Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) has gazetted a revised regulation governing the provision of state financial assistance to media outlets, introducing significant changes to eligibility criteria and funding assessment.
The regulation was initially formulated by the Ministry of Youth to provide financial assistance to media organizations. Under the previous rules, media companies were required to be registered and in operation for a minimum of three years to qualify for assistance. That regulation also did not take into account the number of employees when determining the amount of financial aid. The regulation has since been voided.
Under the newly gazetted regulation, which was handed over to MMBC for formulation and gazetted on Thursday, media outlets must be registered and licensed from January 2024 and must have been in continuous operation since then to qualify for state assistance.
Revised criteria for financial assistance
A key change in the new regulation is the introduction of a scoring system to determine the amount of financial aid granted. Marks will be awarded based on the number of years a media outlet has been in operation:
- 1–2 years: 3 marks
- 3–4 years: 4 marks
- 5–6 years: 5 marks
- 7–8 years: 6 marks
- 9–10 years: 7 marks
- 11–12 years: 8 marks
- 13–14 years: 9 marks
- Over 15 years: 10 marks
Marks will also be awarded based on the number of employees:
- Fewer than 3 employees: 5 marks
- 4–5 employees: 6 marks
- 6–9 employees: 7 marks
- 8–11 employees: 8 marks
- 13–15 employees: 9 marks
- 16–18 employees: 10 marks
- 19–21 employees: 11 marks
- 22–24 employees: 12 marks
- 25–27 employees: 13 marks
- 28–30 employees: 14 marks
- More than 31 employees: 15 marks
In addition, media outlets will receive marks for efforts made to strengthen their operations. Five marks each will be awarded for:
- Strengthening administrative systems
- Developing infrastructure
- Expanding public service-oriented content
Under the new regulation, financial assistance will be paid in a single disbursement. Previously, payments were made in three installments.
The earlier regulation, which required a minimum of three years of operation, allowed only 18 media outlets to qualify for assistance. Under the revised rules, approximately 60 media outlets are expected to be eligible.
The state budget for this year has allocated MVR 27 million for media assistance, accounting for 0.1 percent of the government’s estimated revenue.
