Op-ed: Beyond the Newsroom - Reflections on India from a Maldivian Media Executive

The following is an op-ed written by Ibrahim Moosa, who is the Executive Director at Sun Siyam Media. He was part of the Maldivian Media Council’s week-long study visit to India, held from July 12–19, 2025, in collaboration with the Indian High Commission in Malé. This Op-Ed is a personal reflection on his experiences during the trip.

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When I joined the Maldives Media Council’s week-long study visit to India this July, in collaboration with the Indian High Commission in Malé, I did so not just as a participant but as someone responsible for overseeing the overall operations of a media house. At Sun Siyam Media, my role extends beyond the newsroom, it involves ensuring that the different moving parts of a media organisation work in harmony, from journalism and content to technology, management, and strategy.

That’s why this trip, which ran from July 12–19 and took us through New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, was particularly meaningful. The delegation itself reflected the diversity of our industry, not only frontline journalists, but also media managers and executives who, like me, look at the bigger picture of how media organisations function.

Lessons from New Delhi: Scale and Structure:

 In New Delhi, we were immersed in the beating heart of India’s media industry. The scale of operations was striking, vast newsrooms, multiple specialised teams, and robust systems that allow media houses to run with both speed and accountability. As someone who thinks daily about workflows and organisational efficiency, I was struck by how structure supports creativity. Strong systems do not stifle journalism; they enable it. This is a lesson our own media houses in the Maldives can take to heart.

Hyderabad: The Innovation Mindset

 Hyderabad offered a different lesson. It is a city where media and technology converge, where experimentation with formats and platforms is not an exception but the norm. What I took away was the importance of fostering a culture of innovation in our own organisations. For Maldivian media, with our limited resources and smaller audiences, the question is not how to copy India’s scale, but how to adapt their spirit of creativity and apply it in ways that resonate with our people.

Our Unique Context

Throughout the trip, I kept reflecting on the Maldivian context. We may not have the size or resources of Indian media, but we have something equally valuable, intimacy. Our audiences are close to us, our stories are deeply personal, and the trust people place in us is hard-earned. As executives and managers, our challenge is to build structures and strategies that preserve this closeness while pushing our industry forward in professionalism, ethics, and innovation.

A Collective Experience

 What I valued most from this journey was the chance to step outside our usual roles and silos. As media professionals, journalists, managers, and executives alike, we often meet each other as competitors. On this trip, we were collaborators, learners, and colleagues sharing ideas and experiences. That sense of solidarity reminded me that while competition drives us individually, collaboration can lift the entire industry.

Moving Forward

Returning home, I am convinced that the real success of this visit will be measured not by what we saw, but by what we do with it. For me, that means looking at how to apply the lessons of scale, structure, and innovation to Sun Siyam Media, and encouraging my colleagues across the industry to do the same in their own organisations.

This trip was more than a professional study tour. It was a reminder that media is not just about content, but about systems, people, and relationships - both within our organisations and across borders. In India, I saw how those elements come together to create a thriving, dynamic media environment. In the Maldives, it is up to us - executives, managers, and journalists alike, to build our own model, rooted in our unique strengths but open to learning from others.

The delegation may have concluded its journey on July 19, but for many of us, the real journey has just begun.