Jail, lawsuits cast shadow over Myanmar media freedom

Reporters shout as they march to demonstrate for press freedom in Yangon January 7, 2014. According to local media, a journalist working for Eleven Media was sentenced to three months in prison on charges of defamation. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Two years after Myanmar scrapped censorship in one of its boldest reforms, its journalists are again living in fear of jail and are convinced a state-sponsored crackdown is under way to limit press freedom.

Eight members of the media have been arrested since December and two jailed in what critics say is government backsliding on some of the wide-ranging reforms that led the West to lift sanctions after decades of military rule.