Frontier Myanmar

Frontier was established by Sonny Swe, a cofounder of The Myanmar Times and the son of a former Military Intelligence officer, who was jailed for his work at the newspaper from 2004 to 2013 after the purge of junta-era Prime Minister Khin Nyunt.{{cite news |author=Nan Tin Htwe and Jessica Mudditt |title=Prison release bittersweet for Sonny Swe |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/6514-prison-release-bittersweet-for-sonny-swe.html |accessdate=September 12, 2016 |newspaper=The Myanmar Times |date=April 25, 2013}} Prior to Frontier, Sonny Swe was an investor in Mizzima Media Group alongside business magnate Serge Pun, but both men withdrew from the board in January 2015 citing financial pressures and management conflict with managing director Soe Myint.{{cite news|author=Lun Min Mang |title=Mizzima pulls plug on daily paper as investors drop out |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/12985-mizzima-pulls-plug-on-daily-paper-as-investors-drop-out.html |accessdate=September 12, 2016 |newspaper=The Myanmar Times |date=February 2, 2015}}

Launched in July 2015, Frontier is one of the first privately funded English language news publications to open in Myanmar since the government of Thein Sein abolished the country's repressive censorship regime in 2012.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvE7fIMcr2E |title=What is Frontier Myanmar? |publisher=YouTube |date=July 7, 2015 |accessdate=September 12, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxNI_XXCHoQ |title=Frontier’s one year anniversary |publisher=YouTube |date=July 7, 2016 |accessdate=September 12, 2016}} Along with Mizzima, it is one of only two English language news weeklies in Myanmar.

Many of Frontier's staff have been drawn from other prominent news organisations in Myanmar, including The Myanmar Times, The Irrawaddy, Mizzima and 7Day News. Thomas Kean, the magazine's editor-in-chief, was previously editor of The Myanmar Times from 2010 to 2016.{{cite web |url=http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/staff |title=Frontier Myanmar: Staff |publisher=Frontier Myanmar |accessdate=September 12, 2016}}

{{Also|Myitsone Dam}}

In July 2016, Frontier ran an editorial by Joern Kristensen, a development consultant and former member of the Mekong River Commission, suggesting that the government of Aung San Suu Kyi cancel the controversial and widely unpopular China-backed Myitsone Dam project in Myanmar's north.{{cite news |author=Joern Kristensen |title=There is a fourth option on the Myitsone Dam |url=http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/there-fourth-option-the-myitsone-dam |accessdate=September 12, 2016 |newspaper=Frontier Myanmar |date=July 9, 2016}} Later that month, the state-run newspaper Kyemon endorsed Kristensen's proposal and called for a "permanent suspension" of the project, in the first clear indication that the government was considering a cancellation of the $800 million dam since it took office that March.{{cite news |author=Aung Tun |title=Myitsone dam project: The fourth choice, or the fifth one? |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/opinion/22169-myitsone-dam-project-the-fourth-choice-or-the-fifth-one.html |accessdate=September 12, 2016 |newspaper=The Myanmar Times |date=August 26, 2016}}{{cite news |author=DVB |title=State media editorial calls for Myitsone shutdown |url=http://www.dvb.no/news/editorial-state-media-calls-myitsone-shutdown/68602 |accessdate=September 12, 2016 |newspaper=Democratic Voice of Burma |date=July 25, 2016}}

{{Also|2021 Myanmar coup d'état|Danny Fenster|Sithu Aung Myint}}

After the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, military authorities arrested several Frontier Myanmar journalists, including American-born Danny Fenster and Sithu Aung Myint, as part of its crackdown on independent journalists.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-15 |title=Former job is key in case against US journalist in Myanmar |url=https://apnews.com/article/business-media-united-states-journalists-myanmar-2a67ed016306862fbf1b26a8caef0fb8 |access-date=2021-11-04 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Myanmar arrests two more journalists as post-coup media crackdown continues |url=https://news.trust.org/item/20210821161414-umc8x/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=news.trust.org|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330001218/https://news.trust.org/item/20210821161414-umc8x/|archive-date=March 30, 2023|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation}}

Fenster was detained by authorities in May 2021.{{Cite web|author=Jonny Hallam and Sharif Paget|title=American journalist detained in Myanmar|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/24/world/myanmar-journalist-danny-fenster-intl/index.html|access-date=2021-11-04|website=CNN}} Fenster was charged with two crimes, was convicted, and was sentenced to 11 years in jail in November 2021, before he was released to return to the U.S.{{Cite web|date=2021-10-04|title=Jailed US journalist in Myanmar slapped with new charge|url=https://apnews.com/article/arrests-journalists-myanmar-yangon-466263f39195a11d9071d495a135b394|access-date=2021-11-04|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2021-11-03|title=Myanmar court denies bail for US journalist, adds new charge|url=https://apnews.com/article/journalists-myanmar-bill-richardson-71873c12a92fbc68d6ced843cf883999|access-date=2021-11-05|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=2021-11-12|title=US journalist Danny Fenster gets 11 years jail in Myanmar|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59258112|access-date=2021-11-12}}

Sithu Aung Myint was arrested in August 2021 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for incitement.{{Cite web |date=2012-12-12 |title=Beyond the Headlines: Myanmar junta convicts prominent columnist of sedition, bringing total prison term to 12 years |url=https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/beyond-the-headlines-myanmar-junta-convicts-prominent-columnist-of-sedition-bringing-total |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Myanmar NOW |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Sithu Aung Myint |url=https://cpj.org/data/people/sithu-aung-myint/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Sithu Aung Myint |url=https://cpj.org/data/people/sithu-aung-myint/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}

The publication has received numerous regional awards and honourable mentions for its journalistic work.

In May 2018, it received recognition from the 22nd Human Rights Press Awards for a piece on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.{{Cite web |date=November 29, 2018 |title=22nd Human Rights Press Awards (2018) |url=https://humanrightspressawards.org/winners-2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107040925/https://humanrightspressawards.org/winners-2018 |archive-date=2022-01-07 |publisher=Human Rights Press Awards}} In June 2018, the magazine won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award for Excellence in Business Reporting, for its article "Funny money" along with several honourable mentions.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-06-14 |title=Frontier wins SOPA award and three commendations |url=https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/frontier-wins-sopa-award-and-three-commendations/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Frontier Myanmar |language=en-US}} In August 2021, Fenster, a Frontier Myanmar journalist, received the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award.{{Cite web |title=Frontier Myanmar journalist awarded John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award |url=https://mizzima.com/article/frontier-myanmar-journalist-awarded-john-aubuchon-press-freedom-award |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Mizzima Myanmar News and Insight |language=en}} In June 2022, Frontier Myanmar won the SOPA Award for Excellence in photography for "The evolution of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution."{{Cite web |title=SOPA Announces Winners of 2022 Awards for Editorial Excellence |url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/sopa-announces-winners-2022-awards-010000827.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Yahoo! |language=en-US}}

• Media of Burma
• The Myanmar Times
• Mizzima News

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/ Frontier Myanmar (English edition)]
• [http://www.frontiermyanmar.net/mm/ Frontier Myanmar (Burmese edition)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frontier}}

Category:2015 establishments in Myanmar

Category:Magazines published in Myanmar

Category:Burmese news websites

Category:Magazines established in 2015