TRANSCRIPT:
For the past decade, I have covered some of the most difficult and heartbreaking stories in Burma for VOA. From the military crackdown on the Rohingya in 2016 to the coup in 2021, when local media were banned from reporting mass killings and burning villages, VOA Burmese continued to tell the truth.
When I reported last year from Karenni state and witnessed military air strikes on civilians and schools, our reporting exposed the truth. And when one of VOA Burmese contributors was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for nothing more than doing his job, we still reported and told the truth.
When a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Burma, the military suppressed information about international relief. If VOA were still on the air, we could have reached millions with life-saving news. But currently, our voices are silenced at a time when our audience needs us the most.
Published
Naing is a journalist with VOA's Burmese Service. She has 20 years of experience working for various global media outlets. Naing has covered the humanitarian crisis and the plight of ethnic Rohingyas living both inside and outside of Myanmar, among other subjects. As a multimedia journalist, she produces shows for radio and television, and writes articles online focusing on current events and cultural affairs.