News 12 Reunion in Mainz

A stopover in Frankfurt was a chance to reconnect with Gina Moss Shepro, a talented news producer and former colleague from WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach. Her finest production is her family, including two adorable boys, Jaron and Andrew. Lucky kids to be growing up in Europe!
They now live in Luxembourg, where husband Bill is based as a financial executive, but they spent more than a year of their corporate relocation in the charming city of Mainz, just outside of Frankfurt. Below is the Hyatt hotel, built into the walls of an old fort.
Gina was an excellent guide to the many sights of Mainz, beginning at the train station where the ruins of a Roman theater have been excavated. The Mainz cathedral was massive and dark, more impressive from a distance than it was inside. The Chagall windows in another church truly inspired with their vision of Jewish-Christian harmony in a land that has seen so much religious persecution.It was market day, and we passed stalls filled with flowers and produce on our way to the Guttenberg museum. The famed inventor of the printing press lived and worked in Mainz, although it is arguable that his Bibles were printed elsewhere. Still, it was cool to see some of the rare originals, as well as a fasctinating exhibit showing that the Chinese probably invented printing centuries earlier. Old European printing presses were works of art and not mere machines. Guttenberg is still revered in his home town, although the hippies gathered at the foot of his statue didn't look too impressed.
After a walk along the riverfront, Gina and Bill took me to one of their favorite Mainz restaurants with a deligthful terrace that was like a miniature trip to Italy. Many Germans prefer Italian food, which is readily available and authentic due to the large number of Italian immigrants who have opened restaurants. The waiters didn't even mind when Andrew started decorating himself and much of our table and the floor with his pasta. Kids are precious here because the German birthrate is alarmingly low. Sightseeing with toddlers forces you to slow down and appreciate different things, a fun contrast to the "power sightseeing" that takes over when you travel with a teenager.Unlike Frankfurt, which was bombed into rubble during WWII and has only a reconstructed old square, Mainz has a pedestrian quarter with an old village look and feel. The day went by much too quickly and I can't thank Gina and her family enough!

Dashing through Dubai

After a four-hour flight from Maldives, I arrived in the Dubai airport. It's a massive building with a space-age feel and endless duty-free shopping. The whole world seems to be at a crossroads here, with men in turbans and women in burkhas, and every possible skin color of humanity. The temperature outside was 41 celsius! From the air, I could see unrelenting brown desert and then a sprawl of construction projects. Even though I was in economy, this was very civilized flight thanks to the helpful flight attendants on Emirates, and the empty seats which allowed me to spread out and get some rest. After another six hour flight, I was in Frankfurt, where I first set foot in Europe 40 years ago as a high school exchange student.

Leaving Maldives

It's always hard to leave Maldives not knowing when or if I will return. I know I can count on friends like Ashiya, who greeted me when the trip began and escorted me to the airport. Hilmy sent his good wishes but wisely chose to stay with his ailing mother at the hospital.
Thanks to the support of Fulbright, the US Embassy in the Colombo and the president's office in Maldives, and Dhi TV, this trip was a success in terms of reaching a lot of people and maybe changing their lives a little bit. Bishara, the beautiful presenter from DhiTV was busily working on a story as I said my final round of goodbyes. I also made some connections for a couple of well-intentioned grad students from CUNY, who call themselves the Maldives Journalism Project. They received a peace grant to teach citizen journalism here, but were having trouble connecting with actual Maldivians. They'll be teaching multimedia reporting for a few weeks at DhiTV and the College of Maldives. I also arranged for the US Embassy to donate civics books to the college.
Now it's up to the Maldivians to put their partisan politics aside long enough to try and move their country forward before the next presidential election about three years from now. A workable adversarial relationship between government agencies and the media is a good start. One of the DhiTV program hosts, Kudu, had spoken of the pride he feels in the beauty of these islands whenever he is flying in or out of the country. I hope this isn't my last look!

Military Message

Before moving on to Germany, I wanted to share these photos from my workshop with the top brass of the Maldivian National Defense Force. The top commander was one of four generals in attendance! MNDF is now a separate force, with the mission of defending the country, while the police have the duty to keep law and order in the streets. This is a big change from the historical role of law enforcement here: Dhivehi only had one word for either "cop" or "soldier." A "sifain" basically translated into "armed guy in a uniform who exercises government power over the people." MNDF is training with US and NATO forces to deal with terrorism and Somali pirates. They also do heavy construction on "safe" islands and other public service. India recently donated a helicopter, and it's the beginning of a badly needed Air Force in these spread-out islands. They also have video equipment to record training workshops for internal use.The lack of professional news media is a major reason why MNDF hasn't engaged in strategic public relations in the past. Top commanders are divided on whether to ignore reporters who "ask stupid questions." I showed examples from the US Coast Guard's media campaign, and some high ranking officers embraced the idea of pro-active public relations, including more video news releases, embedded reporters during missions and a presence on blogs and social networks such as Facebook. At the end of the session, the newly appointed communications officer asked that I pass on a request from MNDF for public relations training from the US. I hope that these officers will continue to define their message and help Maldivians develop pride in their national defense which goes beyond party politics.

World Cup and Lakers

Even though Maldives doesn't have a team in the World Cup, the entire country has FIFA futbol fever. The non-stop party begins with the first match. I'm holding a replica of the cup that's used as a prop at TVM. No jokes, please, about the fact that this may be the closest an American will get to the World Cup! I'm for Team USA all the way. You can buy bracelets in the stores here to declare your loyalty to Brazil, Argentina, Germany or Spain. I haven't seen a USA bracelet yet.
I can watch the Lakers vs Boston in the NBA championships on ESPN. The live games are usually on while I'm eating my tuna and tortillas for breakfast. Go Lakers!
Next stop: more World Cup madness in Germany!

Both sides now

This media training experience has been a little like coaching both sides in a sports match. I train reporters to ask the questions that real people are asking, then train the public relations practitioners to respond by staying on message. Earlier this week there was an interview show on DhiTV, the name means something like "Checkmate," where both guest and host did a great job of putting the coaching into practice. It was the kind of frank discussion that is needed here.
The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about: religion. I heard that a woman was publicly flogged (100 lashes with a bat) recently under the strict Islamic law here, yet murderers, drug dealers, rapists and child molestors can walk free because the lawmakers are too busy fighting to pass the tough anti-crime bills needed by the cops. For every move toward an open society there is pressure from extremists to move back to the middle ages.
As we're finishing up editing on the PR training video, I had a chance to reconnect with some of my colleagues from the 2008 trip.
I hope everyone here gets the point that no matter what party is in power, good journalism and effective public relations are important for the future of the emerging democracy in the Maldives. For those who felt it was a political liability to meet with me, see you next time.

Public Relations Video Star

The president's press office is producing a video version of my strategic communications workshop, starring... me! My dear friend and colleague, Mohamed Hilmy, also happens to be one of the most respected film makers in Maldives, so I know the material is in good hands. We recorded the standups in the courtyard of the president's office, and Hilmy will edit them to include some of the video examples from the training course.
Preparing the script gave me a chance to spend a little time in one of my favorite places: Hilmy's house. Like most Maldivian families, several generations live together. Old time Maldivian families had huge blocks of land which have been subdivided over the years, with each child getting their share.
During my visit here, Hilmy's wife served delicious coffee and his adult sons built a huge bird cage that is now filled with rare finches. The family's cats spend hours licking their chops and fantasizing about the meal on the other side of the wire. There's also a new litter of kittens; there are no veterinarians in Maldives so spay/neuter is not an option. The garden is a little slice of island life in the city. The small bananas from their trees are unbelievably sweet. There's even a parrot who speaks English!
Update: after the recording session, I learned that Hilmy's mother was hospitalized in serious condition. I send all good wishes for the recovery of this remarkable woman. Among other things, she is the poet who wrote the lyrics for the "Think Nation" song for our team's voter education program in 2008.

College Daze

Dean Absy, who is wearing a collar due to a neck injury, is doing his best to prepare for the second year of the journalism diploma program. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to find Maldivians who are willing to teach news writing, video, radio and print journalism for the low pay offered by the Faculty of Arts. So, he's counting on a "foreigner" to come here for most of 2011. This expectation is probably unrealistic. However, my predecessors in the Fulbright specialist program wrote the syllabus for the program and recommended that a qualified teacher be brought in from a foreign country to initiate the practical phase of the curriculum. Understandably, Absy is asking, "When is this guy coming?"
Staffing isn't the only problem. The college has no budget for video, audio or online journalism equipment. At this point the students claim to have one official and one unofficial student newspaper but they weren't able to show me any sample issues. The hope of a student news website or YouTube channel is only a vague dream. In the above picture, Absy is learning how to use a flip camera that I brought from the US, but even if the college were to purchase similar low-cost gear, there are no safeguards in place to make sure it won't be ripped off.
One possible solution would be a partnership with Male's TV and radio stations and print/web outlets, where some of the students are already working. They are required to do internships in the second year and the college could meet with media managers to make sure that the students have an opportunity to do stories that could qualify as college-level assignments. This, however, may also be unrealistic as it would involve some planning and coordination. Unless of course they can "get a foreigner to do it."
I should mention that the US Embassy in Colombo is doing what it can to help. The cultural affairs librarian at the American center is sending civics textbooks for a class that will be taught next year by a Maldivian scholar. Also under consideration is a program for local faculty development so the Maldivians won't be so dependent on foreigners in the future.

Out of Business

Time to wave goodbye to a building where I spent a lot of time in 2008, when it was the Ministry of Legal Reform, Information and Arts. The new government is closing the Information Ministry and making each department responsible for its own public relations. While this is a nice idea, not all of the ministries are ready to communicate with the press and public.
I had an office here during this visit. Although I enjoyed the fast internet connection, the place was dark and nearly deserted most of the time, so I didn't spend much time here. Most of the offices will be transferred to a newer building that houses the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Back to TVM

I had mixed feelings about returning to TVM for training. In 2008 I came here to prepare the state-run broadcaster for coverage of the country's first multiparty presidential election. Several people have commented to me on the improvements that were noted during that time, and I am honored to have played a small part in the free and fair election. Two years later it's a very different place, and not just because of the new paint job to advertise the live coverage of the World Cup. I had high hopes after meeting with top TVM officials last week. Despite the fact they are about to be replaced by a new public broadcasting board, they seemed serious about wanting to improve the content of the newscasts. But in announcing the training sessions to the staff, the CEO was met by cynical comments from the rank and file newscasters who don't feel their work is valued by management. Therefore, they take full advantage of liberal Maldivian employment laws which allow people to take unlimited "sick leave" when they don't feel like coming to work. Result: only four people attended the first day of the training session. However, I was happy to see a very pregnant business reporter, Nazleena, the education reporter I trained on the earlier visit, and Ebra, one of the "new batch" from 2008 who is now covering politics. Two editors attended, Afroo and Fatimath, who have both completed college degrees in Australia and India. We discussed the role of the editors in guiding the newscasters to develop stories that go beyond press releases and news conferences. Rameez, the former news director from 2008 is now in charge of training. He and the former program director, Mondhu, made a brief appearance in the training but didn't stay. I firmly believe the training needs to be done from the top down. If the management doesn't take it seriouisly, no one else will. Fayez, the print editor now in charge of a TV newsroom, stayed for the whole session. And I did notice some visual improvements in the Sunday night newscasts, such as the use of graphics in a political story. So there's a small ray of hope. I'll hope for a better turnout when I repeat the same program on Day Two.Update: day two brought seven participants, including one who should have been there the day before, one editor and six newscasters. We had a lively discussion of story ideas on everything from human rights to climate change, but for some reason the management of TVM can't seem to harness this energy into the newscasts. Let's hope for better days under new management.

Relaxing Day Trip

I woke up Friday with no plans for my day off. It's the Muslim holy day and not much is happening in the capital. Things changed quickly, thanks to the Maldivian talent for last-minute arrangements. A few texts and phone calls directed me to a boat that was leaving to pick up some resort guests at the airport. I was delighted to see that some friends were on board, but this was a total coincidence. This trip was arranged for me by information ministry, which is officially in charge of state-run media here at the moment, but is about to be replaced by a new public broadcasting board. While waiting to pick up the resort visitors at the airport, we enjoyed a "kurumba" or young coconut juice before the 30 minute boat ride.Our destination was the resort at Hudhuran Fushi, the Adaaran chain's bigger and much less pretentious brother of Vadoo, which I visited last week(see earlier post). Patrick, the Sri Lankan manager, showed me around in his "white Ferrari" golf cart, and deposited me at my beach villa home for the day. The sleepy lagoon was filled with very relaxed and friendly tourists from the UK, Germany and Russia. Snorkeling here was surprisingly interesting. Tiny outcroppings of coral were like perfect little aquariums and big fish lurked in patches of sea grass. While checking out some groupers, I felt a sting on my hand. It was a trigger fish, which I had been warned about at the other resort, biting me as a warning to stay away from his/her nest of eggs. No serious damage done, but I gave those little guys a wide berth after that. A small ray gave some British ladies quite a scare! I want to thank them for screaming because otherwise I would have missed it.Surfing is the big attraction here, and the house reef near the surfing beach on the other side of the 84-acre island can be kind of rough, so I confined my snorkeling to the lagoon. I discovered the beach bar near the water villas and even had a few peaceful hours to "lay out" on the beach, something I haven't done since high school!
Typical of a big resort, the meal times are fixed and the only choice is the buffet. After lunch I just soaked up the scenery at the pool and the generosity of my hosts. At 5 pm it was time to catch the boat back to Male, admiring the resorts we passed on the way back to the city. For the Maldivians on board, it was time to catch a nap. I didn't want to miss one minute of the scenery in this gorgeous island country. Maybe we could work out a deal involving a beach villa and commuting to the classroom by boat...

Sunset Dinner

Okay, blog fans. I know you don't come here for pix of me in meeting rooms. Here's a beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean in the Maldives, a fitting end to a busy week of work. Will try for another resort adventure tomorrow!

Police Public Relations

Led by their commissioners and their capable PIO, Ahmed Shiyam, it was a full house of about 60 top cops for public relations training at the headquarters of the Maldives police force. They've improved the image of their department since the civil unrest in 2007 that led to the push for democracy here. However, since the new constitution was adopted, political infighting has prevented the parliament from passing the legal reforms that are needed to battle the huge drug problem. Cops do battle with organized crime, only to see the courts set the prime suspects free. Journalists are afraid to cover the story because the drug dealers have been known to show up at media outlets to threaten the reporters. One was stabbed. Citizens are afraid to speak up. The cops do a great job of releasing video of their anti-drug operations and other activities. But they also have a tendency to herd journalists into a media area when they are conducting an operation and ignore reporters' deadlines. Pro-active publicity for crime prevention and more cooperation would benefit everyone. This session was a good step in the right direction and we'll try to have another one before I leave. It turns out that a suspected organized crime house near my hotel was raided a few nights ago, after a string of stabbings in the surrounding blocks. About 80 suspects were rounded up over a three day period, but the big question is whether the courts will do anything to keep the troublemakers off the streets for good.

Strategic Communication

There are similarities between Maldives' President Mohamed Nasheed and American President Barack Obama. Both have placed a high priority on open government and both have had difficulty making it a reality. They also face strong political opposition that is determined to block every move. Like Obama, Nasheed has a good reputation abroad but struggles to make progress on the domestic front.The Maldives' president's office co-sponsored my visit here to strengthen the civil society with training in public relations for key government officials. The training for the lower-level communications officers was a smashing success, but it hasn't been easy to get the higher-ups to buy in. A morning session for deputy ministers drew 16 enthusiastic participants. I was delighted to see a few very talented former journalists now working on the government side. The afternoon brought ten officials at the level of state minister. The total for each session should have been closer to 30, but I welcome the chance to work with anyone who's willing to listen.
The sessions were held in a stately room of the Muleeage, the president's official residence and followed by the most delicious tea I've ever tasted!
This was the second time we attempted the higher level training. the first session last week was rescheduled due to poor attendance and bad weather. Too bad, because the president himself was in town to possibly make an appearance. Now he's on a state visit to Australia. Even without the presidential cameo appearance, I don't undertand the psychology of people not showing up.
Imagine that you're invited to the White House for a training session on open government, a goal that is endorsed by the president himself. And then you decide you just don't feel like going. And these are the people on Nasheed's side!