Daphne’s legacy is in our hands. We, as a country, are now called to decide what her assassination will stand for. This is the very cruel reality that gives me a flicker of hope. A journalist was brutally murdered so that, together, we can take our country forward.
Daphne’s assassination is on our hands as we did not collectively do enough to prevent her death. We cannot now stand divided squabbling on whose fault it is.
Each person who was responsible for an illegal act must be thoroughly investigated and must face legal justice. Each person who was responsible for an illicit act must be held to account and shoulder political responsibility. This is not squabbling. This is the beginning of the good governance that Malta deserves.
There is, however, something even bigger than individuals facing legal and political justice. Daphne’s legacy should be that her ultimate sacrifice sets Malta on the track to becoming a more mature democracy. As a nation, we have failed to appreciate the truth when it was given to us on a silver spoon. We stood listening to the gibberish of political rhetoric against Daphne and we simply spoke among ourselves in muffled voices. Some of us even thought it would make us popular with the government to label ourselves as her victims.
There is only one victim in this immense national tragedy and there can be only one victor. Daphne is the victim and only Malta can be the victor. There isn’t any one State entity that came out unscathed from this public inquiry. True, some are more at fault than others but that’s just bickering at this point. As a nation, we have allowed the assassination of one of us to be facilitated by a network of politicians, corrupt big business and criminals.
The conclusion that I take from the board’s exceptional report is that Daphne was assassinated because she was telling the truth to our faces and we, as a country, instead chose to accept the garbage given to us by politicians and their foot soldiers. All this means that Daphne was brutally killed because she was a journalist and that we think of journalists as our enemies rather than as equal partners in the democratic functioning of our country.
This is where Daphne’s legacy lies. The death of a brave responsible journalist who loved her country above any figure of power must bring about a formal recognition of journalism and an entrenched respect for journalists as a fundamental pillar of our democracy. This cannot be done in some partisan manner and it is not merely a legislative process.
Daphne would not have died in vain if our young democracy entrenches recognition and respect for the press as its fourth pillar of democracy in its legislation and in its social fibre- Therese Comodini Cachia
Sadly, the continuous campaign dehumanising Daphne continued well after her assassination by a campaign against her family. That hate campaign spilled over to other journalists. The consequence of that hate campaign was that state entities and public officers continue to treat journalists with disdain and disrespect.
Recognising that it would be easier for the corrupt network to fulfill its self-gratifying and money-grabbing plan if it could have one controlled message, the government not only did nothing to prevent the creation of an environment which is unsafe for journalists but participated in creating that environment.
Where it saw that a journalist published information critical of the government, then that journalist was labelled a liar, a person with an agenda, and the media house as the producer of fake news. Even after Daphne’s death, we’ve witnessed politicians clowning about journalists. We continue to witness attacks on journalists on social media and comment boards.
Malta lost face on the media freedom index well before it was greylisted. This means that journalists continue to suffer disdain, threats and violence. Daphne would not have died in vain if our young democracy entrenches recognition and respect for the press as its fourth pillar of democracy in its legislation and in its social fibre.
This is where my hope lies, that journalists can stand together demanding the respect and recognition that is rightfully theirs and that my country can mature in recognising them as an equal pillar in the functioning of its democracy.