Truth a casualty as Burma cracks down on cyclone coverage

Editors have been told not to carry negative reports of Nargis, writes a special correspondent in Rangoon

Editors have been told not to carry negative reports of Nargis, writes a special correspondent in Rangoon

CYCLONE NARGIS is not quite a "good news" story in Burma's state media, but the bid to make it so is well under way.

"The relief period is over . . . rehabilitation has begun" the government daily paper New Light of Myanmar is reassuring readers even as international aid agency figures indicate that around two million survivors desperately need more assistance that the government is refusing to allow in.

While the New Light's front pages feature crisply dressed army personnel delivering aid, information on the more than 140,000 dead or missing is relegated to a couple of paragraphs buried deep inside.

READ MORE

That may reflect an inconvenient connection between the huge casualty toll and the inadequate weather warnings issued by the government before the cyclone struck on May 2nd.

The living fare little better than the dead in the state mouthpiece. Readers search in vain for a single story or even a quote from an individual survivor.

Whether one of the world's most secretive governments can really downplay the deaths of so many or cover up the extreme plight of 5 per cent of its own population in an area the size of Austria remains to be seen, but it will not be for want of trying.

Already the tough task of turning the disaster's aftermath into a propaganda tool for the ruling State Peace and Development Council is gathering momentum.

"Let's work together for the nation to be able to rise from natural disaster," exhorts one article that fails to mention the millions of dollars of international aid and equipment waiting to get through to increasingly desperate victims. "Participate in reconstruction of hospitals and schools," suggests another editorial writer in a country where most people live on the poverty line at the best of times.

The UN estimates that 2,700 schools need rebuilding.

In contrast to the state papers, Burma's vibrant private print media reported relatively freely on the physical damage to the former capital Rangoon and even the delta in the cyclone's immediate aftermath.

The storm downed thousands of trees and shattered homes, businesses and power lines in the former capital where services are gradually being restored. Reports focused on the effects on ordinary people as well as the outpouring of donations to victims from stars, regular citizens and business people. Army personnel were as notable by their absence on the page as they had been early on from the debris-strewn streets.

The not-so-subtle snub to the authorities resulted in the summoning of editors to a meeting with the Press Scrutiny Board chief a few days ago, where they were warned to cease "negative" coverage of the disaster.

The popular news journal Modern had to withdraw thousands of copies that featured a front-page photograph of victims with arms outstretched. A more "positive" photograph of aid being delivered was substituted.

Journalists from the English-language Myanmar Times were given a warning after reporting that a government official in hard-hit Bogalay had complained that the authorities couldn't cope, according to a media source.

As the government's bid to focus on "rehabilitation and reconstruction" gets under way, the private media's brief window of opportunity to tell the story is closing down. But journalists are persisting in the effort. To ease their passage through delta checkpoints, local reporters have started to disguise themselves as aid volunteers, according to the source. The checkpoints are mainly on the alert for foreign journalists forbidden to operate in the country.

The news vacuum leaves an information-hungry population relying as usual on the old shortwave radio reliables - the Burmese foreign language services of the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the Democratic Voice of Burma based in Norway. The radio services are focusing heavily on the urgent need for more aid. There is no shortage of Burmese expatriate callers hoping for a drastic international intervention.

Stoking the fires of rumour, an anonymous e-mail containing advice on how to behave if you encounter foreign troops (don't rush up or you'll unsettle them) is doing the rounds inside Burma.

For images and video of the worst effects of the disaster, Burmese are creating and accessing blogs and websites that beat the censors for a period before the message comes up "Access Denied". Illegal Nargis DVDs featuring gruesome images of the dead are being sold in local markets. There is no "good news" angle to be found in these unstinting glimpses into horror and suffering that isn't going away.