Tag: journalism

Maldives plummets to 103rd in Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index

The Maldives has plummeted to 103rd in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index, a fall of 30 places and a return to pre-2008 levels.

“The events that led to the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed in February led to violence and threats against journalists in state television and private media outlets regarded as pro-Nasheed by the coup leaders,” RSF observed, in its annual ranking of 179 countries.

“Attacks on press freedom have increased since then. Many journalists have been arrested, assaulted and threatened during anti-government protests. On June 5, the freelance journalist and blogger Ismail “Hilath” Rasheed narrowly survived the first attempted murder of a journalist in the archipelago,” RSF noted in its report.

The index ranks countries according to levels of press and media freedoms. Countries with the best levels of press freedom rank highest, with northern European and Scandinavian countries filling the top three positions: Finland, Netherlands and Norway respectively. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea took the bottom three places.

The Maldives’ ranking places it alongside Mali (99th), which experienced a military coup last year, and Fiji (107th), which experienced a coup in 2006.

Prior to the country’s first multi-party democratic election in 2008, the Maldives was ranked 104th – an improvement on its 2007 ranking of 129th, and 2006 – 144th. The country’s ranking in 2009-2010 reflected dramatic improvements in press freedom, rising to 51st and 52nd respectively. The ranking slipped to 73rd in 2011.

Despite its plunge in 2012, regionally the Maldives still ranked higher than India (140th), Sri Lanka (162nd), Pakistan (158th), and Bangladesh (144th).

“Only three Asian countries are in the top 25 percent of the table, while 15 countries are among the bottom 45 places,” observed RSF.

“Unsurprisingly, one-party authoritarian governments figure more than ever among the predators of press freedom and languish at the bottom end of the table.”

“Press freedom has crashed”: former President

“Press freedom in the Maldives has crashed since Dr Waheed’s coup,” read a statement today from former President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Security forces have beaten up journalists, and the regime has targeted and threatened independent media outlets,” Nasheed wrote.

“One of the defining images of the coup was Dr Waheed’s own brother leading a gang of mutinying police and storming the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), pulling the station off air and locking the journalists in a room. Suppression of the media has been the hallmark of Waheed’s rule.”

President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad was not responding at time of press.

The release of the RSF Press Freedom Index closely follows the release of the annual Freedom House survey of political rights and civil liberties, in which the Maldives was dropped from the list of electoral democracies alongside Mali.

The country’s political rights rating shifted from three to five (higher is ‘less free’) during 2012, “due to the forcible removal of democratically elected president Mohamed Nasheed, violence perpetrated against him and his party, the suspension of the parliament’s summer session, and the role of the military in facilitating these events,” Freedom House stated.

Police and military join demonstrators in storming the state broadcaster on February 7:

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Reporters Without Borders condemns stabbing of Hilath Rasheed: “All the hallmarks of a targeted murder attempt”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the stabbing of well-known Maldivian journalist and blogger Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed.

Rasheed had his throat slashed outside his house in Male’ around 8:15pm on Monday night, and was rushed to ADK Hospital for emergency surgery. Sources at the hospital said that the attack severed his trachea (windpipe), missing a vital artery “by millimetres”, and initially gave him a five percent chance of survival.

Hospital staff stabilised Rasheed’s condition around 2:30am on Tuesday, and as of Wednesday evening his condition was said to be improving. An informed source told Minivan News that Rasheed was unable to speak due to his injuries, but had communicated with his parents in writing.

“This knife attack has all the hallmarks of a targeted murder attempt,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

“Rasheed has made many enemies through his outspoken blogging. The authorities in charge of the investigation should not rule out the possibility that this was linked to his journalistic activity. He is a well-known journalist who has repeatedly been censored, arrested and threatened.

“The police must, as a matter of urgency, put a stop to the harassment of Rasheed and take the issue of his safety seriously. Any lack of response on their part will constitute a criminal failure to assist a person in danger,” RSF stated.

The organisation noted that Rasheed had previously been attacked on December 10, 2011, suffering a fractured skull “while attending a peaceful demonstration in support of religious tolerance.”

“The police then arrested him for taking part in the demonstration and held him until 9 January,” RSF added, noting that Rasheed’s blog, www.hilath.com, had also been blocked on the orders of Ministry of Islamic Affairs on 19 November 2011 on the grounds that it contained “anti-Islamic” material.

“If it is confirmed that the attack was prompted by his journalism and blogging, Rasheed would be the first journalist to have been the target of a murder attempt in Maldives,” RSF observed.

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has also condemned the attack on Rasheed.

“The violent attack on Hilath was an attempt to kill him. The association calls on the authorities to find those who had involved in this crime and bring them to justice,” the MJA stated.
“We call on the police and political figures of this country to stop quarrelling for power and make the country – especially the capital Male’ – a place where families and children can live without fear.”

The MJA added that if the trend of violent murders across the country continued, the resulting impact on the country’s tourism-based economy would be “irrevocable”.

Minister for Human Resources and spokesperson for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, told AFP that while the government condemned the attack, “Hilath must have known that he had become a target of a few extremists.”

“We are not a secular country. When you talk about religion there will always be a few people who do not agree,” Shareef said.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef meanwhile said that while no arrests had been made, police had obtained CCTV footage of the area and were in the process of analysing it.

Police were also investigating the stabbing of a Bangladeshi man at 11pm on the same evening, Haneef said. The victim suffered minor injuries and was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.

The Maldives was ranked 73rd out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. The country jumped from 148th in 2005 to 51st in 2009, following the introduction of multiparty democracy and freedom of expression.

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Raajje TV accuses state of “physical and psychological intimidation”

Deputy CEO of Raajje TV Abdulla Yamin has accused the security forces of “physical and psychological intimidation.”

Speaking at a luncheon hosted by deposed President Mohamed Nasheed to mark International Press Freedom Day, Yamin said the station had operated with freedom and “without any fear” before the change of power on February 7. Nasheed alleges he had resigned from office “under duress” in a coup d’état on February 7.

But since the transfer of power Raajje TV reporters have experienced physical attacks and have been threatened by security forces, Yamin said. Further, he said ministers of the current administration had refused to engage with the station.

“I have no certainty I can safely go home after saying this here,” Yamin said.

However, President of the Maldives Journalists Association ‘Hiriga’ Ahmed Zahir and President of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) Ahmed Nazeef said they did not see any obstacles to media freedom in the country.

The TV station first went on air as “Future TV” in 2008, but started broadcasting as “Raajje TV” in 2011. Ruling coalition supporters say the station is biased towards ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

No time for Raajje TV

Raajje TV presenters Qufthaq Ajeer and Mohamed Jinah were assaulted and threatened with sharp weapons in Hulhumalé on April 15. Jinah was stabbed in the back and Ajeer was hit in the eye, Yamin said.

Further, on February 8 security forces had threatened to damage Raajje TV equipment unless reporters ended live coverage of an MDP protest and left the Republican Square area, Yamin said.

“The police told us ‘Stop your coverage now or we will break your cameras,’ and then they forcibly pushed us out of the area,” he said.

Video footage of the MDP’s protest on February 8 show police tear gassing and brutally beating unarmed civilians in front of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) building near the Republican Square.

The police had also “smashed” Raajje TV equipment while dismantling MDP previous protest camp “Insaafuge Maidhan” (Justice Square) at Raalhugandu on March 19. Police dismantled the site claiming “unlawful acts” were being planned in the area.

“We thought that since we were the media, the police wouldn’t harm our equipment. But we saw the police smashing our TV monitors and damaging our equipment. When we went to the police for compensation, they told us to go to the courts,” Yamin said.

New President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza had told Yamin that the ruling coalition had wanted to “destroy” Raajje TV but stopped on Dr Waheed’s intervention, he claimed.

Further, Waheed’s ministers refused to engage with Raajje TV “impeding our right to information,” Yamin said. “They tell us ‘If it’s Raajje TV, we have no time.’”

Although Yamin contends freedom of press has deteriorated since the change of power, President of the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) ‘Hiriga’ Ahmed Zahir said he does not believe “there are challenges to freedom of the press today.”

“That’s natural”

Speaking at the same luncheon, Zahir said the executive had always tried to influence the press and that it was “the natural” way of things. He also noted that Maldivian media is politically biased serving different political interests. He told President Nasheed the media had experienced intimidation during his administration as well.

Zahir has long opposed Nasheed’s decision to stop the government from advertising in commercial newspapers, claiming the move had bankrupted many outlets and led to the closure of several newspapers. President Waheed on Thursday pledged to resume advertising.

Meanwhile, MMC President Nazeef said he did not see explicit attempts by the state at violating press freedom. But he expressed concern over Majlis Financial Committee’s decision to abolish the MMC and transfer its functions to the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC).

The committee report states that the decision has been reached owing to the Solicitor General’s belief that the MMC has not been able to perform its duties and responsibilities to a satisfactory level.

The 15 member MMC, established in 2010, is charged with preserving the freedom and integrity of media in the Maldives as well as encouraging ethical and professional standards within the industry.

The decision to annul MMC was an attempt by the Majlis to influence the media by changing media regulation from a “self-regulatory mechanism to a regulatory mechanism,” Nazeef said.

VTV attack

Last month, the offices of private broadcaster Villa Television (VTV) were attacked during confrontations between security forces and alleged anti-government protesters in Male’ on March 19.

VTV was briefly brought off air following the incident – an act claimed by the station’s owner to be tantamount to “terrorism”. Local media bodies also criticised protesters for allegedly threatening journalists and media personnel covering the clashes.

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Religious intolerance sees Maldives drop to 73rd in Press Freedom Index

The Maldives has fallen 21 places on Reporters Without Borders (RSF)’s press freedom index between 2010 and 2011.

The country is now ranked 73, level with the Seychelles and below Sierra Leone but still well above many countries in both the region and the Middle East countries, including Qatar, Oman and the UAE.

The Maldives took a giant leap in 2009 to 51 following the introduction of multiparty democracy – in 2008 it had been ranked 104.

RSF has however recently expressed concern at the rising climate of religious intolerance in the Maldives and its impact on freedom of expression.

“A climate of religious intolerance prevailed in the Maldives, where media organisations were subjected to threats by the authorities and had to deal with an Islamic Affairs Ministry bent on imposing Sharia to the detriment of free expression,” RSF stated.

In November 2011 the organisation reacted to the Islamic Ministry’s order to block the website of controversial blogger Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed, stating that “the increase in acts of religious intolerance is a threat to the Maldives’ young democracy”.

“Incidents involving media workers are rare but that is only because most of them prefer to censor themselves and stay away from subjects relating to Islam. The government should not give in to the fanatical minority but must do all it can to ensure the media are free to tackle any subjects they choose,” the organisation said.

Rasheed was subsequently arrested on the evening of December 14 for his involvement in a “silent protest” calling for religious tolerance, held on Human Rights Day. The protesters had been attacked and Rasheed hospitalised after being struck with a stone.

On his release without charge three weeks later, Rasheed expressed concern for his safety.

“The majority of Maldivians are not violent people. But I am concerned about a few psychotic elements who believe they will go to heaven if they kill me – people who don’t care if they go to jail for it. Those people I am afraid of, and I will not provoke the country in the future,” he told Minivan News.

In September 2011 the government published new ‘religious unity’ regulations enforcing parliament’s religious unity act of 1994, with a penalty of 2-5 years imprisonment for violation.

Under the regulations, the media is banned from producing or publicising programs, talking about or disseminating audio deemed to “humiliate Allah or his prophets or the holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet (Mohamed) or the Islamic faith.”

More recently several journalists with the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) were beaten, threatened and tasered after protesters from the opposition and ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) clashed outside the station. Both sides blamed each other for the attacks, while MNBC said it would no longer cover the ongoing protests on scene.

The government meanwhile claimed that its commitment to media freedom is “absolute and unwavering.”

“President Nasheed’s administration never has and never will do anything to undermine the independence, integrity or professionalism of the media,” said President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

Zuhair’s comments followed allegations that Communications Minister Adhil Saleem had intimidated journalists by threatening to withdraw broadcasting licenses, which Zuhair claimed was “merely” a reaction to “certain TV news channels acting unprofessionally when airing footage of recent protests.”

Despite the fall, the Maldives was still ranked significantly higher than many other countries in the region.

Sri Lanka fell to 163, continuing a steady decline over the last decade (it was ranked 51 in 2002).

“The stranglehold of the Rajapakse clan [has] forced the last few opposition journalists to flee the country,” RSF said in a statement on the release of the 2011 Index.

“Any that stayed behind were regularly subjected to harassment and threats. Attacks were less common but impunity and official censorship of independent news sites put an end to pluralism and contributed more than ever to self-censorship by almost all media outlets.”

Bangladesh fared poorly (129) – “despite genuine media pluralism, the law allows the government to maintain excessive control over the media and the Internet” – while Nepal (109) showed modest improvement with a drop off in violence between the government and Maoist rebels.

India’s position fell (131) after the government unveiled the “Information Technology Rules 2011, which have dangerous implications for online freedom of expression. Foreign reporters saw their visa requests turned down or were pressured to provide positive coverage.”

Pakistan (151st) meanwhile remained the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second year running.

Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland were ranked as having the greatest press freedom, while North Korea and Eritrea fared the worst.

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Q&A: Swedish Radio journalist Margita Boström

Margita Boström is a visiting news reporter for Swedish Radio, Sweden’s national publicly funded radio broadcaster, producing stories about climate change in the Maldives.

JJ Robinson: Given its remoteness, why do you think international media is so interested in the Maldives?

Margita Boström: The Maldives drew [the media’s] attention to what is going on here when it held the underwater cabinet meeting, and through the President’s comments saying he was going to buy land in other countries.

But that was 2-3 years ago. The climate issue is now coming up again, in Europe. It very much went down after Copenhagen because everyone was fed up with it, and then there was the economic crisis, which is still going on. That’s the biggest news item at the moment: is the euro going to continue? Sweden is not in the euro, so we’re fairly happy about that right now.

Then there is the upcoming meeting in Durban. [Journalists] are looking at what kind of countries can you report on to describe what happening in an easy way.

People in Sweden know the Maldives – we are a travelling people, especially in winter time. It easy for people to connect to the Maldives because they have a picture in their heads of these beautiful islands.

I have been working in Bangladesh on similar stories, but for people back the perception is just of people starving on the streets.

JJ: How has the perception you had of the Maldives as a reporter prior to coming been matched by the reality when you arrived here?

MB: I also had perception of the Maldives as small islands with crystal white beaches and blue lagoons. But coming to Male’ was totally different. It is not like an Asian country – maybe a little like Singapore. When I first arrived on the ferry, it seemed like a mini-Manhattan in the middle of nowhere.

JJ: How hard was it to find information about the real Maldives, as opposed to the resort side, when you were researching the country?

MB: Very hard. The only thing you find when you put ‘Maldives’ into google are the resorts and companies selling trips here. You have to put in more words to get close to anything else. I put ‘Maldives’ and ‘environment’, and then after a while I found the Bluepeace [local environment NGO] website.

But their website is not up to date, and I sent a message but didn’t get an answer. There was no telehpnhone number on the whole web page, and I went through it very thoroughly..

It was really hard to find information on the Maldives. I was quite frustrated when I first came here. Usually I come to a place and just start working – it is easy to get into. But here the stretch at the start was longer here because I couldn’t find any information beforehand.

JJ: What kind of impact do you think this lack of information has on the international coverage the Maldives?

MB: I think it is hard for people to understand the scale of the problem. People don’t understand climate change is very difficult for Maldivians, and that they depend on the rest of the world being aware of what’s going on. [The lack of information] means the Maldives loses opportunities to get the world focused on the problem.

When I in Bangladesh it was very easy to find NGOs and people in government – it was very easy to get in contact with people.

JJ: How did this lack of information affect your work as a journalist?

MB: It has been getting better [during the trip], but the stretch at the start was longer. I am glad I didn’t just stay 5-6 days. I stayed a bit longer. It is hard to get in contact with people, but when you do it is very easy to get interviews – Bluepeace has been very helpful now, but I couldn’t contact them before I got here.

Working out who are you going to talk to, and how contact them, that is hard. It seems like only a few people know how. Normally you can set up interviews beforehand, so it has been very frustrating.

JJ: How has seeing the Maldives first-hand affected the stories you thought you were going to produce?

MB: I thought I was going to do stories about sea level rise and the President buying land in Sri Lanka, but I see now it is a more complex story. I didn’t really understand why the President was saying he wanted to make Maldives carbon neutral.

Now I understand that was a way of showing up the rest of the world. It will be hard for other countries to say “carbon neutral doesn’t work”, when the Maldives can come to climate meetings in 15-20 years and say “We did it.” It will be hard for the US or China. [The Maldives’ emphasis on climate change] is political way of [fighting climate change].

JJ: What can the Maldives do to encourage more foreign journalists to come and look at the stories behind the resorts and the obvious environmental pieces?

MB: One idea is to make it easier to find information on the internet. Maybe there should be a government page with information on which person deals with different things, telephone numbers and emails, so they can be contacted. It is very hard [for foreign media] because it is quite an expensive trip to come here, and you really need to know beforehand that you can make stories.

I also found it very hard to understand how the country can be so hard to travel around when it is 99 percent water. How can you travel around? You can’t find that information either. I found two airports, in the north and the south, but nothing on how to fly there, or boats you can go on, the cost of it, or a contact to find out. These are practical things – there should be a portal for information.

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HarperCollins confirms Maldives not being erased from Times Atlas as global warming statement

The Maldivian government has written to the editor of the UK’s Telegraph newspaper seeking “clarification and apology” for a satirical article claiming that the Maldives was to be erased from the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World as a statement on global warming.

The article, by climate skeptic James Deringpole, cited a fictitious spokesperson from Times Atlas as implying that the Maldives’ position on climate change was “a publicity stunt, cooked up by green activist Mark Lynas, to blackmail the international community into giving the Maldives more aid money while simultaneously trying to lure green Trustafarians to come and spend £1500 a night in houses on stilts with gold-plated organic recyclable eco-toilets made of rare earth minerals from China.”

In a letter to the Telegraph’s Editor, Tony Gallagher, Acting High Commissioner Ahmed Shiian wrote that “to suggest, even in satire, that the plight of our country in the face of sea-level rise is simply some kind of con-trick to raise guilt money from the international community is despicable and hurtful to all of us, whose country is indeed one of the most vulnerable on Earth to global warming.”

Shiian added that Delingpole’s “leaden attempts at humour” had  already had “unfortunate political consequences in the Maldives”, after his invented quotes from a Times Atlas spokesperson “were reported as fact in the Maldives media, and the opposition party of the former dictatorship has used this to accuse the President of undermining the country and national pride.”

Minivan News yesterday contacted the publisher of the Times Atlas, HarperCollins, which confirmed that the story was bogus.

“Of course we have no plans to erase the Maldives, Tuvalu or major parts of Bangladesh from the next edition,” a spokesperson told Minivan News, also confirming that the spokesperson cited by Deringpole was not a HarperCollins employee.

“Like the rest of the piece, he is a fiction,” she said.

Major media outlets in the Maldives, including Haveeru, Miadhu and Sun Online, continued to carry the story this morning, although Haveeru had amended its version to reference “unconfirmed reports”.

The stories generated strong sentiment among the many who commented on it, with many blaming President Nasheed for the underwater cabinet meeting which had led to the Maldives “being wiped off the map”.

A senior source in the President’s Office told Minivan News that the story had stirred up strong sentiments and now the perception risked running ahead of the reality.

“It is hugely irresponsible journalism not to acknowledge when you’ve made a mistake. Standard procedure all over the world is to do a retraction,” the source said.

Editor of Sun Online and President of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Ahmed Hiriga Zahir, told Minivan News that he had edited Sun’s story and was under the impression that it was genuine.

“I didn’t thoroughly check the original,” he acknowledged, “but I did read the Maldivian media. Why would the [UK] media report it [incorrectly]? I think the original media should correct it. If the Maldivian media reported it and they know it is not the truth, they should also correct it,” he added.

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair, said the government was approaching the Broadcasting Commission and the Maldives Media Council asking it “to insist the mainstream media be responsible, and not to take silly blogs as mainstream news.”

Zuhair said he suspected the media had “deliberately misinterpreted” the story to mislead the public and generate anti-government sentiment.

“Many of these outlets were the government organs of yesteryear, and many of their journalists have not reconciled themselves with the days when they were calling the current President a vagabond and a terrorist,” Zuhair said.

“Presenting this story as serious news is misleading, and people have been misled – they are calling up the morning radio programs concerned that the Maldives has been taken off the map. The media should be responsible and publish a retraction, but I doubt they will do it – you can wake up a person who is asleep, but you can’t wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep.”

MP for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s new political party, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Ahmed Mahlouf, yesterday sent out a mass text message informing people of the supposed decision to erase the Maldives from the map, blaming President Mohamed Nasheed for holding the underwater cabinet meeting and ”erasing the country, erasing religion and erasing the people.”

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Media Council condemns Criminal Court for excluding journalists from Deputy Speaker’s corruption trial

The Maldives Media Council (MMC) has condemned the Criminal Court for barring journalist from a corruption hearing involving Parliament’s Deputy Speaker and People Alliance Party (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim.

The council issued the statement following the Criminal Court judge’s decision, stating that the court’s claim that journalists were blocked because they gave a negative perspective on the court was not probable grounds to disallow journalists from hearing the trial.

The Council said that the Criminal Court’s decision would prevent the court from gaining public confidence.

The MMC’s press statement said the decision to bar journalists from the trial was “a huge challenge” for people’s right to a free press, as outlined in the Constitution.

Last Thursday, the Criminal Court refused to allow journalists to observe the hearing of Nazim’s ongoing corruption trial. Nazim is facing charges of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud the former Atolls Ministry.

Local dailies Haveeru and Sun Online reported that the hearing was scheduled to start at 12:00pm, but was actually conducted one hour earlier at 11:00pm. The court had not informed any of the reporters who registered at the court that morning of the time change.

According to Haveeru, court reporters who learned of the time change and requested entry were told that “the judge has decided to hold a closed hearing.”

When asked by reporters to offer a reason for the closed hearing, the court official asked the reporters to wait, went inside and did not appear until the hearing was over.

Almost two hours after the hearing concluded, Criminal Court Media Officer Ahmed Mohamed Manik told the court reporters that had not been allowed to enter because “negative perceptions of the court were being created [among the public] because of some journalists.”

Queried by the court reporters, the Criminal Court official insisted that the judge was authorised to exclude the public from trials under article 42 of the constitution. Members of the public were allowed to attend today’s hearing.

Under normal court procedure, only trials involving child sexual abuse are closed to the public.

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Government invites IFJ to Maldives “to judge for itself”, after journalist body backs MBC

The Foreign Ministry of the Maldives has invited a delegation from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to the Maldives “to judge [for themselves] whether the local media is able to meet the needs of the public it serves, and of freedom of expression in the Maldives.”

The invitation was given after the IFJ issued a statement supporting the transfer of assets of the Maldives National Broadcast Corporation (MNBC) to parliament’s Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

The MNBC is a 100 percent government-owned corporation that controls the assets of the former State Broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM) and Voice of Maldives (VOM).

In April 2010 the then-opposition majority parliament triggered a tug-of-war for control of the state broadcaster after it created MBC, appointed a board, and then ordered MNBC transfer the assets to the new body. Following a refusal to do so by the President’s Office, a Civil Court ruling last week ordered the transfer take place within 20 days. The government has said it intends to appeal.

“The IFJ has consistently argued the case for public service journalism which is independent of state control and insulated from a dependence on advertising revenue which is known to often impair editorial independence,” said IFJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park.

“The Maldives Journalists’ Association (MJA), an IFJ affiliate, has placed on record its belief that the empowerment of the autonomous corporation [MBC], which has been designated as a public service broadcaster under Maldives’ national law, is key to raising awareness during a challenging time of transition for the Indian Ocean republic.”

The Foreign Ministry claimed that “Unfortunately the current MBC Board was appointed at a time when the opposition majority of the People’s Majlis was being used for obvious political reasons.”

“However, the government looks forward to the day when the MBC can function as an independent, impartial and objective State broadcaster, backed by an independent and well-respected Board.”

The Maldivian media – including MNBC – is frequently accused of overt political bias favouring one or other of the major political parties, a legacy of decades of autocratic governance and a state-controlled media establishment.

Several opposition-allied MPs and businessmen remain key owners of much of the country’s private media, and visiting journalism trainers have voiced concerns from young Maldivian journalists that senior editorial management obstruct them from reporting ethically.

Iraq Editorial Manager for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Tiare Rath, observed in September 2010 following a series of journalism workshops that “one of the major issues all my students talked about is resistance among newsroom leadership – editors and publishers.”

“Even if the journalists support and understand the principles being taught, they consistently tell me they cannot apply them,” Rath said.

“This is a very, very serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

Inviting the IFJ to the Maldives, the Foreign Ministry said it requested that the IFJ “only uphold the very principles they espouse when they report on the situation on the ground. In this regard, perhaps it would be useful for the IFJ to send a delegation to Male’.”

Minivan News is currently seeking a response from the IFJ to the Foreign Ministry’s invitation.

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Partisan media obstructing journalists from reporting ethically

The Maldivian media needs to move beyond the basics of reporting and on to media ethics if it is to build its credibility, become independent and break free from the influence of partisan politics, urged visiting journalism trainer Tiare Rath, Iraq Editorial Manager for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

Rath, an American journalist and trainer who has worked in the US, Africa, Asia and the Middle East for companies including CNN and the New York Times, spoke last Thursday to a small group of Maldivian journalists and NGO representatives about the challenges and opportunities for journalism in a young democracy.

“I have been really impressed with news judgement here, and the understanding of the basic principles of journalism,” Rath said of her experience training young reporters in the Maldives.

“But on the other hand, one of the major issues all my students talked about is resistance among newsroom leadership – editors and publishers. Even if the journalists support and understand the principles being taught, they consistently tell me they cannot apply them,” Rath said. “This is a very, very serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

Rath compared the state of the Maldives media with that in Iraq, “where most of the media is partisan because that’s where the money comes from.”

“They haven’t been able to develop an advertising market, so political parties and powerful individuals back their own media outlets,” she said. “There have been a lot of issues with bias, media ownership and political pressuring of [Iraqi] journalists, and they don’t have the level of legal protection enjoyed by the media in the Maldives.”

However, despite the high-levels of violence obstructing democracy in Iraq, “the news media has flourished – there are more than 300 newspapers in Baghdad alone, and across the country there are thousands of newspapers and many small radio stations, and a lot of news sites and blogs.”

Media in countries like Afghanistan face additional problems, Rath added, “such as the lack of educated young people in the post-Taliban environment who want to be journalists. That has been a major issue.”

In Afghanistan the threat to journalists was primarily harassment and imprisonment, Rath explained, “and there have been efforts by the government to block out the media when it pushes too hard, especially on certain issues like drugs or warlords. The government just issues a media blackout and refuses to engage with the media.”

Even where it was present, “the response to any kind of critical coverage has been really hard. Again it’s a partisan media, because the traditional power brokers are the ones backing and financing it, rather than it being based on advertising [revenue].”

So while it was troubled, the situation facing the media in the Maldives was “a breath of fresh air” in comparison, Rath said.

“While there are challenges, a lot of other countries in a similar period following democratic transition are facing a lot more violence and oppression of the press,” she observed.

Many challenges faced by the Maldivian media were common to countries shaking off the vestiges of authoritarian regimes, she noted.

“A pattern I’ve definitely noticed in newly emerging democracies is that media retains the old style of attending press conferences and spitting out what was said, without doing their critical analysis. When you attempt to be objective it doesn’t mean your sources will always like you, and there may be backlash.”

Even in the West the media faced a lot of criticism, Rath said, “particularly for bias”.

In the UK journalism was the third least respected profession, and in the US it was second last, “right behind lawyers”, she pointed out.

Escaping powerbrokers

For media in an emerging democracy to develop beyond a partisan press and become independent, free from a legacy of political powerbrokers, it must evolve as a business, Rath explained.

“Advertisers do care about politics, but more often they care about money,” she said, “and at least in the US, that means they care only about circulation.

“If you have partisan media, one of the issues you have is that your market is really limited – you’re preaching to the choir. The other audience isn’t going to listen to you. But if you are impartial, there are broader sources of funding purely based on business value. If a news organisation emerges with a real and strong reputation for independence, and strives for objectivity, I do think the advertising dollars will follow, simply because of readership and audience reach.”

Rath said that while she respected the concept of media that was openly partisan and did not strive for impartiality, a trait common to a lot of media in Europe if not the US and UK, “I think it can be damaging in many ways because the credibility of the media is so important. If you don’t even aim for objectivity your market is going to remain very small, and the media is going to be credible only with the party members you are aiming towards.”

Initally, she said, this meant independent media needed a source of funding – an investment – “because it is about money for news organisations. It is important to have a source of funding, whether this is an individual or an advertising base, that cares more about independent media in principle, or who cares purely about money and so would be willing to invest in an independent media outlet that had a lot of potential for growth.”

Another step was ensuring that journalists had an organisation independent of their own newsrooms, such as a professional association, “dedicated entirely to good journalistic practice.”

“I think journalists need a place to meet. One thing I am concerned about in the Maldives is that the political polarisation may also have affected the journalists themselves. The Maldives is very small and everyone feels affected by politics, and has a personal connection to politics.

“I think it is really important for journalists from different news organisations to meet and discuss journalistic issues together. It’s also important to discuss ethics and professional standards, and to debate amongst yourselves what kind of media you want to have. And at the end of the day, if the media comes under attack, they will need to come together and defend themselves.”

The Maldives had a free press, Rath observed, and now it had to fight for respect – “a widespread challenge for anyone trying to fight for ethical journalism.”

“You’ve got a free press. Now how are you going to establish that press, how are you going to build its credibility, and what kind of values do you want it to have? You can technically do whatever you want – but a free press means having responsibility.”

Not as simple

Accepting that responsibility was not as simple as just reporting objectivity, Rath said.

“The model of objective and unbiased journalism has been rightly criticised because of the angle a news station takes on a story. It’s not necessarily bias, it’s part of news judgement, and it’s a huge debate across the industry,” she explained.

“But especially in a new or emerging democracy where there is a lot of political polarisation, it is very important to strive for objectivity to build the credibility of news organisations and to practice these traditional values of journalism, rather than to just be completely caught up in political debate.”

Journalists themselves could push towards more proactive journalism, rather than reacting to press releases and statements by political figures, Rath noted.

“I’m a big proponent of enterprise journalism, where you notice trends, talk to sources and do a feature on it – issues based journalism.

“I’d like to see that in the Maldives, but are there enough bodies? And enough money? It’s still small industry – journalists are assigned to small stories, and when you’re doing 1-3 stories a day you don’t have time to write up a great feature or do non-reactive news because you have to follow events going on around the country. But it’s a huge opportunity in the market.”

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