We were visiting Myanmar just a few weeks ago and were amazed at how our cab driver on our drive downtown from the airport was speaking about the need for better democracy, freedoms, and a clamp-down on military powers in his country.
Meanwhile, many Hong Kong journalists are apologetic about the dictatorship in the North which has relentlessly silenced opposition and criticism, has reinstated concentration camps where it has parked hundred of thousand of people, and has displayed imperialistic tendencies in the South China Sea.
I thought refreshing to hear journalists in Myanmar speaks about freedom-of-the press.
"By SU MYAT MON | FRONTIER
LAST MONTH, I was among a group of nine Myanmar journalists and activists who travelled to the United States to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program hosted by the US State Department.
I was aware that there is a relatively free press in the US, but I did not fully understand why until the trip.
We visited The Post-Standard newspaper and the WSYR-TV television station in Syracuse, New York and the Newseum, an interactive museum dedicated to free expression in Washington, D.C.
I learned that press freedom in the US is enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution adopted on December 15, 1791.
It states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Many media establishments in the US, including respected newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, have been the subject of tart criticism from President Donald Trump since he took office at the start of 2017. He has gone as far as labelling American media whose reporting he does not like as the “enemy of the state”.
Trump’s tirades against sections of the press have been relentless but have not affected the coverage of his administration by publications and broadcasters that practice ethical journalism.
I came to understand during the trip that journalists in the US are able to report without fear or favour because the First Amendment protects them."
https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/myanmar-needs-a-first-amendment
