Bar a few exceptions, journalism in Malta was never thought to be in any real danger.

Everything changed when Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated because she exercised her right to freedom of expression.

The powerful bomb that killed her was not only intended to silence her but also to send a message to journalists, their sources, whistleblowers and all those upholding the right to know that they should think twice before going down the same path.

When Caruana Galizia had decided, 15 years ago, to launch her blog, she could not have known how popular and effective it would be.

It soon became the reference point of many. For her critics, the blog posts were cheap gossip only meant to hurt the Labour Party.

But she persisted, even when things got nasty, such as when a former minister and his sidekick froze her bank accounts and a businessman instituted 19 lawsuits against her.

As she continued to expose the sleaze in political and business circles, her posts became so incisive that killing her appeared to have become the only way to stop her.

She paid the highest price to expose damning information which is as consequential today as the day she wrote it.

What the perpetrators did not realise was that their evil act would change the media landscape forever.  Her death laid bare the crucial watchdog role played by independent news outlets.

Society realised more than ever before that “journalism is democracy’s survival tool”, as human rights lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia and media expert Fr Joe Borg noted in their recent book Reforming Malta’s Media Landscape.

Yet, notwithstanding the specific recommendations made by the independent inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s death, the work done by the government-appointed committee of media experts and the input from so many other quarters, the government continues to drag its feet on the need to strengthen and protect serious journalism.

It is evident that people in power and their assistance continue to persist in suppressing the truth.

Those who carry the journalism mission forward – such as those recognised at last weekend’s Malta Journalism Awards, as well as members of civil society who distinguish themselves by their activism – take their own risks in doing so.

Independent journalists persist in their search for the truth, despite the obstacles and the online trolls hounding them daily for doing their job.

Hence, the urgent need to start implementing the long-recommended measures to promote and protect the media, together with the people’s right to know.

The president of the Institute of Journalists (IĠM), Matthew Xuereb, put it in a nutshell when he told the journalism awards ceremony: “Too much time has been lost and the authorities must now move from fancy words to action.”

The IĠM is working to set up a media council but a lot depends on the goodwill of the government to enact robust laws and constitutional changes that would truly establish journalism as the fourth pillar of democracy.

That would but just the start. But it would be conducive to creating an environment that promotes and defends the kind of journalism needed by citizens living in a country that says it believes in democracy.

There have been enough proposals made and entities willing to contribute. As the prime minister dithers, President George Vella, as guardian of the constitution and all that it stands for, should assume a leading role in taking the proposals forward, both in the wings and in public.

The survival of journalism is directly linked with the survival of democracy.