The press in Malta - Desmond Zammit Marmarà
The Caruana Galizia murder has served to focus attention on the state of the press in Malta. A lot of exaggeration and incorrect information has been published about this issue but it has helped to highlight certain problems that afflict the press in Malta and which need to be urgently addressed.
Let me start with the politicisation of the press in Malta. Obviously, we did not need the European Parliament’s PANA Committee to make us aware of something that has been obvious for many years. Many of us have been writing about this but it is now a very serious problem that has been exacerbated by the intrusion of political parties in all aspects of the work of the press in Malta.
The ordinary layman who is not involved in politics cannot imagine the extent of the pressure exerted by political parties on what is reported in the media. Indeed, many media reports are tailor-made to fit a particular political agenda without any regard to the actual facts or even to the people involved.
I distinctly remember once chairing a seminar where a politician and three other experts were invited. One of the experts gave a particularly interesting presentation. Incredibly, the media reports gave...