Myanmar Journalists And Online Hostility, Reporting On A Stressed Planet and Siargao, A Year After
26 DECEMBER 2022
End of the year, start of something new. Yes, we’ve joined the migration to Substack, thanks to the Musk Twitter’s decision to shut down the Revue platform that Reporting Asean’s newsletter ‘Beyond Borders’ was using. (Said the email: “We’ll cut to the chase: from January 18, 2023, it will no longer be possible to access your Revue account.”)
So. . .we’ve also brought all of you over to this newsletter, and hope you’ll stay on – and pass the word on too :)
This newsletter’s updated name is ‘Reporting Asean’ – as there’s already another ‘Beyond Borders’ publication in the Substack community. Previous editions of the past newsletter have been imported into this one’s archives.
On to our December set of features: We look at how Myanmar’s news professions navigate a toxic and risky environment, and share the results of a survey we did among 86 journalists.
A set of special reports from Siargao - the Philippines’ scenic surfing capital that was devastated by a Christmas typhoon a year ago – captures the mood and insights of locals determined to look ahead. Check out the drawings by kids of how they remember super typhoon Odette.
Off the press is our ‘Reporting On A Stressed Planet: 16 Concepts’, a tool (in English and Khmer) that is a mix of a briefer, explainer and context provider for working through today’s biggest stories of sustainability and the climate crisis. These, after all, are no longer stuff that’s just for the environment or science beats and pages.
Here’s to a kinder, gentler year to make in 2023 -
Johanna
Editor/Founder, Reporting Asean
1 Myanmar On Our Minds
For Myanmar's Journalists, Online Attacks And Threats Are Daily Fare
An overwhelming majority of journalists from Myanmar say they feel quite vulnerable to attacks and threats in the country’s often-toxic online spaces, a Reporting Asean survey shows. But the use of safer digital tools, is not widespread among news professionals.
By JOHANNA SON
Story and slide deck in the link above, or click on image below.
‘I Will Be A Journalist Till The End’
By LU KYAW
“The saying ‘journalism is not a crime’ does not work here. It’s the opposite. We (journalists) are afraid of everything. We have to worry about everything,” says Ma Khine, who has been in working in news for eight years now.
Myanmar’s Rohingya: 'At a Certain Point You Can’t Treat Hopelessness'
The (delayed!) podcast version of our interview with Doctors Without Borders’ Paul McPhun.
2 S is for Sustainability
OFF THE PRESS! ‘Reporting On A Stressed Planet: 16 Concepts’ in English and Khmer
ចេញផ្សាយហើយ! ១៦ គំនិតនៃការរាយការណ៍អំពីភពផែនដីដ៏តានតឹងមួយ
Written by JOHANNA SON | Khmer translation by NOV POVLEAKHENA
Download/read in English
Download/read in Khmer
PHILIPPINES: Siargao Folk Put the Pieces of Life Back Together
By J-ANN AVILA
The sun has just risen over the surfboards lined up along the white-sand shore of Cloud 9, the world-famous surfing spot here in the town of General Luna. Local and international tourists are doing a dry run with their surfing instructors before riding the ocean waves on a warm, early morning in August.
It still feels like summer. Here in Siargao, it always feels like summer.
Related stories:
Kids’ Memories: Blown-off Roofs, Severed Trees – and Zombies
Lessons From A Super Typhoon: On Top of COVID-19, Education Got Another Hit From Odette
‘My God, It Was Such A Helpless Situation!’
‘Coordination Is How We Solved The Diarrhoea Outbreak In Just One Week’
Filipinos Most Worried About Climate Change, But Unaware of Policies
By MEIGAN RASSEL RODRIGUEZ
The Philippines has the highest proportion of incorrect answers (13.5%) to whether their country had a net-zero target, in the regional Climate Outlook Survey 2022. In addition, 66.2% of respondents were generally unsure about whether the country has a net-zero target in place.
3 Clickworthy
Ai Weiwei: ‘You're either protecting humanity or hurting it’ (he also thinks China will try to retake Taiwan)
Vietnamese Film Shortlisted in Oscar’s ‘Documentary Feature’ Category
The film is ‘Children of the Mist’, by independent Vietnamese filmmaker Ha Le Diem. The trailer of the film about bride kidnapping in Hmong society in Vietnam is already gripping enough. Diem talks her about the story behind the film in the clip above, and here is one of many reviews of it.