Overlapping and ongoing global press freedom crises over the past several years have forced record numbers of journalists and media workers into exile. From Pakistan to Germany, and the U.S. to Kenya,...
Aye Chan Naing
co-founder and executive director Democratic Voice of Burma
Aye Chan Naing is co-founder, chief editor, and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an independent broadcast media group in Myanmar.
He was key to DVB’s establishment in Oslo, Norway, in 1992 on shortwave radio to broadcast independent news, pioneering Myanmar’s exile media movement in which underground in-country reporters generated and disseminated news that was impossible to publish from inside the then-military-ruled country.
Myanmar’s independent media, including DVB, came under renewed threat in February 2021, when the military seized power from the country’s elected government, imposed emergency rule and cracked down on the press. The military has since blocked TV stations, disrupted internet services, banned news organizations and arrested dozens of journalists, including three from DVB. Many have gone into hiding or fled the country altogether due to fear of state reprisal for their critical news coverage. Although DVB was knocked off the air directly after the coup and officially banned on March 8, it continues to broadcast online and over other platforms.
Naing is the winner of the 2021 CPJ International Press Freedom Award.
