Free Burma Radio, Live from Mandalay
When a free society breaks down entirely, you begin to feel the usual normalcies start to leave one by one. These include bank closures, food shortage, lack of medical resources, loss of basic rights, restrictions on travel, etc. Another way this crude transition begins to manifest is through the censorship of any verified and accurate media coverage. We have certainly seen this in Myanmar already, where a once thriving print and news culture now has no “legal” independent journalism left, apart from the lies of state media. Since February 1, journalists have been routinely harassed, arrested, threatened, tortured, abducted, imprisoned, and even killed.
So worried is the regime about the possibility of their shameful brutality being shared outside their borders that they have even pushed the Thai authorities to arrest fleeing Burmese journalists. The generals have also been making Internet increasingly harder to access, raiding homes of prominent social influencers, and even punishing anyone who dares post on social media.
This context has made the work of Taw Hlan Hlaing FM all the more remarkable. To resist these attempts to control and suppress information from getting out, several volunteers set this platform up as a means to facilitate news and opinion sharing, and ensure that this communication can continue even in these harsh times.
We firmly believe that an important part of this revolution is that free speech continues to have some means of surviving, and so we have applied part of your donation to support the mission of Taw Hlan Hlaing FM. Although they do not yet broadcast in English, they are careful to be inclusive of the many diverse communities within their country, as they have programs in not only Burmese language, but also Kachin, Shan, etc. This ensures that their reach extends to places where the junta has tried (unsuccessfully, so far), to cut off all media access.
Your donation will allow this online radio to sustain and even increase their work. They will be able to get much needed equipment and even send their reporters deeper into the field.
However, their real dream is the purchase of a large FM transmitter, so that their information can be spread and broadcast deeper into the country. Please consider contributing what you can to support their work!