8/8/08 for Burma

This video about the events in New York on 8-8-08 is narrated by 8-8-08 for Burma’s Cristina Moon, and was shot by Evan Silverstein.

Highlights:

• some of the leaders of the day’s activities - former political prisoner Nay Tin Myint and activists Athein and Naw Min Htwe
• a speech by Cristina and
• an impromptu chinlone game in front of the United Nations!

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Join Team Burma Chinlone events and other activities all around the world! If you can’t find an event near you, host one yourself!

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Planning Resources

• Print out and read this EVENT PLANNING GUIDE for simple instructions on how to organize your event.

• Join our event host conference call on Wednesday, August 13 at 8PM Eastern Time.  Call 1-518-825-1300, and enter in the participant access code 222210# when prompted.

Event Materials

• Print 2 or 3 copies of this TABLE BANNER. This is a big, bold visual to draw people to your table. You’ll want to post these prominently on your table or booth.

• Print plenty of these FLYERS. The flyer describes Team Burma and chinlone; they’re for handing out to passersby. Print up to 30 copies per attendee you expect at your event.

• Use this SCRIPT to practice inviting people to join Team Burma!

• Print out 3 or 4 pages of these SIGN-UP SHEETS. Make sure to pass the sign-up sheets around to the volunteers before the event.

Media Materials

• Media Guide: A helpful start-to-finish guide on getting media coverage for your event.

• Media Advisory: Adapt this template press advisory and send it to local reporters to help get press coverage for your event.

• Reporter script: Use this reporter script to help you call reporters and ask them to come to your event.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why Chinlone?
The national sport of Burma, chinlone is played throughout Burma – across ethnic and religious lines – and embodies unity and partnership.

What are the rules for Chinlone?
The rules are simple: don’t let the ball touch the ground and don’t use your hands. There are no points and no teams – the game is about demonstrating athleticism, grace, and skill. For beginners, it’s more importantly about having fun! And because there are no competing teams, in the end, everybody wins.

Why is Than Shwe’s picture on Team Burma’s chinlone balls?
Every time someone gives our chinlone balls a kick, he or she makes a statement about military dictatorship in Burma – that it needs a good kick.

After overseeing decades of oppression and atrocities; cracking down on non-violent protests in 1988, 1996, and 2007; and denying humanitarian aid to 2.4 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis in May of this year, Than Shwe and his regime are devoid of legitimacy in the eyes of their own people and the international community

It’s critical that you contact the media about your event so that you can increase the chances that you get covered. There are three key phases in contacting the media:

• Build your list
• Send out your advisory
• Call the reporters

1. Building your media list:

First you need to create a list of the names, phone numbers and fax/email of media outlets and reporters in your area. The following website is a great place to start. But contact information for the press changes very often, so you might need the good old fashioned phone book.

For local AP contact information: www.ap.org/pages/contact/contact.html.

Keep track of the information you collect. You can use it again for future events.

Here’s a chart to help you figure out whom to target. It’s listed in order of priority, so start at the top.

2. Send out your media advisory:

A media advisory is a brief statement that tells reporters everything they need to know about your event. Click here to download your template advisory.

You’ll need to go through the document and customize it to describe your event. Watch for any sections in caps– like [LOCATION], and replace them with local information.

Once you’ve customized your advisory, you need to fax or email it to the reporters on your list. For weekly papers and outlets, send out your advisories as soon as possible.

NOTE: You should make a special effort to identify and reach out to local progressive media outlets. Progressive radio talk shows might be interested in having you come on the show in advance to spread the word. That’s a fantastic opportunity to get the word out about your event. When you make follow-up calls to these outlets after sending your advisory, make sure to ask which show might be most interested in this story — you’ll want to talk to the producer of that show.

3. Call the reporters:

Calling reporters is the most important part of contacting the media. This is your chance to tell them how great your event is and why they should cover it.

Before you start the calls, review the reporter script. Spend a few minutes thinking about what you’ll say before starting your calls. Practice it with a friend or say it out loud a few times (don’t worry — even the professionals do this). You’re trying to take the most interesting and timely aspects of the story and condense them into 30 seconds or less. If you’re calling a progressive media outlet, don’t be shy about asking if you can come on the show to talk about your event.

Try to talk to reporters directly. Leaving a message on their machine or with a receptionist isn’t nearly as effective. If you don’t have success getting through to a political reporter, try asking if there’s an entertainment editor or someone who covers “human interest” stories.

You should call reporters twice: once right after you send your advisory, and again on the morning of your event.

The most important call is the one to your local Associated Press (AP) office. Ask them to put your event on their “daybook”—the list of events in the area that other media outlets use when deciding what to cover.

Here are the ideal times for calling the media:

• Call TV stations before 9 am, which is when they have their morning assignment meeting.
• Call radio anytime.
• Call papers between 9 am and 10 am, when editors & reporters choose stories for the day.

Note: If you can’t call during these times, just call when you can. But be sure to ask if the reporter is ‘on deadline’ before you start, in case they’re rushing to finish something. They may ask you to call back in a bit.

Download Press Release as PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2008 (GMT +5)

Contacts:
Cristina Moon (8-8-08 for Burma): cmoon@8808forburma.org, +1.347.756.4088
Naw La (All Kachin Students & Youth Union - AKSYU): aksyuthai@yahoo.com, +66.81.673.9320

ACTIVISTS CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF BURMESE “BLOOD JADE” IN BEIJING

NEW YORK – Activists are calling on visitors to China for the 2008 Summer Olympics to boycott souvenirs and jewelry made of Burmese jade in order to avoid supporting Burma’s abuse-ridden jade mining industry that provides the military regime with one of its largest sources of hard cash.

For the first time in history, Olympic medals will include a material other than gold, silver, and bronze. While the medals of the Beijing Games are made with Chinese nephrite jade, Burmese jadeite has eclipsed nephrite in popularity in China. Gem-quality jade, a class of jadeite, is only produced by Burmese mines, which are controlled and operated by the military regime and its business partners.

Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games, a report released today by the All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU) and 8-8-08 for Burma, details how the military regime that rules Burma makes millions of dollars per year from the export of jade, primarily to China.

“We are relieved that the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games has sourced the jade for the Olympic medals and official souvenirs from China,” said Cristina Moon of 8-8-08 for Burma. “But there is a growing demand for Burmese jade that will only increase due to the Olympic promotion of jade. The generals will keep using their jade profits to buy weapons and crush dissent in Burma unless individuals take a stand.”

In addition to being a major source of foreign currency, the military-controlled industry is plagued with deplorable working conditions, an HIV/AIDS epidemic, and environmental destruction. Thousands have lost their land due to the expansion of mining areas. Deaths from pit collapses and company vigilantism are commonplace.

“Our mountains have disappeared and our youth are dying. The generals are letting their cronies mine away our future,” said Naw La of the AKSYU. “We urge people not to buy blood jade from Burma”.

The Kachin are an ethnic group from Burma’s northernmost Kachin State, the source of almost all of the world’s gem-quality jade.

Burma’s military crushed non-violent protests led by Buddhist clergy in September 2007, echoing its infamous bloody crackdown on the student-led uprising on August 8, 1988 when 3,000 were killed. The opening ceremony of the Olympics falls on the 20th anniversary of that event.

Following Cyclone Nargis, which killed 150,000 people and affected over 2 million others, Burma’s military leaders hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid and attempts to fully assess cyclone damage. Despite international outcry, the regime held a national referendum to approve a draft constitution only seven days after the cyclone.

The full report Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games can be viewed at www.bloodjade.org

Photographs and video of the jade mines are available from AKSYU (GMT+7) and 8-8-08 for Burma (GMT-5)

View Current Headlines

Listen to 8-8-08 for Burma’s Cristina Moon on “RadioNation with Laura Flanders” (19 April 2008)

21 July, 2008 “ASEAN delivers rare Burma rebuke”
BBC

20 July, 2008 “A New Generation of Activists Arises in Burma”
The Washington Post

17 July, 2008 “Video: If we have guns we will shoot back”
The Guardian

16 July, 2008 “House votes to punish ruling junta in Myanmar”
The Associated Press

16 July, 2008 “US lawmakers ease pressure on Chevron in Myanmar”
Agence France Presse

16 July, 2008 “Myanmar invites UN envoy to visit as pressure mounts”
Reuters

15 July, 2008 “Gambari’s Burma Visit Postponed”
The Irrawaddy Magazine

14 July, 2008 “China Tops in Myanmar Trafficking”
NDTV.com

14 July, 2008 “Six Burmese Athletes to Compete in Olympics”
The Irrawaddy Magazine

11 July, 2008 “No Olympic Medal for Bush”
Wall Street Journal

11 July, 2008 “Bush defends decision to attend Olympics”
USA Today

11 July, 2008 “Walker hopes barefoot London trek will highlight Burma plight”
The Scotsman

11 July, 2008 “UN raises Myanmar cyclone plea”
Associated Press

11 July, 2008 “ILO slams Myanmar for keeping six “labour activists in jail”
Bloomberg News

9 July, 2008 “Report Slams Beijing’s Burma Policy”
The Irrawaddy Magazine

9 July, 2008 “Some Myanmar Survivors Now Cringe at Wind, Rain”
The Associated Press

8 July, 2008 “Burmese State Media Dismiss Aung San Suu Kyi’s 1990 Election Win”
Voice of America

2 July, 2008 “Sinking: China’s Soft Diplomacy on Burma”
8-8-08 for Burma Press Release

2 July, 2008 “Myanmar politics roiled, but junta’s grip firm”
Associated Press

2 July, 2008 “For Hosts, Games Lose Some Luster”
Washington Post

View Headlines from June 2008

Download the full report (PDF)

The medals of the Beijing Games - inlaid for the first time in Olympic history with jade - are a reminder of China’s deep and complex relationship with the military regime that rules neighboring Burma, including its jade mines.

Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games, a joint report by the All Kachin Students & Youth Union and 8-8-08 for Burma, investigates Burma’s jade mining industry, fueled by Chinese demand, and calls on global consumers not to buy Burma’s blood jade - in Beijing and beyond.

Press Materials

Download Press Kit (includes background on Kachin State, overview of global actions on Burmese gemstones, and headlines on Burmese gemstones) (PDF)

View Press Release / Download Press Release (PDF)

Other Materials

8-8-08 for Burma has created Guidelines for Identifying Burmese ‘Blood’ Jade in Beijing for athletes, journalists, and other visitors to China for the Olympics (PDF).

Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games by 8-8-08 for Burma and the All Kachin Students and Youth Union is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.bloodjade.org

Download the 8-8-08 for Burma position paper (2 July 2008), “Sinking: China’s Soft Diplomacy on Burma”

Team Burma events were held around the world as the Olympics took place in Beijing (August 8-24, 2008). Event hosts were given everything needed to host a successful event, including a start-to-finish guide and materials.

Watch a video of 8-8-08 for Burma activities on 8 August, 2008