Thursday’s Committee meeting probing Journalism Awards case closed off as well

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee meeting on Thursday for which members of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) had been summoned for questioning regarding the Journalism Awards was yet again closed off to the public.

Members of MMC were summoned to the Committee’s meeting on Wednesday as well. The meeting was held behind closed doors.

It was Kelaa MP Abdulla Shareef who proposed to close off Thursday’s meeting as well. The proposal was seconded by South Fuvahmulah MP Ibrahim Hussain.

The livestream for the meeting was cut off before the result of the vote on the proposal was announced.

MP who proposed to close off Wednesday's meeting cited the possibility of conflict of interest as the reason behind the proposal. 

Members of MMC have been summoned to the Parliament following a recent controversy in awarding the 11th Journalism Awards in the Audio and Video in Investigative Journalism category. The issue had first come light after Public Service Media (PSM) which broadcasted the event live released a statement citing the state media had no prior knowledge of the video shown during the event and in this trajectory, alleged deceitful conduct. PSM also alleged that the video was not in line with its editorial policy and violated the ethics of journalism.

The state media’s board also dismissed MMC’s President Ahmed Musthafa, who was serving as the Technical Operations Manager at PSM, over the controversy. Musthafa, who at the time of his dismissal had worked in the company for over 30 years, was reinstated shortly afterward.

The seven judges who evaluated this year’s applications for the award later released a statement claiming the Audio and Video in Investigative Journalism award was bestowed in violation of the regulations.