Reuters scoops competition on Suu Kyi urging West to keep sanctions

Reuters was a day ahead of rivals with the long-awaited news of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s formal position on whether the West should relax sanctions following her release from house arrest last November. The Feb. 7 story from Yangon reported that Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was recommending that the punitive measures be maintained, surprising many who had expected the Nobel laureate to urge the West to roll back sanctions to ease economic hardships. The Reuters report, which cited the vice chairman of the NLD, formed the basis of stories published by newspapers and other media around the globe, including the New York Times, Britain’s the Independent and al Jazeera.