In his speech marking World Press Freedom Day, President of Maldives Media Council (MMC) Ahmed Mustafa (Mustho) has said that a national effort is required to ensure media outlets operating in the country are financially independent.
In his speech marking World Press Freedom Day, President of Maldives Media Council (MMC) Ahmed Mustafa (Mustho) has said that a national effort is required to ensure media outlets operating in the country are financially independent.
He went on to say that the biggest support to ensure that local media are able to remain operating with honesty and responsibility, which are the foundations of journalism, would be though their financial independence.
“As we celebrate Press Freedom Day, a lot needs to be done at national, administrative and individual levels to achieve financial independence for Maldivian media [outlets] and journalists,” Mustafa said.
He stressed on the fact that local journalists and media are constantly met with challenges and obstacles despite free press being a constitutional right.
Underscoring the various challenges such as legal obstructions faced by journalists, he said that without a consensus agreement to that the harassment, insults and threats against journalists need to be stopped, this estate of democracy will not remain in the country.
“I also believe that every day that the two journalists killed in the Maldives, and the many journalists murdered in Gaza, Palestine go without getting justice, is a day that causes irreparable loss to journalism around the world,” Musthafa added.
Before concluding, he touched on the advancements in modern day journalism achieved through artificial intelligence, and stressed the importance of ensuring that news and information disseminated by the media is always accurate and free from influence.
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