Maldives: Transfer of Broadcast Assets to Autonomous Body

Maldives: Transfer of Broadcast Assets to Autonomous Body

Maldives, May 16, 2011 - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes the ruling by the Maldives Civil Court that the assets and budget of the state-owned Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) be handed over to the autonomous and independent Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). This transfer is to be effected within twenty days, by which time journalists and other workers in the employ of the MNBC will become staff of the MBC.

The Maldives Journalists’ Association (MJA), an IFJ affiliate, has placed on record its belief that the empowerment of the autonomous corporation, 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 MBC was created by an act of parliament in April 2010, soon afterwards signed and passed into law by President Mohammad Nasheed. MBC was designated as a public service broadcaster to be overseen by a nine-member board appointed by parliament. All assets held at that time by the MNBC, were to be handed over to the new body.

In July 2010, a top political advisor to President Nasheed indicated that the MNBC would continue to operate without any abridgment of either its mandate or its assets base. As he was quoted as saying: “Although the MBC has been established, the MNBC will continue operating the state broadcasters”.

TV Maldives (TVM) and the Voice of the Maldives (VOM), the presidential advisor insisted, would continue to remain assets of the MNBC. They have since been rebranded as MNBC One and Raajje Radio respectively.

“We hope that the stalemate over the disposition of broadcasting assets in the Maldives will be resolved with the Civil Court having given its ruling,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“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.

“The initiative to set up the MBC as a public service broadcaster is one that we have watched with great interest, and we hope that with the recent judicial ruling the MBC will be able to begin functioning in a manner that is true to its mandate.”

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

Find the IFJ on Facebook here.

ENDS

© Scoop Media