Introduction: Overview of press freedom situation: "The army, which has been in power since 1962, uses repression and propaganda to gag the pro-democracy movement and civil society, of which journalists are often in the vanguard. A paradise for censors, Burma is one of the very few countries where all publications are subjected to prior censorship. After China, it is the Asia?s largest prison for journalists and bloggers. At least 12 journalists and two netizens are currently imprisoned in Burma, some of them serving jail terms of more than 20 years. The head of the military junta, General Than Shwe, is in charge of the special police force responsible for the repression. Its targets have included the owners of video cameras who were suspected of filming the crackdown on the protests by monks in 2007 and then sending their footage abroad. And those who shot video footage exposing governmental negligence after Cyclone Nargis in 2008. As shown in the documentary film Burma VJ, working as a clandestine reporter for Democratic Voice of Burma or other Burmese exile media continues to be very dangerous. The exile media play a vital role in informing the Burmese people because Burma?s two television and radio channels and the daily newspapers are under the military junta?s direct control. Mizzima and Irrawaddy, two of the most popular online exile media, were again the target of cyber-attacks in 2009. The privately-owned press is subject to military censorship. An average of one third of a privately-owned magazine?s content is removed by the censors. The military censorship bureau, called the Press Scrutiny Board, said in a 2008 message to Burmese media that the ?the publication of any photo, sketch, painting, article, novel or poem without being sent [in advance to the censor] will be punished?. Failure to comply can lead to sanctions ranging from seizure of the publication to imprisonment for the editors..."