CEO of Public Service Media (PSM), Ali Khalid has said that he believes the government intends to have a free PSM.

Khalid made the statement at the panel discussion as part of the UNESCO conference at Hotel Jen yesterday to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.

While two panelists took part in the discussion on the topic of Journalism and Elections in the Times of Disinformation, participants from India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan took part in the discussion.

The PSM CEO said that PSM can gain public trust by bringing news and information at the standard demanded by the people. However, it cannot be said that the past government had used PSM as such.

He said that governments have used PSM in the Maldives as a tool to further their goals and so the first step has to be to gain trust which will take time.

Khalid said that the experience of the past few months in dealing with the new government indicates towards giving more freedom to the journalists at PSM. And that would be the best course for the people and the government.

The UNESCO conference at Hotel Jen yesterday was organized by Addu Women’s Association (AWA) in association with the Maldivian government and The Democracy Network.