselves have
written.

The editors and publishers of literary journals, newspapers and
magazines currently submit hard copies of their forthcoming
articles to the Censors' Board. The board will soon require them to
submit soft copies stored in either CD or memory stick.

This new system will be introduced first to weekly journals and
will be later expanded to other print media, according to one of
the censors.

The board will read and evaluate the articles through a computer
system linked together with LAN.

In the first stage, printed copies of the censored articles and
layouts will be sent back to the print media concerned, followed by
their corresponding soft copies. After the publication has
incorporated the revisions made by the censors, the edited soft
copies will be sent back for final approval.

A staff from this department said that a trial run is being
conducted.

Another Censors' Board official said that the current system of
requiring print media outlets to submit two thirds of the total
pages one week before the publication date, with the rest to be
submitted 2-3 days prior to publication, will remain unchanged.

Aside from revising and deleting certain pictures, illustrations
and texts of the publications, the Censors' Board also asks the
various government ministries and departments whether to delete or
not news and articles written about them.
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Mizzima News (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=92apN&m=1e4Oe8NI2jKXin&b=7ERePGMwSyBAuz0prYAk3A) is a news organization
headquartered in New Delhi, India, run by exiled Burmese
journalists. A SEAPA partner, it aims to promote awareness about
the situation in Burma and promote democracy and freedom of
expression in the country.