Media Handbook for National Human Rights Institutions NHRIs can also work with universities or journalism schools to incorporate teaching on human rights into pre-entry, undergraduate or post-graduate courses. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives held a Media Forum in October 2012 with the goal of supporting the Maldivian media to become more “human rights friendly”. As media freedom is a fairly new concept, and trained journalists in the Maldives are few, reporters are often unaware of how to cover sensitive news and information. In addition, important topics can get sidelined as there is a heavy focus on Maldivian politics. The workshop sought to build positive relations with local media and improve media skills in reporting human rights-based issues, with a particular focus on: •• Reporting sensitive news featuring children’s rights issues •• Reporting on issues related to women, using approaches that respect the rights of women •• Building awareness among the Government and the public about the rights of migrant workers. The approaches that journalists could use when reporting news related to children, women and migrant workers were extensively discussed in the forum. Discussions also looked at how the Commission could support the media in their work, with participants suggesting that the Commission update its website more frequently and facilitate further awareness raising workshops on human rights reporting for media personnel. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia has held dialogue sessions with the media, and conducted courtesy visits to the offices of media outlets, as a way of understanding how the media work and promoting greater cooperation between the Commission and the media. In 2013, the Commission conducted a series of consultations to promote the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism among the media. The consultations sought to raise awareness among the media about Malaysia’s international human rights obligations, arising from its first review by the UPR Working Group in Geneva in 2009, as well as the issues that may be raised as part of the second review in October 2013. The consultations were well-attended by various media representatives and received positive media coverage. Chapter 5: Supporting journalists in their work | 73