€1,000 raised in journalism award fees donated to support journalists in Gaza

The Institute of Maltese journalists (IĠM) is donating €1,000 raised in fees for this year’s Malta Journalism Awards to support journalists covering the war in Gaza.

IĠM president Matthew Xuereb announced the decision during Saturday night’s award ceremony. 

“In the past few months, we’ve heard of the difficulties faced by journalists covering the war in Gaza. They have faced displacement, famine, targeted attacks and death,” he said. 

“The IĠM stands in solidarity with them, and the IĠM wants to put its money where its mouth is. For this reason, I am very pleased to announce that thanks to the contributions of our sponsors who covered the costs of these awards, all the proceeds you paid to participate in these awards, which are rounding up to €1,000, will be donated entirely to a fund administered by the International Federation of Journalists to aid journalists in Gaza.”

Organised by IĠM and hosted at Verdala Palace, the annual award ceremony received over 130 submissions across its 20 award categories. The 33rd awards edition was the first since the IĠM transformed into a trade union.

Times of Malta scooped nine out of the 20 awards, with former editor Ray Bugeja winning the coveted Gold Award for his contribution to journalism.

The awards were decided by a five-person jury including former journalist and head of communications for the Central Bank Malta Vanessa Macdonald, former journalist Antonia Micallef, author and poet Immanuel Mifsud, Berlin Press Club president Juliane Hielscher and Polish journalist and documentary filmmaker Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk.

During his speech, Xuereb once again reiterated his call for fair and transparent distribution of government advertising as a way to help the media be more financially viable. 

“Public advertising can and should help sustain diverse and quality journalism rather than being used to reward loyalty or punish dissent,” he said. 

“The goal is clear but crucial: to ensure that media organisations have the resources to operate professionally, ethically, and independently, free from financial pressure that could lead to outside influence.”

He said newsrooms must adapt to how the media landscape and the audience’s expectations are changing. He said the media must adapt to take the story to the people in a language and medium they understand, without compromising the core principles that define journalists: integrity, fairness, and ethics. 

“These are not optional virtues, they are the bedrock of trust,” he said.

“They are what distinguish us from propagandists and content creators. They are what make journalism a profession, not a pastime.”

He called on the government to live up to its electoral promise to recognise the role of journalists and ensure that journalism and pluralism in broadcasting are recognised as the fourth pillar of democracy. 

"We have made countless proposals, grounded in the findings and recommendations of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Public Inquiry and aimed at strengthening the protection of journalists, ensuring transparency, and guaranteeing true independence for the press," he said.

"Those recommendations were born from painful lessons. They were designed to make sure that what happened to Daphne, and what her murder revealed about our institutions, would never happen again."

The anniversary of the assassination of Caruana Galizia was last week. 

Xuereb said that too much time has passed between the promises made by the government and any form of action.

"Recognition must not be symbolic — it must be meaningful. It must protect journalists from threats and pressures, and guarantee that truth can be pursued without fear or favour," he said.