A French news outlet has strongly condemned the way ONE News "manipulated" its recently published investigative article about the OCCRP by singling out a Times of Malta journalist.
Carine Fouteau, president and publishing editor of Mediapart, was reacting after the Labour Party media used its investigation to focus on investigative journalist Jacob Borg.
“Mediapart strongly condemns the manipulation of its recently-published investigative article by the television channel controlled by the Labour Party in Malta, in order to attack individual journalists," Fouteau said.
While standing by its report, Mediapart said it condemned any malicious and dishonest weaponisation of its article about the OCCRP by any political party, government or media to serve their own political agenda and attack press freedom.
Midway through the video segment aired over the weekend, titled 'Dependent journalism with an American agenda', ONE News displayed an image of Times of Malta's senior journalist Jacob Borg, who works on the news organisation's OCCRP-supported investigations and also linked him to former PN MP and lawyer Jason Azzopardi.
Mediapart's reports have raised questions about the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), for receiving funding and influence from the United States government.
In a reaction, OCCRP, widely lauded internationally for its investigative journalism, insisted it has no limits on its journalism and no donor influences its reporting.
The organisation has spearheaded major exposés, including the Panama Papers and Pegasus Project, unearthing corruption and financial misconduct, prompting significant global impacts.
Times of Malta and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation are among the partners of OCCRP.
The affiliation has led to some of Times of Malta's biggest exposés in recent years, including the way Steward paid millions to Muscat-linked Accutor for consultants, how Steward funded a ‘smear’ campaign against Chris Fearne, how Keith Schembri's secret links to consultancy firm triggered corruption concerns, and the driving licences' scandal.
In a joint statement, Times of Malta's editor-in-chief Herman Grech, and Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation director Matthew Caruana Galizia said the biggest concern about the reporting by ONE News was that it made Borg a target.
"In a country still reeling from the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia - who faced similar smear campaigns from ONE - this is particularly troubling," they said.
"The implications of such actions cannot be overstated, especially in a climate of hostility towards journalists in Malta."