People in Burma could buy a newspaper from a private news company on Monday for the first time in 50 years. Burma's government has allowed the printing of 16 newspapers, although only four were ready for the first day of sale. The Burmese military took control of the press and the news it published in 1964. From then until Sunday, the government controlled what news people read. Life was made impossible for journalists from the free press. The government tortured and imprisoned many reporters who broke the rules. Burma is also allowing international news agencies to work in the country. The Associated Press became the first when its six staff opened for business on Saturday.

The re-introduction of private newspapers comes on the first anniversary of the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament. She has been a strong supporter of bringing back the free press to Burma. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, will start printing its own daily newspaper later this month. The editor of the "Voice Daily" newspaper thinks the private newspapers will be better than the government ones. He said: "I can say with absolute confidence that we can compete with government papers in terms of content and quality of news." He added: "I am very excited that we are finally printing daily editions. It is a dream come true." The "Voice Daily" printed its first edition on Monday.