HaseenahPost and its mission of explaining the new Myanmar to the rest of the world

Haseenah and I had worked together at Television Corporation of Singapore almost two decades ago. She was a reporter; I was a producer. And here we are today, cutting a path in what I believe is a golden age in journalism. As Haseenah puts it, “It would be foolish not to capitalize on this golden opportunity.”
– Alan Soon, Founder & CEO, The Splice Newsroom. We spoke with Haseenah who was attending the PublishAsia conference in Bangkok last week.

Alan: You’ve decided to embark on a path that some of us journalists, myself included, have decided to do - setting up a editorial business. What prompted this?

Haseenah: A lack of compelling jobs out there. Only way was to go create one. I am also deeply frustrated with journalism in Southeast Asia.

In a social media age, it’s timely to ride on this wave of political awakening and create a credible brand of journalism our dynamic region richly deserves. It would be foolish not to capitalize on this golden opportunity. It’s either this, or let others with a lack of journalistic skills dominate the conversations in this region that journalists are duty-bound to start and shape. Or let others with a lack of understanding of our region set the media agenda.

So what exactly is HaseenahPost?

HaseenahPost - New World, New News - is an independent news service about Myanmar’s change from isolation to globalization.

As a startup, I’ve decided that the only way to survive and thrive in this competitive industry is to go niche and be novel about your niche topic. Myanmar is opening up to the world. The world has very little understanding of Myanmar. Do you call the country Myanmar or Burma? Many people are confused from the get-go when they think about Myanmar.

“Do you call the country Myanmar or Burma? Many people are confused from the get-go when they think about Myanmar.”

Myanmar is the problem child of ASEAN. As a journalist from ASEAN and a native of Singapore that has special links with Myanmar, I feel uniquely-placed to bring this story about all the unprecedented changes taking place in Myanmar to the region and the world. I’m able to get a level of access from within the country that others can’t, and if they do have access, they lack the experience and/or insider knowledge to interpret events for the external audience.

I covered Indonesia’s spectacular political transition after Suharto’s downfall in 1998. I spent more than eight years in the country chronicling and following it’s change into a democratic polity. I’d like to apply the experience to Myanmar.

And why now - what dots aligned that made you think this was the best time to do this?

Because I now have the capital from a real estate investment I made. It’s very costly to operate in Myanmar and run a news operation. I could not have done this earlier without a windfall.

Second, the generals have stunned everyone by rapidly increasing the space for the media to operate and possibly flourish in Myanmar, notably a new media law. The 2008 military constitution also allows for more media space. Of course, it is imperfect and it would be silly to expect entrenched authoritarian habits to go away overnight but if they’re willing to give the space, I say seize it and go build a credible brand that creates mutual trust. It’s a herculean task and challenging. The alternative is to write books, sit at home, twiddle my thumbs and complain about propaganda news. It is therefore easy to choose which road to take.

“I say seize it and go build a credible brand that creates mutual trust. It’s a herculean task and challenging. The alternative is to write books, sit at home, twiddle my thumbs and complain about propaganda news.”

Describe the past two months as you started putting all the pieces together.

I found office space in downtown Yangon. I was lucky it was ready to move in. I still had do basic and simple renovation to make it look like a new world, new news newsroom and more importantly function as one. I still have to figure out how to operate during power cuts, and there are many power outages in Myanmar. The router goes out. Google representatives in this region told me balloons can provide some kind of wifi coverage, but they’d need permission from the defense authority because you can’t just have unidentified flying objects in a nation’s sovereign airspace. I’m sure there are other ways to send content out. I just don’t know what they are.

Also, I’m still finding a place to stay in Yangon. Many apartments are overpriced or unsafe and not modern. I’ve been staying in a hotel.

In the last two months, I also found a business partner/publishing house that has a legitimate local license. This is essential to get the relevant visa and licensing to operate in Myanmar. This also makes it easier for me to move to Yangon from Bangkok and Singapore without shuttling back and forth.

At the same time, I’m figuring out how to set up a transparent and workable HaseenahPost system and new news culture. The foundation is everything.

It is coming together very slowly in a haphazard and costly manner.

Was there a moment where you thought all of this was crazy?

Definitely. When you go out of your comfort zone, your brain goes crazy, and it tries very hard to resist what you’re trying to do and sabotage all your efforts. The more I travel here and get comfortable in my new role, the less the resistance.

So what will the next six months look like?

I’m currently focussed on launching HaseenahPost. And that means writing the content, collaborating with local hires and local media executives, hiring people, setting up a HaseenahPost system and culture, building the brand.

Given that internet startups - particularly media - tend to be collaborative in nature, what support do you need from the wider community of editorial people?

Heaps of support, primarily funding and tech support: equipment, tools, training. I also need information about industry standards when it comes to pay, how to lead and manage a newsroom, and how to get staff excited and energized about my vision and mission on a limited budget.

I’m told Arianna Huffington who inspired me to start HaseenahPost began Huff Po with a $5 million budget. I don’t have that kind of capital.

If you’re a philanthropist who believes deeply that cash-rich Southeast Asia deserves an optimistic and truthful media that do good, support HaseenahPost. If you’re a trainer, help train Myanmar reporters. If you’re in tech, help me develop digital content hassle-free that gets out there from Myanmar. If you’re a HR-type/accounting organization, help me set up a system from scratch that’s modern and accountable.

Also, let’s have transparent industry standards across Southeast Asia. It’s time. I strongly believe press clubs in our region should join forces for a stronger voice and impact especially since reporters are generally treated like criminals and often abused with impunity. We need awareness campaigns about what journalists do, and that we are not a nuisance but that we help policymakers make better policies that impact you and me.

Haseenah Koyakutty is a journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering Southeast Asia. A former TV news correspondent in Singapore, she was a roving ASEAN reporter and started Channel NewsAsia’s Indonesia bureau. She then joined RSIS, a think-tank in Singapore as a Visiting Public Diplomacy Fellow and has freelanced for various media. She has a BA from the National University of Singapore and a master in international public policy from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University. She was also a former Freeman Fellow with the Asia Foundation. Haseenah can be reached at haseenah@haseenahpost.com or you can find her on Twitter at @HaseenahKoya.

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"The only way to survive and thrive in this competitive industry is to go niche."