Burma's journalists still work in a "spirit of dissent", while their Thai counterparts have adopted "war journalism", according to recent academic research.

Burmese journalist Myint Zaw examined seven journals and four magazines, mostly private-owned, for his master's thesis in international development studies at Chulalongkorn University.

He found media practitioners still try to push the limits of censorship. "Only two journals have strong political messages in their content, but often media content keeps up the spirit of dissent," Myint Zaw said, adding that most journals set aside a "policy page" for articles from the government.

"In-depth writing on social and political ideas can be seen in the magazines, mostly liberal ideas," said Myint Zaw, who also conducted interviews of media professionals in Rangoon in June.

While working under many difficulties, many writers, journalists and editors of privately owned media in Burma continue to be deeply conscious of their responsibility to the public, writing reports on social and other important issues, he said.

But they still pay scant attention to the lives of ethnic groups living along the border, he said.

Another master's thesis study suggested that Thailand needs to learn more about constructive journalism.

Supaporn Kanwerayotin, a former producer in the BBC Thai Section, came up with her conclusion in her study "Peace Journalism in Thailand", which showed that the mainstream media have adopted a "war journalism" approach in their coverage of the conflict in the deep South.

Citing the reports in leading Thai newspapers about the brutal murders of two marine officers in Tan-yonglimo last September, Supaporn said the mainstream media used dehumanising language in their headlines, which induced a "them and us" effect on the villagers who were not involved in the incident.

Supaporn's project was a case study of the Issara News Centre (INC). The centre was launched by the Thai Journalists' Association (TJA) last year to report on news on the southern conflict in a qualified and non-biased way.

TJA's member organisations sent their reporters to work as a team in the deep South so that they could produce timely and insightful stories. The INC project was initiated with good intentions but she said the 18 editors and senior journalists she interviewed had no clear idea of what the INC is.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation