Since 2017, Fondation Hirondelle and Frontier Myanmar have partnered to produce and broadcast Doh Athan (Our Voices), a podcast about human rights issues. The show is produced by a 6-person team and reporters and media partners from Myanmar’s states, regions and ethnic groups.
Frontier Myanmar is an award-winning news website in Myanmar. It was one of the first media outlets to develop a paid membership model, working towards financial sustainability and building a public community. Following the 2021 coup, most Frontier Myanmar and Doh Athan staff were relocated to Thailand.
Financial volume 2023
239,946 CHF
Funding
- Switzerland (SDC Programme Contribution)
- UNDP
- Fondation Alfred et Eugénie Baur Büchi Foundation
- Temperatio-Stiftung
Key figures 2023
123,000 social media followers
55 podcasts in Burmese, 31 in English
17 trained media professionals
5 partner media outlets
31 videos in Burmese and 23 in English
15 hours of broadcasts
BACKGROUND
Myanmar’s fragile democratic experiment was shattered by a military coup in February 2021. Since then, over 26,000 people have been arrested by the junta and more than 4,700 have been killed. Armed resistance has spread throughout the country, displacing over 2 million people. Journalists are at great risk inside the country, and the public has become more reluctant to talk to the media.
Essential coverage of human rights issues in Myanmar
Doh Athan is committed to its main mission: highlighting human rights issues in Myanmar. It reports on the impact of the conflict that followed the 2021 coup on the lives of Myanmar’s citizens, including its effects on their means of survival, health, jobs and education. Doh Athan also documents the difficulties encountered by marginalised groups faced with discrimination and human rights violations, and records the experiences of migrants and Burmese refugees abroad. The project offers training sessions on human rights coverage and coaching sessions in collaboration with partners. Our projects carefully monitor risks to physical and digital security.
Doh Athan Doh Talk, a discussion podcast with experts, academics and activists was launched in 2023. It aims to provide the Burmese public with balanced debates about human rights, probing and analysing the issues more thoroughly than general interest programmes are able to do. Doh Athan has also produced special reports (interviews, mini-videos, etc.) to mark certain dates, such as Human Rights Day, 6 years after the atrocities committed against the Rohingya and their displacement to Bangladesh.
Priorities
- Address human rights issues
- Consolidate our Burmese and international audiences
- Strengthen our partnerships with local media
Activities
- Production of a weekly podcast, videos, Doh Athan Doh Talk and other short-form online content
- Training and coaching reporters and journalists from partner media outlets
in 2023 Doh Athan produced podcasts not only in Burmese, but also in English. The podcasts and videos are broadcast on social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud and Spotify) as well as on partners’ websites and social media accounts. The number of subscribers on Facebook and YouTube more than doubled in 2023. Podcasts are also broadcast on shortwave and FM radio by our partner, Voice of America.
Maintaining the project over the long term requires investment to ensure that the programme remains an essential part of the media landscape for exiled Burmese citizens. However, a lack of international funding is affecting independent media outlets located both in Myanmar and in exile. Although Doh Athan has not been directly affected, it too faces financial challenges.
Our impact
The Doh Athan podcast broadcasts the voices of hundreds of people affected by the conflict and by discrimination and human rights violations. It fosters a collective memory of the crisis by describing everyday struggles, ways of adapting, and the resilience of ordinary individuals. It also features leading national and international experts who help to explain the current situation.
Testimonial
“We make our voices heard, and so does Doh Athan. We’re not a media company, so we can’t produce a good podcast, but we feel that Doh Athan does that for us.”
Nang Moet Moet, General Secretary of the Women’s League of Burma