Myanmar's Information Minister Aung Kyi said the government wants to work with the country's journalists to establish new press freedom laws.<\/p>\n
Published: Sept. 12, 2012 at 6:30 AM<\/p>\n
YANGON, Myanmar, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Myanmar's Information Minister Aung Kyi said the government wants to work with the country's journalists to establish new media freedom laws. <\/p>\n
Aung Kyi, former labor minister and government liaison to pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been meeting with journalists in Yangon to discuss media issues, the Irrawaddy news website said. <\/p>\n
The move comes after the government did away last month with the requirement of publications to submit their copy to a government censor before publishing them. <\/p>\n
However, publishers must submit articles to the Information Ministry's Press Scrutiny and Registration Department after publication to determine if publishing laws have been broken. <\/p>\n
Aung Kyi said the Information Ministry will put together a first draft and consult with Myanmar's journalist community before deciding on a version to be presented to Parliament. <\/p>\n
He also said he wanted to work through the Myanmar Core Press Council that the government set up last month as its official media liaison and watchdog, the Irrawaddy report said. <\/p>\n
\"We now feel a sense of freedom,\" MCPC member Ko Ko told the Irrawaddy, run by expatriate Myanmar journalists operating in Thailand. \"We must start working together to write a new law and confine the 1962 law to history.\" <\/p>\n
Zaw Thet Htwe, a spokesman for the independent Committee for Freedom of the Press, said \"we will need to wait and see to what extent our ideas are included.\" <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Myanmar moves closer to more press freedom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Myanmar's Information Minister Aung Kyi said the government wants to work with the country's journalists to establish new press freedom laws. Published: Sept. Continue reading