Journalists with Class

They're not your usual college journalism students. The first-ever Diploma in Journalism class at the College of Higher Education in Maldives is a remarkable and accomplished group. Many of them began working in media after completing their "O" levels, or the US equivalent of 10th grade. Now, they are working and attending school to earn the equivalent of a community college AA degree. Maldives has no four-year university of its own, and a college degree generally means leaving the country. This program will make it possible for Maldivians to enter the journalism profession fully trained in newsgathering, multimedia and ethics.
In the first year, the program focuses on language skills in English and Dhivehi, as well as the history of Maldives, government, and the environment. The practical skills courses are scheduled for the second year, and it remains to be seen if the college can acquire the equipment and instructors necessary to create an online student news channel for video, podcasts, online and print stories. To further complicate the situation, the college building is scheduled to be demolished for a housing site and it isn't clear where the program will end up.
Among the familiar faces in the group are Shamu, who was in my "new batch" of island reporters in 2008, and Fatimath, who is already a popular anchor on TVM. One of the students is a leading analyst on TVM's World Cup show. Others are working at Voice of Maldives radio, DhiTV and the Haveeru newspaper. But their training has been limited by the type of press release journalism that has always been practiced here. Today's workshop focused on finding ways to include ordinary citizens in official stories, and it was a challenge for some of the students to name a "real person" they'd like to interview. They reflexively named the president or a government official because that is all they ever see on the news. Once they got into the spirit of the exercise, they had no problem gathering soundbites to show opinion or emotion.
Getting these stories into the professional media is another matter. One student had pitched a story on changes in the high school curriculum to make Islamic studies and Dhivehi "optional." So far, no one has bothered to ask students, teachers or parents what THEY think about the proposed change, because their bosses think only of waiting for the education minister to hold a news conference announcing the decision. Here's hoping the college will find the resources to allow these talented young professionals to put their innovative ideas into action. One of the students made my day by saying that this workshop was the most useful class they've had so far. I can only hope it's the first of many more to come.