The radio station Mizzima was forced to suspend FM and shortwave broadcasting due to U.S. funding cuts. In the crisis period following the March 28 earthquake, an in-kind donation from a European organization allowed the station to resume shortwave broadcasts for 20 days.
Date: 6/25
Region: East Asia & Pacific
Country: Myanmar
Topic: Governance & Rights
Policy Lens: Democracy & Governance
Entry Type: Operational Impact
Additional Context: This information comes from the Internews report, "Crisis in Journalism: The Impact of the US Government Funding Cuts on Global Media" published in June 2025. The research was led by Internews Europe in close collaboration with three consortia of media development organisations brought together under the European Commission’s Thematic Framework Partnership Agreement for Human Rights and Democracy. The researchers gathered information through direct interviews and surveys with frontline media partners.
International Media Support, or IMS, provided the in-kind donation to cover shortwave broadcasting. As described, "Its short-wave service was about to close when the earthquake hit due to U.S. funding cuts. The broadcasts are in Burmese as well as other Myanmar ethnic minority languages. Mizzima broadcasts half hour news programmes twice daily over short-wave radio, reaching more than 110 cities, towns and villages."
Devex Researcher Note: The Myanmar earthquake damaged 6,700 mobile communications base stations, which disrupted internet access and people’s access to life-saving information. Short-wave radio became a lifeline for many in rural Myanmar in the earthquake’s aftermath by sharing credible information on safety, hygiene, accessing emergency relief, aid distribution and details about ongoing military airstrikes in some areas.