YANGON - Myanmar's new information minister on Sunday predicted newspapers would
be able to publish daily from early 2013, heralding fresh reform for a sector
recently freed from decades of draconian censorship.
Aung Kyi told the Myanmar Times
that state-owned newspapers - currently the only news publications able to be
printed daily - would also be revamped with private sector involvement in the
coming months.
"It is my sincere belief
that daily [private sector] newspapers are essential for a democratic country,"
said Aung Kyi, who replaced a prominent hardliner last week when he was
appointed as part of a cabinet reshuffle seen as promoting reformists in
Myanmar's government.
The former labour minister, who
acted as the liaison between Myanmar's previous junta government and democracy
champion Aung San Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest, said a code of
practice should be discussed before changes were made to publication rules for
private weekly journals.
He declined to give a firm date
for the issuing of daily publication licences to private sector news groups -
many of which have turned to the web to provide up-to-the-minute content for a
population hungry for information after years of restrictions - but estimated
it could be "early next year".
"I am sincere in wanting to
achieve a comprehensive press media law that meets international
standards," he said, suggesting that the new proposed legislation could be
delayed to give time for consultation with journalists and experts.
In August Myanmar announced the
end of pre-publication censorship, previously applied to everything from
newspapers to song lyrics and even fairy tales.
State-owned dailies include the
English language New Light of Myanmar, which has shown scant signs of
modernising - except for an increase in celebrity gossip - since the country
began its reforms.
But Aung Kyi said these
publications were in line for "significant changes".
Since taking office last year,
President Thein Sein has overseen a number of dramatic moves in Myanmar such as
the release of hundreds of political prisoners and Suu Kyi's election to
parliament.
Reporters jailed under the junta
have also been freed from prison and a lighter touch from censors had already
seen private weekly journals publish an increasingly bold array of subjects.
But there have been recent signs
that it will take time for both newsrooms and the authorities to adjust to the
new era of openness.
Two journals were recently
suspended for a fortnight for prematurely printing stories without prior
approval from the censors, prompting dozens of journalists to take to the
streets in protest.
And the mining ministry is suing
a weekly publication that reported the auditor-general's office had discovered
misappropriations of funds and fraud at the government division.
AFP
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