| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Ministry of Information, Myanmar |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Language | Burmese |
| Headquarters | Botataung 11161, Yangon Yangon Division, Myanmar |
| Circulation | 180,000+[1] |
| Official website | www.kyaymon.info |
Kyemon (Burmese: ကြေးမုံ) (The Mirror) is a state-owned Burmese language daily newspaper based in Yangon, Myanmar. Along with Myanmar Alin, Kyemon is one of two Burmese language national newspapers in the country. Kyemon tends to carry more human interest stories whereas Myanmar Alin is more geared towards publishing government propaganda.
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Kyemon was founded in 1957 in Yangon by journalist U Thaung during Myanmar's brief experiment with parliamentary democracy and free media between 1948 and 1962. The daily was the best selling newspaper at that time, with a circulation of 90,000.[2][3] After seizing power in March 1962, the military government of Gen. Ne Win cracked down on media, and nationalized all the daily newspapers, including Kyemon, in 1964. (U Thaung's open criticism of Gen. Ne Win earned him a prison sentence for him in 1964.)[2] Kyemon has survived the current military government's further crackdowns on news media that left the country with only three national newspapers.
The front and back pages of all Burmese newspapers are almost all government related news and propaganda. At any rate, most Burmese read papers not for the news but for advertisements and announcements like weddings and obituaries. In 2006, the base rate for advertising was US$15 per inch per column and US$700 for a half-page advertisement.[1]