Burmese democrats are today marking the anniversary of 8 August 1988 (8-8-88), the highpoint of a large-scale uprising against a one-party state in which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and forced the regime’s strongman, Gen. Ne Win, to resign. The hopes of the demonstrators were dashed five weeks later, on 18 September 1988, when the military staged a coup that left 3,000 dead. To commemorate this sad annivsary, Reporters Without Borders is publishing an interview with the editor of the Burmese exile news magazine Irrawaddy, Aung Zaw, who was forced to flee abroad after the September military coup.

Tell us about the composition of Irrawaddy’s staff and how it functions ? Irrawaddy has its headquarters in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, and employs 35 people, including. Our journalists often go to the border to cover Burma-related events. We also have correspondents in Burma or on the border between Burma and Thailand and Burma and India. A small team of journalists works for us from Burma, enabling us to gather news and information from inside the country as it is happening. The reprisals they could incur force them to work clandestinely. One of our journalists was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1995 just for doing his job as a reporter. We also get information from sources who work for the regime or who are close to it.

Irrawaddy is interested in all subjects – economic, political, social and cultural – both in Burma and the rest of Asia. We provide a lot of coverage of what is happening in Thailand. And we report the persecution and discrimination against Burmese refugees who live in the utterly lawless areas along the border with Burma. It would be impossible for us to work in the same way inside Burma. There is too much censorship in Burma. Also, many of our journalists are former political prisoners or former students who were pro-democracy activists. They would undoubtedly be arrested if they went back.

Who are Irrawaddy’s readers? Irrawaddy is read by millions of people all over the planet, mainly thanks to our website and our blog. Our readers include not only Burmese exiles but also NGO workers, the personnel of UN agencies and embassies, government officials, university academics, human rights activists, news media and journalists. Although censored by the Burmese government, our articles are read in Burma by both the opposition and junta members. The Burmese can also follow our reporting on the satellite TV station DVB, which broadcasts our daily news bulletins (Dateline Irrawaddy), our interviews (Face to Face) and documentaries. Radio Free Asia also broadcasts a weekly political analysis and discussion programme that we host. We are happy to cooperate with media that pursue the same goal as we do, which is to offer independent and freely reported news and information to our fellow citizens in Burma and to the international community. On the Internet, our readers can circumvent government censorship by using proxies. More than 35,000 Burmese visit the Irrawaddy.org website from within Burma each month. Copies of Irrawaddy are also distributed in certain embassies in Rangoon.

2011.08.08 Reporters without Borders