House Editorial: Bringing light to Burma

Posted on October 1, 2007

Halfway across the world, a tragedy is bringing to light the irresponsibility of a nation’s ideology.

In the country of Myanmar (commonly known as Burma) last Thursday, a 50-year-old freelance journalist named Kenji Nagai was gunned down by soldiers while recording video of anti-government demonstrations while working for the Japanese news agency APF News.

The Myanmar state media reports that eight other people were killed, though actual numbers could be much higher. The government has also attempted to play off the incident with a “stray bullet” explanation.

What could initially be interpreted as an unfortunate accident quickly reveals its true colors when you view any of the abundant images or videos circulating the Internet. Nagai was approached, shoved and shot at point-blank range in one swift deliberate motion.

Admirably, as Nagai lay wounded, he attempted several times to raise his camera toward the soldier as he walked away, still making an effort to inform the public.

Almost as disturbing as the event itself is the manner in which the government is handling the dissemination of information. According to the Burma Media Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists, instead of allowing journalists to conduct their business, the government synchronized a total block of the Internet and cut cell phone service to prevent the transmission of stories and photographs. It was already too late.

In response to what the LA Times called an “instantaneous multimedia campaign,” the government has now begun to shut down blogs and other information related to the event.

The Burmese protestors want to better their existence. They had been opposing a military junta, ironically calling itself the State Peace and Development Council, that has ruled since seizing power in 1988.

Attempting to maintain strict control, the government of Myanmar told its citizens to stay home and not to participate in protests. Yet according to some sources, 70,000 people took to the streets before blood was shed.

Despite the attempts of the government to block what had happened, the now iconic image of the wounded Nagai holding his camera up to the soldier with his gun still trained on him appeared on the front page of The New York Times the day after the incident.

The life and death of Nagai, as both a human and a journalist, should not be forgotten. The public always has a right to know the truth, however painful it is to the ruling body.