The Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts announced today that MVR 27 million has been released to 40 private media outlets under the policy to provide state financial assistance to registered media organizations.
Initially, the process was managed by the Youth Ministry, but under the original rules, outlets were required to have been registered for at least three years, and the number of employees was not factored into the funding formula. At that time, only 18 media organizations met the criteria, leading to significant complaints.
Consequently, the government abolished those rules and transferred the responsibility to the Media Commission to overhaul the process, though the Youth Ministry remains the body responsible for instructing the Ministry of Finance to release the funds.
In a social media post, the Ministry confirmed that in line with the pledge made by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, MVR 27.29 million has been distributed across 40 outlets. After the revised policy was introduced and the application portal opened, 57 media organizations created profiles, with 41 initially deemed eligible.
According to the Media Commission’s update last December, 39 organizations successfully completed the final stage of the application process.
To qualify, outlets had to be registered and licensed prior to January 1, 2024, and have been in continuous operation since then.
The allocation of funds to specific outlets varies based on the evaluation criteria. For instance, Sangu Online and Sun Online each received MVR 1.1 million, while VNews received MVR 997,915 and ICE TV was allocated MVR 908,358. Other recipients include Dhivehi Channel MVR 876,374, Mihaaru Online MVR 793,214, Vaguthu Online MVR 754,833, One Online MVR 710,055, Dhauru Online MVR 697,261, Corporate Maldives Magazine MVR 690,864, and The Edition MVR 633,292.18.
The Media Commission previously stated that the scoring system for these grants considers several factors: the longevity of the media outlet, the number of staff, business profiles or proposals for growth, the nature of the content produced, the educational background and experience of employees, and overall administrative arrangements.
The MVR 27 million allocated in this year's state budget represents 0.1 percent of the projected state revenue.
