Myanmar media group gets Golden Pen of Freedom award at Bangkok world press congress

Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group in Myanmar, Than Htut Aung speaks after receiving the 2013 Golden Pen of Freedom Award during the opening ceremony for the 65th World Newspaper Congress at a hotel in Bangkok on June 3, 2013. More than 1,000 publishers, editors and other figures from the media have gathered for the World Newspaper Congress taking place until June 5. AFP PHOTO

BANGKOK, Thailand – A staunch advocate of press freedom in Myanmar who defied the military regime was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom during the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) congress Monday.

Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group in Myanmar, was given the annual press freedom prize before 1,500 publishers, chief editors, managing directors and heads of media organizations worldwide, Larry Kilman, WAN-IFRA deputy CEO and Director of Communications and Public Affairs said in a statement.

Aung, in his acceptance speech, said “I always resisted the harassment and defended my journalism, my ethics, my standards. No matter what the military regime tried to do, I never let them touch these principles.”

Eleven Media Group, which was founded 11 years ago, fought for government accountability and transparency under the military regime of Myanmar.

Their editorial offices and staff had faced raids and even death sentences and prison terms from the government.

“Eleven came to be portrayed as the symbol of protest during a period in which the group’s offices were raided by military intelligence, and death sentences and prison terms were levied against its editors. Than Htut Aung was himself briefly arrested in 2011,” Kilman said.

Aung’s first publication, the First Eleven sports journal, had just three employees and initally printed 5,000 copies, according to Erik Bjerager, president of World Editors Forum.

“First Eleven captured readers’ imaginations in an increasingly repressive and autocratic environment, with Than Htut Aung and his writers cleverly crafting political messages into their football articles,” Bjerager said.

“Man in the middle – the referee is ‘not fair’ [and] Football is played not just among the 22 but all the audience” (an analogy to parliamentary politics), showed how the publication was willing to use extraordinary ingenuity to slip through the censors’ net and inform the public,” he said.

Now Eleven Media Group has 120 reporters and publishes four times a week.

“Under his leadership, Eleven Media Group has prospered, despite the years of adversity. Building his business from the ground up, he faced heavy government pressure and the ever-present censor’s pen,” Bjerager said in awarding Aung.

“Nonetheless, he consistently defied restrictions on freedom of expression. Dr. Htut Aung stood up to the junta, and today, Eleven Media continues to broaden the boundaries of Myanmar’s newfound liberties,” he said.