Myanmar Alin is a state-run Burmese language

Burmese language

The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...

 daily newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 and the longest running newspaper in circulation in Myanmar. The daily is considered to be the official Burmese language mouthpiece of the military government

State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....

 of Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

.

History

Myanmar Alin was founded as a magazine in 1914 during the British colonial era in Yangon. The paper was known for its anti-colonialist stance before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The paper was nationalized in 1969 by Gen. Ne Win

Ne Win

Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...

's military government, which seized power in 1962. By then, all the daily newspapers in Myanmar were state run, and Myanmar Alin was one of four Burmese language dailies left standing, (along with The Botataung

The Botataung

The Botataung was a national Burmese language daily newspaper based out of Yangon in Myanmar. The paper, founded in 1958 by Thein Pe Myint, was arguably the leading leftist newspaper prior to its nationalization in 1964 by Gen. Ne Win's government...

, Working People's Daily, and Kyemon

Kyemon

Kyemon is a state-owned Burmese language daily newspaper based in Yangon, Myanmar. Along with Myanmar Alin, Kyemon is one of two Burmese language national newspapers in the country...

). The paper survived the further consolidation of daily papers imposed by the current military government, which has whittled down the number of national Burmese language dailies in Myanmar to two. (Mandalay's the Yadanabon is a local paper.)

Content

The front and back pages of all Burmese newspapers are almost all government related news and propaganda. Most of the domestic news comes from the official government news agency, Myanmar News Agency

Myanmar News Agency

The Myanmar News Agency is the official state news agency of the Myanmar government, based in Yangon, Burma. It was established in 1963 after the 1962 Burmese coup d'état as News Agency Burma . It is currently under the News and Periodical Enterprise of the Ministry of Information...

(MNA). The foreign news are usually one to two days old. At any rate, most Burmese read papers not for the news but for advertisements and announcements like weddings and obituaries. In 2006, the base rate for advertising was US$15 per inch per column and US$1100 for a half-page advertisement.