Kantarawaddy Times (KT) is an independent media organization that gathers and produces Burmese news. KT is dedicated to reporting on Karenni issues and covering topics from all over the world that impact the Karenni people. KT is also dedicated to the impartial documentation of the current situation in Burma, and its members are driven by the desire to promote democracy in all Burma while giving a voice to all Karenni people. In addition to this website, KT publishes a monthly newspaper in Burmese and Karenni, broadcasts radio news in Karenni each week, runs a training program for budding Karenni journalists, and sends out news releases over email.
KT was founded on October 2, 2004 by young journalists who had finished a one-year course at journalism school in Chiang Mai run by Internews, a Thai based non-governmental organization. There were no media papers inside Karenni state and along the Thai-Karenni border at that time, and a study was performed to determine where and how the Karenni community got their daily news. The findings from this study were that the community wanted the world to learn about the life of the Karenni people, and also that they desired a newspaper that targeted the Karenni audience. In addition, Karenni youth have an extreme desire want the world to know about the real life of Karenni people who fled by the civil war and human rights abuses so that the world community might understand and give support.
When starting the paper, KT members received guidance from Karenni community leaders, youth, women, and other journalists. Before the founding of KT, its members worked closely together in the field of media work and disseminated their news to other Thai based media groups. During its first year, KT published a 4 page (B3-size, folded) newspaper every 15 days entirely through self-support.
Kantarawaddy Times main objectives are:
- Promote freedom of the press and free news writing in Burma, and at a regional level in Karenni State
- To stand on the side of the public and improve the truth
KT members will collect and report accurate and timely information to our community and will never be under an external person or organization's power. KT will stand strong for the journalism code of ethics.
