41 Media Outlets Eligible for Government Grant Aid

Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission announced that 41 media outlets in the Maldives were eligible to receive government grant aid, out of 57 organisations that applied.

The financial assistance scheme for private media organisations was initially compiled by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information, and Arts. Under the original policy, one of the eligibility requirements was that an outlet must have been in operation for at least three years. The policy also did not take the number of employees into account when determining funding levels, resulting in only 18 media outlets qualifying for support at the time.

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Following numerous complaints from media organisations over the restrictive nature of the policy, the government repealed the framework and transferred responsibility for the scheme to the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission.

According to the commission, 57 media outlets created profiles on the application portal, with 41 meeting the revised eligibility criteria. The scheme is open to private media outlets that were registered and licensed before 1 January 2024.

The commission said it received eight complaints after opening a review window when the application deadline closed. Following assessment, three complaints were accepted.

Eligibility and scoring were based on several criteria, including the length of time the media outlet has been in operation, number of employees, organisational development, business profile, content type, staff education and experience, and administrative arrangements.

The commission stated that financial assistance will be disbursed after the Ministry of Youth and Sports shares the required information with the relevant authorities. Each eligible media outlet will receive a single payment.

A total of MVR 27 million has been allocated for the scheme in the 2025 state budget, representing 0.1 percent of the government’s projected revenue.