Political Violence and Journalism in a Multiethnic State A Case Study of Burma (Myanmar)

Debates about the role of media in situations of political violence call into question whether journalists should focus on "objective" reporting or instead facilitate conflict resolution. Yet an increasingly problematic assumption is that journalists are outsiders to the communities in conflict, especially as aid agencies increase their funding for media development and journalism training in conflicted areas. By focusing on the situation facing journalists from Burma (Myanmar) living in exile in Thailand, this article explores the consequences of political violence on the development of indigenous journalism in a multiethnic state. Although influenced by the recent surge in foreign funding, these journalists struggle to develop a context-specific model for their work, calling into question the relevance of the dominant U.S. approach to "objectivity." The contested nature of concepts such as unity, independence, and censorship in these often high-risk areas suggests the need for a more complex model of media development in contexts of political violence.