Yangon Region government is instructed City News newspaper, which is running with Yangon City Development Committee’s (YCDC) budget, to stop publication from January 1 next year, sources said.

It is being published in front page of December 24 issued City News newspaper and royalty payments for news, articles, poems and cartoons published in the newspaper can be taken out during January.

“The authorities didn’t give the reason to stop the publication and they said they will meet with the newspaper staffs on December 30. All newspaper staffs were appointed as YCDC staffs since it was founded. The mayor informed us to stop the publication from January 1,” said Saw Thein Win, Chief Reporter of the City News newspaper.

The publication of the newspaper will be 29th year in 2020 and the ending of the publication of the newspaper is made in the era of Chief Minister of Yangon Region, he said.

“I was worked with the newspaper since it was founded. It can be published although time is changed. It says about what the YCDC announced to the public and it can relate to the authorities about what the public wants to say. It can provide assistance to the YCDC. Later, Nay Pyi Taw newspaper, Mandalay newspaper and Bago newspaper are established and they learnt from us. They are still publishing. It made me deprive and I don’t want it to end,” he said.

The paper is sold with Ks50 per copy and its agents sold it with Ks100 per copy. It was founded on November 18, 1991 as an evening newspaper and it started as a daily newspaper in 2000.

Democracy Today, another local daily newspaper, had announced to suspend its circulation for unlimited days due to heavy losses.

The announcement said the Myanmar News Network Company publishes Democracy Today. As of November 1, 2019, the company had to stop its publication temporarily due to losses. At a meeting with all staffs from the newspaper on November 30, 2019, the company officially announced the suspension of circulation on December 1.