The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) and Maldives Media Council (MMC) have condemned alleged attempts to discredit journalists with unfounded and false allegations made by politicians at recent press conferences.
At a press briefing on Sunday after the third round of talks between The Democrats and the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives-People's National Congress (PPM-PNC) coalition, PNC vice president Ibrahim Shujau and Hussain Amr from The Democrats accused some journalists of taking payments and asking questions as instructed by the President's Office. At the heated press conference, a journalist denied the allegations and asked them to show evidence.
In a statement on the issue, the MJA condemned attempts to discredit and cause of loss of trust in the media with serious and baseless allegations made against individual journalists by politicians at recent press conferences and other platforms.
As journalists work to inform the public on matters of national importance and hold those in power accountable, the union said it was completely unacceptable in a civilized and democratic environment to harass journalists personally and to manufacture allegations against them in relation to their questions or articles.
The MJA said such actions were deliberate and planned attempts to show that journalism was of no benefit to the nation and to create a negative impression amongst the public and cause loss of confidence in journalists. The union also called for boycotting press conferences of those who repeat such acts.
"This union encourages journalists to boycott press conferences where such acts are repeated," the MJA statement read.
While journalists should also be criticized, such criticism should be constructive and avoid personal attacks and unfounded allegations, the MJA said.
"This union welcomes with an open mind such constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement."
However, the union said it accepts longstanding challenges such as the lack of financial independence and producing competent journalists. Everyone must work together for these problems to be solved, it said, adding that allegations and personal attacks against journalists were not the solution.
The MMC said in a statement on the issue that one of the biggest complaints it has received recently - in addition to injuries, threats and other challenges faced by journalists - was about false allegations levelled against individual journalists very publicly at press conferences. This was damage done to the entire field of journalism, it added.
"While freedom of expression and freedom of the press are basic rights guaranteed in the Maldives constitution, targeting individual journalists with unfounded allegations and attempting to cause loss of confidence in credible journalists would harm the entire field of journalism because of it," the MMC said in its statement.
The MMC said bringing individual journalists into disrepute and levelling unfounded allegations also pose a major obstacle to press freedom, which could further worsen the country's rank in press freedom indices. It could also hinder efforts to hold the government and others accountable, the MMC added.
In addition to appealing against actions that could obstruct the work of journalists, the MJA and MMC urged journalists as well to adhere to the country's journalism code of ethics and the highest standards of best practices.
At Sunday's press conference, Shujau and Amr alleged that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has directly messaged and urged journalists to ask specific questions. However, they did not show any evidence to back up their claims.
