AP opens Myanmar bureau
Aung San Suu Kyi, along with Major General Zaw Win (L), Deputy Minister for Border Affairs, attends a ceremony marking Myanmar’s 68th Armed Forces Day at a parade ground in Naypyidaw on March 27, 2013. Suu Kyi attended Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day for the first time.
A reformist government took power in Myanmar two years ago, and now journalists are coming in. The Associated Press became the first international news agency to open a bureau in Myanmar, the agency announced today. Six journalists will staff the bureau full time.
AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said in a statement:."We take great pride in our independent and impartial reporting, and coverage of Myanmar has been a priority for many years. A full-time, multimedia bureau staffed by talented local and international journalists will enable AP to provide even more coverage of the historic changes under way in Myanmar."
More from GlobalPost: Inside Myanmar's gold rush
However, this doesn't mean that all is well and good for the press in the struggling country. Earlier this week, at least 12 journalists in Myanmar found that their emails were hacked. The Myanmar government denied allegations that they were behind the hackings.
The new bureau is opening just as sectarian violence in Myanmar is worsening, with reports of anti-Muslim attacks occurring across the county, including the central town of Meikhtila.