Attendees of the International Press Institute (IPI)’s 2016 World Congress in Doha last month were able to reconnect with colleagues they met in Yangon during the 2015 World Congress under an IPI programme that brought a delegation of Myanmar journalists to Qatar to participate in the conference and continue an ongoing exchange of ideas and best practices.

Last year’s IPI World Congress in Yangon, which came ahead of the country’s first fully free elections in 25 years, was attended by some 270 editors, journalists and leading media executives from 45 countries. Of those, 43 journalists from Myanmar were able to attend under IPI’s Scholarship Programme, which supports the costs of journalists from countries with little access to such events.

As a follow-up to the Yangon Congress, a delegation of six Myanmar journalists were invited to participate in the 2016 World Congress and 65th General Assembly, held from March 19-21 in Doha. Their participation under the IPI Scholarship Programme was made possible with the generous support of three sponsors, all of which also funded journalists last year: Trócaire, the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, ActionAid Myanmar, the Myanmar branch of a leading international charity working in over 45 countries, and the U.S. Embassy in Yangon.

Accompanied by Shihab Uddin Ahamad, country director of ActionAid Myanmar, journalists joining the delegation included Brang Mai, CEO of the Myitkyina News Journal; Soe Myint, founder, editor-in-chief and managing director of Mizzima Media, IPI’s 2007 Free Media Pioneer award winner; Shwe Yee Saw Myint, a senior reporter for the Myanmar Times; Hla Yin Win, program director of the Southern Shan State Media Network; Nyan Soe Win, a reporter for The Voice Daily; and Kaung Myat Zaw, a broadcast journalist for the DVB Multimedia Group.

Actively participating in panel discussions and workshops on topics ranging from the safety of journalists to covering violent extremism, from the obligations and responsibilities of media towards citizen journalists to digital security, and from funding models for quality journalism to covering the refugee crisis, the Myanmar delegates all agreed that the IPI World Congress provided them with an invaluable opportunity to exchange views, share experiences, discuss common problems, and establish new contacts.

It was “important to be [in Doha] and gain lots of knowledge and information,” Kaung Myat Zaw said, stressing that they would share this knowledge with their colleagues upon returning to Myanmar.

Asked what session or sessions they enjoyed the most and what they had learned that was of particular interest, the delegates said the session on “Covering the Refugee Crisis” was particularly good and would help them in their reporting on Myanmar’s own refugee issues.

Nyan Soe Win added that one thing that the delegates “would take away from the Congress” was the idea that “we have to be more prepared in how we report the news and protect our sources”.

Shwe Yee Saw Myint explained: “Journalists in Myanmar face attacks all the time, but don’t know how to protest. At this conference, we now know how to protest.”

By joining the Doha Congress, the Myanmar delegates realised that “we are not the only ones facing all these difficulties and conflicts,” Brang Mai commented, adding: “All over the world, media organisations and reporters have been facing the same situations, the same problems, the same challenges. By attending the Congress in person, we learned a lot about all these challenges and were really impressed.”

Myanmar’s Post-Election Media Landscape

Since last year’s Congress in Yangon, “things [in Myanmar] have improved a lot in terms of journalism,” Brang Mai observed about the media situation in his country. “For the most part, the government lets most of the media sector do their jobs, training and workshops. Those are the great changes we’ve been seeing. But access to information remains still pretty low.”

Elaborating on the challenges facing his country’s media, veteran journalist Soe Myint talked about the strategies the incoming government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) needs to implement for the future of media development in Myanmar in a special Q&A session on March 21 with IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis.

During the discussion, titled “Inside Scoop: Myanmar’s Post-Election Media Landscape” and held in partnership with ActionAid Myanmar, Soe Myint told the Congress audience that media freedom in Myanmar has progressed significantly in recent years, but that its future remains uncertain as the newly-elected government assumes power.

“A review of numerous laws related to media and freedom of expression is required,” he said. For example, he noted, a new broadcast law that aims to promote greater professionalism in Myanmar’s media was enacted after the Yangon Congress, but it “fell well short of expectations” and contains several provisions that are considered problematic.

“We don’t have censorship on print and Internet,” Soe Myint told the audience. “But we have the broadcast system, which [remains] a state-controlled industry.” He said the government must continue with efforts to transform Myanmar Radio and Television into a public service broadcaster.

Soe Myint also noted that Myanmar urgently needs to adopt a right to information law, adding that he hoped the NLD-led government would give this top priority.

He also noted that a general distrust still exists among the public when it comes to the media and that there is a similar gap in trust between journalists and the military, whether in government or not. Soe Myint said that this mistrust, which has existed between the media and the government for so long, could be reduced by encouraging interaction between the two through workshops and seminars.

On a positive note, he confirmed that Myanmar’s Ministry of Information has so far honoured a promise made during the Yangon Congress by the country’s then-information minister, Ye Htut, who said the government would not retaliate against journalists who had demonstrated outside the Congress venue in protest of alleged police brutality against their colleagues.

“Many good things have happened in the last four to five years,” Myint reiterated, but “there’s a lot that needs to happen in the near future.”

Soe Myint’s report, “Myanmar’s Media Moving Forward”, which he contributed in connection with his participation in the Congress in Doha, can be read here.