The press supervisory central
committee today allowed eight private companies to begin publishing
daily newspapers from April 1, but denied Eleven Media Group’s
application.
It said that Eleven Media’s application
was incomplete because it lacked an official revenue stamp valued at 100
kyats (about 12 US cents).
The Central Supervisory Committee for
Printers, Publishers Registration and Press Scrutiny and Distribution
informed Eleven Media by letter today and advised it to file another
application.
Among 17 applications to publish
dailies, 14 were scrutinised and eight were given permission. Three
others remain under screening.
The eight dailies given temporary
permission to publish are: Shwe Ngainngan Thit from Shwenainggan Media;
Khit Moe; Union Daily from the ruling Union Solidarity Development
Party; Empire; The Messenger; Breaking News Daily; Myanmar Newsweek
Daily from Ever Win Media, which is owned by Dr. Tin Aung Khine who is
accompanying President Thein Sein on his European visit; and Mizzima of
the former exile media group.
Dr. Thein Myint, managing director of Eleven Media Group, said "it was very funny to receive the denial letter”.
“They held the meeting in Nay Pyi Taw in
the morning and delivered the letter to the EMG office at 2pm. The
letter seemed to be prepared in advance as the delivery was very fast.
They said that the denial was due to the lack of 100 kyats (about US 12
cents) revenue stamp,” Thein Myint said.
“We entrusted the application in the
hands of Ye Tint [director general of the information and pubic
relations department]. He did not check at the time. There were two
weeks for the processing. The other reason that they cited was a lack of
information about what language the daily would be published in,” Thein
Myint said.
“I went to Nay Pyi Taw myself and explained to the director general that the daily was to publish in Myanmar language,” he said.
“The other reason that he explained [for
the denial] was to extend our company license as it was overdue a few
days ago. We attached complete documents, such as annual tax certificate
and the decision of board of directors. These were the vital documents.
Previously, they asked over the phone for any necessary items. This
department usually sought cash donations over the phone,” Thein Myint
said.
“Now, a small thing was being asked
through a letter. Under these circumstances, we had already attached all
the necessary documents and delivered them to the director general
today. The extension of the company license was also submitted to the
Ministry of Commerce, and it will be approved on Tuesday. When I phoned
director general Ye Tint, he responded that [the application] was
complete,” Thein Myint said.
“At this juncture, the case may impact
on the dignity of Ministry for Information and also the dignity of the
government. We will wait and see," he said.
Eleven Media Group applied to the
Ministry of Information for official permission to publish a daily
newspaper called Daily Eleven on February 15.
Eleven Media Group CEO Dr. Than Htut
Aung said, "We have been planning to publish a daily newspaper since two
or three years ago. We have nearly 200 journalists. We have already
purchased two Web Offsets. The investment we made was over US$3
million.”
“We cannot accept any pressure put on us
in connection with the publishing of a daily newspaper. If the recently
published printing bill by the Ministry of Information is enacted, the
independent news media will surely face similar difficulties,” Than Htut
Aung added.
“Let me repeat,” he said. “We will
categorically oppose this media bill. We will not compromise our stance.
Recently, the people and the ethnic national races have completely lost
faith over the reforms and the promises of the president. As a result, I
am of the view that we in the media are no longer required to focus on
[issues related to the government’s credibility] at length.”
source: Eleven Myanmar
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