Malta has risen three places in the World Press Freedom Index, ranking 78th out of 180 countries assessed by Reporters Without Borders.
The marginal improvement marks the first time since 2016 that Malta's ranking has improved. For the previous two years, Malta was ranked 81st worldwide - its worst-ever ranking.
Malta's 2022 ranking - 78th - places it just above Serbia, Malawi, Northern Cyprus and Chile and just below Peru, Nepal, Liberia and Panama.
Norway maintained top spot, with fellow Scandinavian nations Denmark and Sweden completing the podium. North Korea, Eritrea and Iran were ranked in the bottom three spots.
How is the index calculated?
The annual RSF index seeks to compare press freedom in countries and territories across the world. Countries are assessed by a seven-person panel that compiles a quantitative tally of abuses against journalists and the media in the previous calendar year and also runs a more qualitative analysis of media freedom in the country.
That qualitative analysis is carried out using a questionnaire that looks at a variety of political, social and legal factors related to press freedom.
What analysts said about Malta
In its qualitative analysis of Malta, RSF noted that journalists in Malta have to cope with a highly polarised environment under the strong influence of political parties.
Analysts noted that nobody has been convicted of the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia yet but also said that the country has "made some progress in the fight for justice and in press freedom reforms."
Independent media faces discrimination when seeking to access information and journalists are targeted by SLAPP suits, it said.
The RSF report calls out the "strong influence" the ruling party exerts over the public broadcaster and said the Maltese government uses public advertising to exert pressure over private media.
Political media stations had received the bulk of government funding during the pandemic, RSF said, with limited funding opportunities for independent media making it difficult for small outlets to thrive.
"Many politicians select specific journalists for exclusive interviews, while those considered “hostile” are ignored, including within the party media," the report states.
Reporting on topics such as migration and abortion still incites abuse towards journalists, the report notes, with Maltese society being strongly polarised.
There are only a handful of investigative journalists in the country, with these being "almost exclusively" men.
Recommendations made by a public inquiry into the Caruana Galizia murder are being implemented too slowly, the report states, despite the inquiry having flagged the state's responsibility for having created a "culture of impunity" that led to Caruana Galizia's murder.
Maltese law enforcement, the RSF report concluded, lacks the resources needed to effectively protect journalists who continue to face threats. Freedom of the press is enshrined in Malta's constitution but the country's legal and regulatory framework is not conducive to journalists exercising their rights.