Maldives Media Council (MMC) has last night published the score sheets graded for nominations by the panel of judges in the contested Journalism Awards.
Maldives Media Council (MMC) has last night published the score sheets graded for nominations by the panel of judges in the contested Journalism Awards.
MMC published both the scoresheets for various categories, and the report submitted by the judges.
MMC has revealed this information at a time when the judges, as well as some media, have been raising concerns about the fairness of how the awards were granted this year.
The biggest issues surround the awarding of the Audio/Video in the investigative journalism category prize to Adhadhu Online's documentary 'Skeelan'. The panel of judges earlier issued a statement saying this was done against policies.
The 'Skeelan' documentary centers around the Sri Lankan stepmother of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, who in the video makes strong accusations against him.
At the time the documentary was first released during the run up to last year's presidential elections, the President had refuted the claims made by his stepmother.
However, the scoresheet published by the MMC shows that judges had accepted 'Skeelan', the only nomination in the category, and duly awarded scores for it. It was selected as best documentary with a score of 69.47. As per the policy, the award can be presented to any nomination that scores the highest marks over a minimum of 65 percent.
The judges who allocated scores for 'Skeelan' are Shamaan Shakir, Abdulla Azmeen and Ashwa.
MMC earlier issued a statement asserting that they had not acted against policies in granting awards in any category, and dismissed the claims made in the judges' statement as baseless.
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