MJA's Newsletter - Issue 1

Welcome to the "Masdharu"

I welcome Maldives Journalists Association (MJA)'s 'Masdharu' newsletter to all our union members, journalists and media personnels.

The purpose of this bi-monthly newsletter is to cover the challenges facing press freedom in Maldives, the activities of the union, and the stories of the Maldives journalist community. I invite journalists who want to write articles for this newsletter.

We are publishing this newsletter as part of the ‘Stronger Media for Stronger Democracy’ project, funded by the European Union (EU). I would also like to acknowledge the International Federations of Journalists (IFJ) for their technical assistance in the compilation of this newsletter.

On behalf of all journalists, I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this union in various ways. Ramadan Mubarik.

Ali Rifshan President, MJA

Media rights violations are escalating in Maldives

This newsletter has been prepared with the financial assistance of the European Commission. The views expressed herein are those of the consultants and therefore in no way reflect the official opinion of the Commission.

Naaif Ahmed, Secretary general MJA

With the presidential election in September this year, the political tensions in the Maldives are increasing. Amid the turmoil, there is an escalating trend of attacks and threats towards media workers, especially journalists.

Under the European Commission funded project, ‘Stronger media for stronger democracy’ Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) with support from the International

Federations of Journalists (IFJ) is closely monitoring media rights violations in the Maldives. So far this year, 8 cases of media rights violation have been registered.

Media Rights Violations in Maldives:

· 2023 (until 23 March) – 8 cases

· 2022 – 6 cases

· 2021 – 6 cases

· 2020 - 1 case

According to the data, eight cases have been reported in the first two months of 2023. This is even higher than what has been reported in

the whole of 2022. These figures show that with the upcoming presidential elections, the political atmosphere in the country is volatile, with that media rights violations are escalating. We forecast that the number of cases will continue to increase in the coming months, leading to an all-time high.

"If the restrictions on the work of journalists continue to intensify, this will be a challenging year for press freedom in the country," said Ali Rifshan, president of MJA.

Terrifying atmosphere of attacks and threats

The most common type of cases reported this year were online threats against journalists, following by police brutality against journalists.

Type of media rights violations:

• Online threats: 2 issues

• Online harassment: 2 cases

• Police brutality/obstruction: 2 cases

Although threats, intimidation and harassment against journalists through various social media platforms are increasing in Maldives, the police could not successfully investigate any of these cases. Most cases are shelved, or sometimes the police have asked journalists to withdraw such cases. Police have not yet completed a single investigation into any of the media rights violations. This shows the lack of seriousness of the police in investigating cases of media rights violation.

"If the threats to journalists are taken so lightly, it is an indirect encouragement to those who do such things. Perpetrators have the assurance that the law will not reach them. Nothing will happen to them," Rifshan said.

against the negligent police officers. The National Integrity Commission has not yet taken any action on such a case.

Women journalists have been the victims of online harassment and they keep suffering. Both of the online harassment cases reported this year involved a female journalist. And last year it was the same. Some people have systematically carried out campaigns to defame and humiliate a woman journalist on the basis of an article written by her.

Journalists also face threats from gangs and religious extremists. As a result, journalists are reluctant to write and express their opinions on major issues in society. Journalists in Maldives have to be confined to self-censorship under forced circumstances.

Recently, a similar serious threat has been reported. The chief editor and all journalists of ‘Adhadhu’ received death threats via SMS after they published a story related to gangs and religious extremists.

Hasan Mohamed, managing editor of Adhadhu, took to Twitter to express his views on the incident, saying: “Newspapers are in self-censorship. They are frightened to write about gangs, extremism. If the journalists write about them, they are in great danger. When they reported the threats, police did not investigate. I believe it is the responsibility of the state to protect journalism and journalists.”

Obstacles from all sides: Barriers to cover electionss

It states that only journalists working for a registered newspaper will be allowed to cover the election, if the amendment is passed, foreign journalists and freelance journalists will lose the opportunity to cover the presidential election. As of now there is no system for registering journalists in Maldives, it would be difficult to implement a system within the short time for only registered journalists to cover the election. This will prevent journalists from covering the elections.

In addition, newspapers hire hundreds of volunteers to cover election results, but there are concerns that changes to the law will deprive the use of volunteers to monitor elections and bring the timely results.

“The

In addition, there have been many cases of police brutality and injuries to journalists covering the protests. Such cases were not investigated by the police through their internal policies and no action was taken

The work of journalists in Maldives is being hampered from all sides. With less than six months to go for the presidential election, the government has proposed an amendment to the General Elections Act that would make it difficult for journalists to cover the election.

"While there were no complaints about the manner in which journalists were allowed in previous elections, and this did not hamper the election process, the union believes that trying to bring about such changes at this juncture, there is an ulterior motive by the government," MJA president Rifshan said.

"The union demands that the proposed amendments be withdrawn."

We need to step up our efforts to provide a safe and secure environment for journalists. Such issues should not be taken as routine issues, but they should be taken as very serious. Especially with the upheavaged politics of the presidential election, the need to step up efforts to protect journalists has to be greatly increased. A systematic framework to ensure the safety of journalists is essential for Maldives.

issue of impunity should end.”

“If the restrictions on the work of journalists continue to increase, this year will be a challenging year for press freedom in the country,”

Ali Rifshan, president of MJA.

Upcoming Events

5-13 April 2023

Fact-checking training to newsrooms

A two-week in-house programme targeted to the newsrooms to train journalists for fact checking. The programme will help to establish fact checking units in newsrooms.

20 April 2023

Announcing fact-checker establishment grant programme

A small start-up style fact-checking incubator to train and support at least three factchecking organizations and allow greater collaboration and triangulation of factchecking work. An open call for applications will be held inviting newsrooms to be part of the incubator programme. The three trained organizations will be tutored to produce six fact-checking pieces a month over six months.

2 May 2023

Releasing ‘Public trust in Media’ report

This is a baseline study to understand public perceptions of the media and thematic areas could include professionalism, quality and trust in content, media ownership, government intervention, regulation, awareness of the media council.

3 May 2023

Releasing IFJ South Asia Press Freedom Report Maldives chapter

The IFJ annual South Asia Press Freedom Report is a critical record of right monitoring, advocacy and journalism in South Asia and globally. It is the pre-eminent summary of journalism working conditions; advocacy for media rights and freedom of expression and the campaigns of the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) – a broad media alliance defending journalists’ rights and freedom of expression in South Asia.

3

- 4 May 2023

World Press Freedom Day Forum and an exhibition on media rights violations in Maldives

To mark the world press freedom day, MJA is collaborating with Maldives Media Council to hold a national level forum on media freedom in the Maldives. The forum aims to bring together Maldivian journalists and media leaders to discuss the challenges facing press freedom in Maldives and what can be done in order to establish a free press in Maldives. This will be a platform to share the experiences of other countries in defending and protecting press freedom.

Two leaders emerged from Future Leaders’ Training

Aminath Ibrahim, Project coordinator, MJA

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) is implementing the 'Stronger Media for Stronger Democracy' project in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Internews with financial assistance from the European Union (EU). The first activity under the project was the

'MJA Future Leaders Workshop’, a program to train leaders for the executive positions in the MJA.

From 12-13 August 2022 at Kaafu Dhiffushi 11 journalists participated in the training programme. The program taught the

participants how to run a journalist union and necessary leadership skills to be a union leader. The program became the first step in training new leaders for the MJA.

Here are the stories of two leaders who emerged from the program.

Aishath Nuzuha

Can a woman become a leader in journalism, which has a male "monarchy" like in other fields? Is there such an opportunity for a young woman who is new to the field?

These are difficult questions to answer without experience. Aishath Nuzha (Nuzu), 24, a Journalist from Adhadhu wants to find answers to these questions. She took on a challenge to become a women leader in journalism.

"I am a person who likes to have conversations with people and work as a team. But I didn't think that I had that leadership quality. But I was encouraged to come out and test my leadership skills by the MJA's Future Leaders Training Programme," she said.

When Nuzu joined in the future leaders training she was very new to journalism.

Moosa Rasheed

Twice the winner of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) Journalism Award and the political reporter in Mihaaru News, Moosa Rasheed has been determined to serve the development of journalism since 2022. But not sure if, with his quiet temperament, he would be able to dare to do the desired work with many people as a team. Moosa was asking himself if he had the skills and ability to lead people in a responsible position.

When the MJA announced the ‘Future Leaders Training Programme’ in September 2022, it became an important opportunity he was waiting for.

"What I believe is that it's very important for journalists to take the initiative and lead. The future leaders training gave me a lot of courage. I gained confidence to come out and lead," Moosa said, speaking to ‘Masdharu’.

Continuing the conversation, Moosa said that training has taught him that anyone can become a leader. It's not a "born talent" specific to an individual.

"It's important to take the lead and move forward with the whole team. Not to be the boss and command. Lead a team by showing results. I learned this a lot from the training," Moosa said.

The various activities conducted during the training showed the importance of teamwork, he said. He said it showed that the opinions of everyone on the team were very important.

“I learned that the most important thing to be a leader is to work together with the whole team,” Moosa said.

With the knowledge and confidence he gained from the training, Moosa started making his dream of applying for the MMC a reality. He consulted his colleagues and friends in the field and gained the trust and support of them. With all this, he contested and won a seat in MMC.

Moosa is currently one of the most active members in the MMC. Moosa's efforts and courage in planning and implementing the

Nuzu's journalistic career has experienced few newsrooms since the pandemic. Overall, she found that women faced various challenges in the field. Therefore, Nuzu wanted to be in a position that could make things right.

"By the time the Future Leaders training programme was over, I became more confident to take up a leadership role. It convinced me that the quality of a leader is not limited to one gender or position. Although I didn't have high expectations, I thought I'd give it a try," said Nuzu, soon after the programme who contested in the MJAs election and won a seat in the executive committee.

She is the youngest member of the MJA executive committee. However, Nuzu's capabilities and her views as a leader do not limit her limited experience and age.

student journalism programme developed by the council to introduce school students to journalism are also noteworthy.

Moosa's message is; "The Future Leaders Training Programme is a very important training that I believe everyone should participate in. It is about learning to take leadership in any field and in any position. It certainly taught me more important things than I expected.”

Press Freedom Violations Tracker

20 March 2023

Online Threat

Death threat to Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, chief editor of ‘Adhadhu’ and its journalists through a SMS message sent by an unknown number after the paper published an article about gangs and religious extremists.

15 March 2023

Government Intervention

Government proposes amendments to general election laws to deny foreign media and freelance journalists the opportunity to cover elections in the Maldives.

17 January 2023

Online Harassment

'Mihaaru' journalist Fazeena Ahmed and other journalists of the paper were subjected to harassment on online platforms and consequently face threats.

15 January 2023

Online Harassment

Abbas Adil Riza, a prominent opposition party PPM activist who held many government positions, insulted 'Mihaaru' journalist Fazeena Ahmed by labeling her as a prostitute on Twitter after she wrote an article that criticizes the PPM.

January 2023

Police Brutality

Channel 13 CEO Mohamed Samah was detained while he was covering a series of protests in the capital, Male', where he was placed under house arrest after police produced him before the criminal court seeking extension of his remand on charges of gathering people for protests and restrictions on public transport.

Under the European Commission funded project, ‘Stronger media for stronger democracy’, Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) with the help from International Federations of Journalists (IFJ) is closely monitoring the media rights violations in the Maldives. So far this year, 8 cases of media rights violation have been registered

6 February 2023

Police Brutality

Channel 13's video journalist and photojournalist, who were covering the opposition protest ahead of the presidential address, were injured by police while dispersing the protest.

6 February 2023

Physical Harassment

A VTV journalist, covering the opposition's protest ahead of the presidential address, was mocked by protesters and they tried to stop his coverage by throwing various objects at him.

16 February 2023

Online Threat

Following a December 31, 2021 report published by 'Vaguthu' on the activities of religious extremist groups in Addu City, the news websites journalists were threatened on Facebook.

Our Activities

20 March 2023

MJA office opening

To mark the official opening of our headquarters, we had a "Noosveringe Maahefun" with journalists, diplomats and our partners. We are delighted to welcome you all to our office. This is a significant milestone in our journey. MJA's office will serve as a hub for journalists to gather, share ideas, collaborate. In the future this will be a place that provides training & development programmes for journos. We are very grateful for the support of our partners, the European Union, IFJ and Internews in making this office a reality.

17-18 February 2023 Training Women leaders for more inclusive MJA

As part of the capacity building activities of the MJA, a training programme was conducted to develop women leaders as part of efforts to increase the participation of women members in the running of the MJA. The training was conducted for 2 days in Kaafu Maafushi island. The sessions were conducted by Jane Worthington, Asia Pacific Regional Director, International Federations of Journalists (IFJ). The sessions explained the importance of the role of women members in running a union and focused on leadership skills. This workshop paves way to identify future women leaders for MJA executive positions. This two-day programme was an important step in increasing women's participation in the running of the union.

22 January - 5 February

2023

MJA in Kulhudhuffushi

The first programme of MJA membership drive is focused on journalists working in small island community newspapers. The event was held in the northern hub of the Maldives, Hdh. Kulhudhuffushi. The journalists of Kulhudhuffushi Online and other news websites from nearby islands were briefed on the work of MJA and the importance of a journalists' union. In addition, a two-day basic workshop on journalism was conducted on the island for those who are interested to become journalists. Total 22 participated and completed the programme.

11 February 2023

Important regional forum on fact checking

To strengthen the fight against fake news and misinformation, MJA in collaboration with IFJ held an online forum via Zoom on the status of fact checking in South Asia. The forum was held on February 11 and was attended by media experts and journalists

from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. In this forum the discussions were mainly held on challenges to fact checking. Importance of fact checking in the Maldives was discussed as a broader theme. This forum creates a window to those who are interested in creating a fact checker in Maldives. And also, the first of its kind to Maldivian media leaders to learn the experiences of factchecking in the other countries.

22 February 2023 Focus on union building

January - February 2023 Membership survey

By the end of February, the MJA membership survey comes to an end. The purpose of this survey is to identify the areas to strengthen MJA. The survey also aims to solicit suggestions for charging membership fees. Total 53% (82 members) of MJA took part in the survey. Based on the findings of the survey, a fee collection system will be implemented. And will carry out additional activities to strengthen the management of the MJA.

Another initiative during the visit of IFJA Regional Director Jane Worthington in late February was for the MJA to work as a stronger union, by building relationships with other unions in the country. Short sessions on running unions were conducted for exco members and MJA volunteers. These sessions were followed by round-table meetings with other workers' unions in the country, and agreements were reached on cooperation.

19 December 2022 MJA Capacity building activities

To enhance the capacity of the MJA, a special three-day workshop was conducted to the newly elected MJA executive committee members and working group members. Sessions were facilitated by the IFJ facilitator Ujwal. The sessions were on skill enhancement and union management.

16 December 2022

Media Rights Monitoring Workshop

The first step is to formulate a media rights monitoring mechanism. MJA and IFJ jointly held a media rights monitoring workshop. The workshop was facilitated by Ujwal Acharya, a Nepal-based expert in media development and media rights who has previously served as IFJ’s South Asia Coordinator. The workshop was held on December 15-16 in Male’, 15 participants attended. This workshop is the first step towards establishing a media rights monitoring mechanism in the Maldives. Through this workshop, MJA volunteers and activists are well informed about the importance of media rights and how to monitor media rights.

8 December 2022

BAARUVERI—an advocacy campaign to empower women journalists

The challenges faced by women journalists in the Maldives have always been ignored. Those issues were never discussed. A special advocacy campaign called 'BAARUVERI' (meaning "Empower") was launched to empower women journalists and reveal the problems they face. Under the campaign, video clips and posters on the issues faced by women journalists were released on social media platforms.

MJA released a report on a survey titled, ‘Gender Disparity in Maldivian Newsrooms’, and urged media houses to implement the report's recommendations. MJA formulated a Gender Disparity Pledge based on those recommendations. Ten newsrooms agreed to implement the pledge and signed it. These newsrooms were given a Gender Disparity Pledge Badge.

A panel discussion was held to discuss the issues faced by women journalists and the challenges and solutions to achieving gender equality in the Maldives’ newsrooms. Many

journalists gathered and expressed their views on gender disparity in the Maldives media.

The Women's Council of MJA was established to formulate and implement policies to protect the rights of women journalists. The council's main task will be to provide technical assistance to the newsrooms that signed the Gender Disparity Pledge.

EndImpunity Campaign is a huge success

To mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the organization launched a campaign urging the government to implement six measures to ensure safety and deliver justice for journalists. Under the campaign, journalists' experiences and threats faced by them have been brought to light on social media in the form of a video series. As part of the campaign, several lobbying efforts were carried out by putting up posters urging the government to end impunity for crimes against journalists and ensure the safety of journalists.

3 September 2022 MJA Congress 22

This is the first time the MJA has held its congress with a record turnout of members since it resumed operations in 2019. This is the first congress held since major changes were made to the bylaws of the MJA. The congress, which was announced in August and held on September 3, was attended by 80 members. The main item at the congress was to elect a new executive committee. The newly elected Executive Committee is the first to elect members to positions reserved for women. The members expressed their views on the functioning of the association and the problems faced by journalists. This is the first time the MJA elected the executive committee according to the new bylaws, which will enable the association to continue its activities in a more planned manner in the future.