Saturday 2 March 2013

Govt rejects leading private news media company to publish daily

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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