"The three tasks are: the association members are to actively participate in serving national interests by having ... the people imbued with correct concepts and high morale with the use of literature and journalism: to the extent organisation for new members consolidate organisational set-up of the association, raise leadership role and make organisation work dynamic and effective; to bring about improvement of skills of MWJA members, look after their welfare and regularize creation and publishing of literary works, and to strive for increasing the readership".

[6] In 2010 the French media group Reporters Sans Frontieres ranked Burma 171 out of 175 nations for press freedom.

[2] On World Press Freedom Day in May 2011 the MWJA secretary Ko Ko said: "Flourishing of the fourth pillar [journalism] is a necessary feature of a democratic system and we believe that the government including President Thein Sein, if looking to bring about a democratic system, would understand this.

[7] With growing expectations of media liberalisation, some MWJA members acknowledged that after fifty years of weekly publication and censorship the change might be difficult.

[9] Hlaing was one of three members of the political committee, the others being a former editor of the state-run newspaper Kyemon (“Mirror”) and the General Secretary of the Myanmar Hoteliers Association.

[10] In January 2012, the MWJA Vice-president Hlaing said the association expected to establish a national press council later in the year.

The Union Minister of Information U Kyaw Hsan had approved this move in mid-December, which would be needed as the government's censorship organisation, the PSRD, gradually wound down.

The PSRD based the new law on the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, which had long been used to restrict freedom of expression.