Publishers talk a good game on press freedom in Yangon, but the old and arcane enmities from years before my time here always conspire to keep them from standing together when circumstances demand. They go to each other’s events and stand in semicircles, smiling for the social pages while sniping out the sides of their mouths. With an advertising market this torpid and good talent in short supply, vocational solidarity is left to their underlings, even though the last few years have shown the courts won’t discriminate between owner and editor.

• Tags: Issue 7, Ko Ni, Ko Swe Win, Myanmar, Sean Gleeson