The Shan Herald Agency for News is a private, nonprofit organization which attempts to fill the information void and shed light on the current situation in
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( ...
in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, where the media is closely controlled and censored.
Originally established in Shan State in 1991, the ''Shan Herald Agency for News'' was moved to
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
in 1996 where it was better able to maintain its independence from armed political factions operating in Shan State.
Aims and Activities
Aims
* To provide accurate and reliable information to the Burmese, Shan, Thai and the international community about political, social and economic developments in Shan State and Burma, and about the efforts of pro-democracy, student, ethnic and labor organizations to promote peace and democracy in Burma.
* To promote increased understanding among Shan of human rights, democracy, federalism, and ethnic rights.
* To educate the
Shan people
The Shan people ( shn, တႆး; , my, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ), also known as the Tai Long, or Tai Yai are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in th ...
about the cultural, historical and linguistic heritage of Shan State.
Activities
The agency regularly receives news and photographs from within Shan State thanks to a network of supporters resident there. S.H.A.N. also dispatches field reporters to cover specific issues when conditions permit, as well as interviewing people from Shan State when they arrive at the Thai-Burma and China-Burma borders. In addition, given the proximity to Shan State, S.H.A.N. is able to monitor the military junta's radio broadcasts.
Through the publication of its monthly newspaper ''Independence'', its website and email information service, S.H.A.N. provides one of the few sources of news about events occurring in Shan State. Thanks to its publication in Shan, Burmese, English and Thai, it is not only a valuable resource for the Shan community in Burma, but also for the Shan exile community in Thailand and for Burma-watchers in the international community.
S.H.A.N. prints 3,000 copies of its newspaper each month, distributing them through a network of activists along the Thai-Burma and China-Burma borders, as well as being dispatched directly to Shan State and distributed at Shan temples in Thailand. It is also sent out to international NGOs and other interested parties abroad.
See also
*
Shan Women's Action Network
The Shan Women's Action Network ( my, ရှမ်းအမျိုးသမီးရေးရာ ဆက်သွယ်လှုပ်ရှားဆောင်ရွက်ရေးအသင်း: abbreviated SWAN) is an organisation of Shan ...
*
Human rights in Burma
Human rights in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the world. International human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the American Association for the Advance ...
References
{{reflist
* https://shannews.org
* https://burmese.shannews.org
* https://english.shannews.org
External links
Arakan PostKaowao News Group
News agencies based in Thailand
Shan State