Never underestimate the power of the blog.
The earlier post “Radio Meltdown” touched off a reaction and we now have a plan to move forward with the improvements to the 1:30 pm news program at VOM.
First, we will work toward news broadcasts that are written, delivered and produced by news people. Second, we will work to improve the production values, including new music, more variety and better sound quality. Third we will assign regular people to regular shifts and duties so the programs will see the same improvement we have seen on the TV side. This means we will have to evaluate all the current staff and possibly recruit more. Fourth, we will NEVER again read a government press release on the air as a news story. Fifth we will coordinate with the Meteorolgy Center to get audio forecasts.
Above picture is the new studio space in the newsroom overlooking the water. I am told the equipment has been ordered. We will try to fast track the completion of this production studio in the news department to draw a firm line between news and programming. It is important to build the fire wall now because the election fairness code draws a line between news and programming. News programs give journalists freedom to decide what is newsworthy, while programming time is parcelled out equally to various parties and candidates.
Update: In response to questions I just want to clarify that these are recommendations from the team. It will be up to Maldivians at VOM to decide which changes to implement and when. The members of the coaching team are teachers, not dictators. However, this is a pivotal moment in the history of this country and we hope the leaders of VOM and TVM won’t miss the opportunity to modernize both news organizations.