It’s Times of Malta again

Thirty-five years after a Mintoff-era law clipped ‘Malta’ from its name, The Times will tomorrow return to its original identity.

The Times of Malta brand has always been synonymous with the credibility we cherish

Rebranding the daily and Sunday editions as Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta signifies both a return to these newspapers’ roots as well as creating one unified brand.

Modifying the mastheads made sense with Malta’s most popular local website – www.timesofmalta.com – ensuring the name was already immediately recognisable, Allied Newspapers managing director Adrian Hillman said.

“We already have one of the country’s most recognisable brands. This is an opportunity to align all our news content under one heading,” he said.

The first daily edition of the Times of Malta hit newsstands in 1935, although a weekly paper with a ‘The’ prefix to the title had been printed by Lord Strickland since 1929. By 1938, the Sunday edition had also aligned its name to the daily newspaper, becoming The Sunday Times of Malta.

Both names outlasted a world war, the move to independence and the beginning of decolonisation, with the only changes to the newspaper masthead.

Mastheads evolved, with the ornate lettering and Union Jack backdrop of the 1930s changing to accommodate the George Cross and cleaner fonts.

But there was little pagesetters could do when a 1978 law, the imaginatively titled ‘Use of Certain Words Act’, made it illegal to use the word ‘Malta’ in the branding or trademarks of private firms.

The law forced the newspapers to remove ‘Malta’ from their titles, with a dramatic, one-off masthead change imposed the following year, after the thuggish 1979 burning of Strickland House.

With a renewed name and masthead that paid homage to its past, Times of Malta can look to the future with optimism, editor-in-chief Steve Mallia said.

“The Times of Malta brand has always been synonymous with the credibility we cherish and has the added benefit of innovation and versatility as we expand our media portfolio to meet the demands of quality 21st century journalism.”

While the change is an important building block in the company’s branding strategy, it is likely to go unnoticed by many readers.

“Most people won’t even notice the difference, because they already know it as the Times of Malta,” noted Mr Hillman.