Asia Buzz: Paper Wars

AN STYLE="font-size: 75%; color:#990000; font-weight:bold">Thursday, May. 24, 2001 I have to hand it to Ross Dunkley. A little over a year ago, the Australian businessman set up shop in Rangoon and started publishing a weekly English- language newspaper called The Myanmar Times & Business Weekly. Convincing one of the world's most restrictive military governments to give this venture a shot was a major achievement. Despite the fact that Dunkley has yet to turn a profit, against some long odds his paper is still going strong.

But as refreshing as it is to have another journalistic voice in such a censored environment, when I find myself in Rangoon I can't help but turn to the state- run daily, The New Light of Myanmar, while sipping my morning cup of coffee. Maybe it's brand loyalty. Or maybe I'm just conservative. But I can't seem to resist the faded, smudged and black-and-white charm of the regime's own broadsheet.

The Myanmar Times has restaurant reviews and entertainment listings, and snapshots of local celebrities, starlets and socialites. It runs front-page photos of the government setting seized narcotics alight with headlines like "Burn baby, burn.'' The New Light, on the other hand, sticks to the important issues of the day and handles them with dignity and reserve, as evidenced by a sampling of headlines from last Saturday's front page. "Commander inspects Centre for Ancient Myanmar Manuscripts.'' "Minister receives Indian entrepreneurs.'' "Commander attends opening of multimedia classrooms.'' "Mayor inspects Agriculture and Livestock Breeding Project." And the particularly enlightening, "Minister receives foreign guest.''

Thanks to The New Light, the Burmese can sleep comfortably at night secure in the knowledge that their ministers, mayors and commanders are earning their prodigious salaries by zealously inspecting, attending and receiving. There is no slacking off in this government.

I must confess, however, to being slightly disappointed in the editors of The New Light. Perhaps feeling the pressure of competition for the first time, they seem to be succumbing to sensationalism. Just look at the headline on the lead story of one recent edition. "Failure to nurture youth to have clear national outlook will lead to end of their life under uncertain circumstances.'' Myanmar's young people must be spiraling down in a cesspool of drugs, wanton sex and violence to have justified such a clarion call.

But where the Myanmar Times simply can't match the New Light is in its editorials; the Times doesn't have any. The New Light regularly rails against "axe-handles, traitors, neocolonialists, democracy princesses and wicked Siamese who are bad neighbors, crooks and the centre of prostitution.'' You can't beat that for entertainment value.

Maybe it's because Dunkley is a foreigner and is relatively new in town, but his paper also seems to be woefully out of touch with the average Burmese citizen. How else to explain the startling omission of this box that appears prominently in every single issue of the New Light:

People's Desire
* Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views.
* Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the State and progress of the nation.
* Oppose foreign nations interfering in the internal affairs of the State.
* Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy.

Movie stars, restaurants and snappy headlines? If you want to sell newspapers, Dunkley, you better give the people what they want.