Editors of Haveeru Daily

Following are the names of Haveeru Daily editors from 1979-2004.

1. Abdullah Sodiq (first editor), Jan 1979
2. Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa
3. Farooq Hassan
4. Ahmed Aslam
5. Ali Rafeeq (since 1988)

In the Maldives, the regulations on newspapers stipulate that Editors have to be approved by the Ministry of Information. If an editor has to leave Maldives on assignment or for leisure, another person has to be appointed as temporary editor and the Information Ministry has to be notified in writing.

Other journalists who have taken the responsibility in the absence of the editor include:

1. Mohamed Zahir (Meemu Zaviyani)
2. Mohamed Saeed Moosa Vajdee
3. Mohamed Saleem
4. Ahmed Zahir

Haveeru Daily an example of successful press development in Maldives: President Gayoom
19 February 2004
MALE - Haveeru Daily, published since 1 January 1979, is a good example of successful development of the press in Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said Wednesday.Honouring a special ceremony titled “Silver Jubilee Evening” to mark the newspaper’s 25 years in service, Gayoom said that the success Haveeru achieved over the past 25 years were due to the hard work, commitment and drive of the newspaper’s founders.Gayoom praised Haveeru’s invaluable service to the Maldives people and society in its 25 years of existence, and congratulated the newspaper’s chairman Dr. Mohamed Zahir Hussain, Editor Ali Rafeeq, and senior officials, writers, and staff on the occasion. He also congratulated everyone who had contributed to Haveeru in various fields and also Haveeru’s readers.Gayoom said that journalism in the Maldives over the past 60 years has achieved great developments, and said that Haveeru Daily’s 25th anniversary was a milestone in the history of Maldives’ press. He noted Haveeru’s important contribution in introducing professional journalism in Maldives and other important technological developments of the press.Gayoom said that journalism was an important social responsibility, and called on journalists to maintain integrity in reporting and covering events and issues. He said that the press plays an important role in shaping the collective mind and consensus of an entire nation. Therefore the information and opinion that reporters disseminate to its readers and the public at large should be of importance and relevance to readers, and must be of a beneficial nature in nation development.Gayoom said that he was happy that on many occasions, he had been able to work in the area of journalism in Maldives. He noted that he contributed occasionally to Haveeru and other newspapers and magazines in Maldives. He said that he hoped to use the honorary Haveeru Golden Pen, presented to him by Haveeru chairman Zahir at Wednesday’s ceremony, to write the first article he will contribute to Haveeru at the next occasion.Zahir presented both the Haveeru Golden Pen and the Haveeru Silver Book, published on the occasion to mark Haveeru’s 25 years in service, to Gayoom.At the ceremony, President Gayoom presented Haveeru Golden Pens and commemorative certificates to 19 staff of Haveeru who have been with the newspaper for more than 10 years. Gayoom also presented commemorative certificates of recognition to 15 people who had given service to Haveeru for a long time, and to seven people who were recognised as giving outstanding service to the newspaper.Haveeru chairman Zahir spoke at the ceremony, and said that President Gayoom’s gracing this important occasion was of special importance and satisfaction for the newspaper. Zahir thanked the President for his invaluable assistance over the past 25 years in Haveeru overcoming many obstacles and reaching the stage that the newspaper has reached today.Zahir said that it was a great privilege for the staff of Haveeru that Haveeru is the first newspaper in Maldives history to mark 25 years of existence. In his speech, Zahir also outlined Haveeru’s humble beginnings and the great developments the newspaper had achieved over the years.Haveeru editor Ali Rafeeq delivered the vote of thanks at the ceremony. The ceremony was attended by staff of Haveeru and high-ranking officials from the government and the private sector.

HAVEERU DAILY -- The leading daily newspaper of the Maldives

Haveeru Daily is the longest serving daily newspaper in Maldives, which marked its 20th anniversary on 1 January 1999. Established on 1 January 1979, Haveeru has excelled with over two decades of journalistic experience.THE BEGINNINGWhen local newspaper "Moonlight" ceased publication on 9 December 1978, Haveeru was registered on 28 December 1978 to fill the gap created by the absence of a newspaper. The first issue of Haveeru was brought out on 1 January 1979, under the proprietorship of Mohamed Zahir Hussain, and editorship of Abdulla Sodiq.

Haveeru is the first newspaper to be printed by offset. The newspaper's efforts at getting its own printing press dates as far back as 1 April 1981, when a private printer declined to publish the newspaper.

With just a break of one day, seen by many as an "April Fool" day joke, Haveeru rolled off from another press, but this time not in offset, but hand-written on stencils for cyclostyling. The page size was 30x42 cm.The newspaper first rolled off Haveeru's own offset press on 1 September 1986, with a new enlarged size of 38x55cm. The size was later increased to 42.5x60.5cm on 1 January 1994.
Haveeru's own printing press has largely improved with the ability to print in full colour, thanks to employment of sophisticated printing technologies.

Printed pages of the newspaper are being collated by a printer

'HAVEERU' - THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

The name 'Haveeru' symbolises the onset of the cool evening time after the heat of the day, which is also the time when the newspaper is brought out. In Dhivehi literature, "haveeru kurun" means the get-together of poets and writers for literary exchanges. Thus, it was decided that the newspaper's name should also symbolise news, information and literary exchanges.

OVERCOMING TECHNICAL HURDLES

Many technical setbacks have been overcome with innovation and automation. Haveeru is the first Maldives newspaper to be computerised, in 1985. In also another first, Haveeru began to use Thaana typewriters and Thaana word processors. The ability to facilitate Thaana, Maldives unique script, on computers had eased writing, editing and layout designing to a great extent, enhancing aesthetic beauty of the paper.

NEW DESIGN CONCEPT

As the newspaper braces to achieve greater strides in journalistic excellence, improvements to the newspaper's content, layout and design, and professionalism became inevitable. The change of the newspaper's layout style and language from the traditional to the more modern modular design is in keeping with these principles. The traditional trend was toward lengthy articles and serials, but Haveeru opted for crisp and clarity in reporting to ensure that its contents are unbiased, and free from prejudice.
A journalist designs a page on a computer.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT - KEY TO SUCCESS

Haveeru underscores the need to tap its human resource to ensure maximum efficiency. In-house training courses are undertaken from time to time, along with overseas training schemes. Haveeru has been fortunate to get assistance from foreign agencies such as the Asia Foundation, and enjoys close affiliation with the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU).

THE PEOPLE'S PAPER

With the largest circulation, Haveeru is the leading daily newspaper in the Maldives. The newspaper's success largely depends on its sensitivity to the needs of both its local and foreign readers. Haveeru aptly identifies with social and economic causes, and has been enormously successful in its campaigns for environmental conservation. This was demonstrated when the United Nations Environment programme bestowed its Global 500 environmental honour on Haveeru's photojournalist Mohamed Zahir following a series of environmental articles published in Haveeru, which he wrote under the initials "Meemu Zaviyani".
Haveeru makes no compromise in total coverage of local events, particularly ones the public identify with. Public interaction with Haveeru in recent months has greatly improved with the introduction of a "Haveeru Hotline" and its feedback page. A telephone line has been exclusively set aside for the public to direct their queries regarding an issue to Haveeru, which then channels it to the appropriate authority, and provide their feedback through the newspaper.

ATOLLS, WHERE THE REAL ACTION IS

A newspaper dedicated to the cause of social, economic and political developments of Maldives, Haveeru is also conscious of the changing landscape of the islands, and has brought these developments to the limelight through dedicated reports, features and articles devoted to the progress of island communities.
A full-time journalist is assigned to give coverage to events in the islands, and stringers based in major islands contributed to direct reporting from the atolls.A great achievement towards this direction was the establishment of a bureau of the newspaper in Addu atoll Feydhoo in May 1998. Two full-time reporters staff it.Haveeru continues to receive electronic images and digital data from the atolls via its own Intranet, HaveeruNet, and in some cased the global information superhighway.
Haveeru plans to conduct journalism courses in major atolls, with the short term objective of basing qualified stringers in the atoll communities, and with the long term aim of establishing more 'regional bureaus' to give coverage to the island communities.

WORLD NEWS VIA SATELLITE

Haveeru is the first newspaper in Maldives to link up with a foreign news agency, the first such link-up being in Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) in 1985. However, the use of radio teletype receivers was not then a successful venture as news reception was often disrupted by unstable weather. Hence, Haveeru turned towards satellite communications, and the newspaper became the first Maldives daily to establish links -- via satellite -- to get news and information for the print media.

Haveeru journalists busy at their work in the fully computerised newsroom.
The difficulties in obtaining foreign news had thus been solved, after Haveeru went for the first such link-up, with Agence France Presse (AFP) in 1992. It was followed by another link-up with Reuters news agency in 1994.

REPORTING FROM THE ATOLLS

The Internet has also facilitated Haveeru's journalists to report from remote locations, by sending electronic images and data to its newsroom in Male. The first such images and news sent remotely were those covering President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's visit to Maldives southernmost atoll, Addu, to participate the 1997 Youth Day's celebrations. Since then, Haveeru continues to cover on-the-spot events from both local and foreign locations.
In May 1998, Haveeru established Haveeru Addu Bureau at Addu atoll Feydhoo Island, the first regional news centre by a newspaper. Two full-time journalists are stationed there to cover events in the southern atolls, and reporting is carried out by sending information via the World Wide Web.

GOING ONLINE

The last three years were remarkably successful for Haveeru as it became the first newspaper in Maldives to take the innovative step of going online, with its interactive edition, Haveeru Daily Online, established and updated daily on Internet. An international dimension was given to Haveeru, once again, due to successful employment of modern communications that are set to make the new millennium the Information Age. Haveeru Daily Online was established in January 1997.

A newspaper that began as a source of information for a strictly small Maldivian population, it has gone a long way to realise the "Haveeru dream" and today enjoys a wide international audience hungry to know the story of how a string of resource-limited, sparsely populated and environmentally fragile island-state has overcome all hurdles to bring prosperity and progress to its people.Now Haveeru Daily can be accessed www.haveeru.com.mv