A subcommittee of the chamber of commerce, held a press conference accusing the executive board of the chamber of fraudulently appointing members to other boards in order to advance their personal agendas. At the press conference they showed proof that the members had been fraudulently appointed, including Papers proving that non enough chamber members had voted for them to be appointed. This is made more interesting by the fact that the 4 people on the executive council are all members of Parliament. The executive board will have a press conference this Sunday responding to the whistle-blowing sub-committee. This is important business news, but because of the aforementioned problems it has not been aired at all yet.
Perhaps on Sunday it will get the air time it deserves.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
No English No Tapes, No Report
I have written on this blog many times that I have almost missed my slot on the news because the editors wouldn't edit my package early enough and because Dhivehi speaking reporters forget to ingest the English interview clip into the editing computer.
It finally happened yesterday when I was covering what is very possibly the most important story I have or will cover here. The editing machines crashed because they were too full which meant that the editors barely got the 8:00 show on. It wasn't until 8:20 that I was even able to begin editing my piece. The ingestion problems also reached a new low, whoever ingested the interviews didn't ingest the EEnglish and then lost the tapes. so I spent practically the whole time looking for them. I was finally about to locate only two of the four that were supposed to go in my stand up. Even working fast, by the time the package was edited the 9:00 English news was practically over.
This is going to happen again unless there are some changes. There needs to be a newsroom policy that who ever ingests the video will ingest the English. In general their needs to be more accountability at TVM. Passing the buck seems to be a favorite passtime there. No one would admit to losing the tapes last night. I haven't aired a story in the past two days because of this problem, but I have learned something about different cultures with different work ethics.
Another example: on Wednesday I was going to do a VO/SOT on accusations of corruption in the chamber of commerce. However, the story didn't air because we couldn't get a response from the accused. Why? Because the person who was doing the story with me promised to call them, but told some one else to do it and then both of them went for a snack! I personally couldn't make the call as when I try they hang up on me when they hear me speaking English. However, from the Maldivian point of view this is just the normal way of doing business.
It finally happened yesterday when I was covering what is very possibly the most important story I have or will cover here. The editing machines crashed because they were too full which meant that the editors barely got the 8:00 show on. It wasn't until 8:20 that I was even able to begin editing my piece. The ingestion problems also reached a new low, whoever ingested the interviews didn't ingest the EEnglish and then lost the tapes. so I spent practically the whole time looking for them. I was finally about to locate only two of the four that were supposed to go in my stand up. Even working fast, by the time the package was edited the 9:00 English news was practically over.
This is going to happen again unless there are some changes. There needs to be a newsroom policy that who ever ingests the video will ingest the English. In general their needs to be more accountability at TVM. Passing the buck seems to be a favorite passtime there. No one would admit to losing the tapes last night. I haven't aired a story in the past two days because of this problem, but I have learned something about different cultures with different work ethics.
Another example: on Wednesday I was going to do a VO/SOT on accusations of corruption in the chamber of commerce. However, the story didn't air because we couldn't get a response from the accused. Why? Because the person who was doing the story with me promised to call them, but told some one else to do it and then both of them went for a snack! I personally couldn't make the call as when I try they hang up on me when they hear me speaking English. However, from the Maldivian point of view this is just the normal way of doing business.
Covering the Constitution
After the ceremony it was time to work. My job was to find dignitaries and politicians leaving the ceremony and get interviews with them. At first we didn't have a camera assigned to that, so I thought that it wasn't going to go well. But finally some of the new batch (many of whom still haven't left yet) showed up with a camera and I was able to get a total of four interviews , from international delegates, as well as opposing sides of the Maldivian political arena. Other interviews included the high commissioner of India, the attorney general of Maldives.
I also spoke with one of the opposition Parliament members, and, pictured below, a one on one English interview with one of the main opposition presidential candidate, Anni.
These four interviews provided a balanced perspective both from local and international points of view. The dignitaries spoke of the ratification itself, the major concerns they still have and whether or not they think the election will happen on the October 10th deadline. I also did a stand up next to the desk where the signing took place. it was a great start to one of the most important days in Maldivian history.
I also spoke with one of the opposition Parliament members, and, pictured below, a one on one English interview with one of the main opposition presidential candidate, Anni. These four interviews provided a balanced perspective both from local and international points of view. The dignitaries spoke of the ratification itself, the major concerns they still have and whether or not they think the election will happen on the October 10th deadline. I also did a stand up next to the desk where the signing took place. it was a great start to one of the most important days in Maldivian history.
History is Made
President Gayoom signed the constitution on Thursday, as I was covering the event I got to watch in person as he signed the document, making it into the governmental law of the country. I found this to be an amazing experience. For many years I have learned about the Constitution and American history. our Constitution was ratified over 200 years ago, but in Maldives the adoption of a democratic system happened only yesterday. it gave me a glimpse of what it must have been like in our own country centuries ago.The ceremony was in of course different in some ways. Before the signing, onlookers were treated to a recitation of the Koran, and afterwords, there was a prayer. They also played the national anthem three times during the ceremony.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Police Power
Right after the police bill was passed the country technically had no sworn police officers. The police force was ready to fix this problem. Less than an hour after the bill was signed, all of the police officers in Male assembled at the convention center to get sworn in under the new bill. Officers in the atolls were sworn in at the same time. It was an impressive sight to see hundreds of police officers get sworn in simultaneously. The new bill will also give the police more power. Police can now ask for anyone's ID at any time, and can search your personal property for any reason; no warrant necessary. While the country at least still has police, is is also possible that they could abuse their newfound authority.
Seeing the President
The country is now a large step closer to getting the constitution ratified and having the election. The president signed two pieces of landmark legislation today: the police bill and the umbrella bill. These bills will specify exactly what is illegal in the country, and make sure the police have power. Before this bill there was no specific piece of legislation creating a government sanctioned police force, or laws specifically forbidding things like murder (although strict Muslim law is enforced). Passing these pieces of supporting legislation was an absolute prerequisite to the ratification of the constitution which is supposed to take place at the end of this week. This was the first event where I saw President Gayoom in person. He often shakes everyone's hand afterwards, but unfortunately didn't this time. At least I got to see the president and witness his news conference.
Coming and Going
When the new batch graduated I thought that I would not see them again, but on Sunday when I walked into the news room they were all there. The news room wants them to be sent out but decided that it was up to the transportation division of the government to actually get them to the atoll bureaus. Many of them are still in the newsroom wating to ship out. On the other hand, reporters who have spent time in the atolls have begun to arrive in the news room.
In other news room happenings one of the reporters got kicked out of the news department got kicked out if the news room got kicked out for leaking information to the competiton. She is apparently working in "another department " but no one has seem her.
In other news room happenings one of the reporters got kicked out of the news department got kicked out if the news room got kicked out for leaking information to the competiton. She is apparently working in "another department " but no one has seem her.
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