VTV Visit

I tagged along on a tour of one of the new private stations. VTV, also called Villa TV, is owned by the Finance Minister, who also has a company that owns several resorts. Villa means "cloud" in Dhivehi.

The tour was arranged for Mark Feldstein, a journalism professor from George Washington University who is here for three days to talk about investigative reporting. I had hoped to visit VTV on my last visit and ran out of time.

The VTV news team consists mostly of young women between the ages of 18 and 25. They have been doing weekly practice shows and the results are impressive. VTV has the advantage of a fresh start and doesn't feel obligated to cover all the boring meetings or neverending certificate presentations. Instead, reporter packages are packed with interesting video and soundbites from real people. The reporters all do standups and have a real on-camera presence, whether they are at the Parliament building or checking to see if illegal massage parlors have reopened for business.

Of course, VTV could benefit from additional coaching, but it's a good start. Now the question is whether they can turn out a quality program every day. Regardless, TVM will have to step up its game to compete. And competition is good for everyone.