MEP David Casa has been nominated co-chairperson of the European Parliament’s media working group.
The media working group is made up of MEPs from different political groups focusing on pushing issues related to the protection of journalists. Casa is the only Maltese member in the group.
Reacting to his new appointment, Casa said the European Parliament had a crucial role to ensure that journalists across Europe are not only protected, but also given the necessary tools to be able to investigate and expose wrongdoing.
“This is the role of journalists in a democractic country, and they should be protected to do so.”
The group, he said, will continue to propose legislation and exert pressure to ensure that what happened to journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak will not happen again.”
Since Caruana Galizia was murdered in October 2017, Casa has pushed calls to introduce new legislation which protect journalists in their work, including anti-SLAPP legislation.
Kuciak and his girlfriend were gunned down at home in 2018 after Kuciak wrote several stories on graft and the shady dealings of the high-powered entrepreneur with ties to senior government politicians. A Slovak court on Thursday acquitted well-connected businessman Marian Kocner of ordering the murder.
Another proposal Casa is working on is that of the News Media Fund - a permanent dedicated support mechanism for journalists and media houses, now deemed even more crucial due to the financial challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past months, through his role as a quaestor within the EP’s Bureau, Casa has been working on the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism, which will be awarded each year.
The other members of the media working group are Ramona Strugariu (Renew) who will co-chair the group with Casa, Alice Kuhnke (Greens), Dace Melbārde (ECR), Irena Joveva (Renew), Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (ECR), Magdalena Adamowicz (EPP), Massimiliano Smeriglio (S&D), Stelios Kouloglou (GUE/NGL), and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens).