Maldives Editor's Guild calls on the Government to allocate funds to independent medias from the Government's budget.

Editor's Guild released a statement on Wednesdays stating that the Fourth Estate should be independent of influence and that it can only be achieved by ensuring that the media is financially independent.

The statement further read that the media's role includes reporting on activities across the political sector as well as providing public with true information to make sound decisions on issues. As such, Editor's Guild said that biases in the media would lead to misinformation among the public.

"If the Fourth Estate is unable to do their duty and hold the Administration accountable, it would lead to corruption. This would be a waste of the Government's budget for public sector," the statement said.

The statement further said that an independent media can only operate if they receive independent funds from the Government budget the same way political parties receive funds. Editor's Guild further called on the Government to also advertise their gazetted announcements on independent media as well.

Editor's Guild called on the Government and political parties to facilitate independent funds to independent media as soon as possible.