For 85 years, Times of Malta has reported the country’s most momentous events.

It gave the country a lifeline during World War II as bombs rained down on Valletta. And, despite having its premises burnt down by political thugs in 1979, the organisation rose from the ashes and its journalists went on to chronicle Malta’s politically turbulent years, the laborious process towards EU membership and the earthquake sparked by Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Throughout, we have repeatedly shown we will not shirk from tackling difficult issues, even if these cut too close to the bone.

This is why we will not shy away from addressing the fact that two of Allied Newspapers’ former managing directors are facing serious charges in court. 

To say we are mortified would be an understatement. To learn that prosecutors are charging former directors with committing the crimes we have spent years trying to expose is a massive betrayal of trust.

Given the circumstances, it is only natural for readers to ask questions of Allied Newspapers Ltd and, by extension, of Times of Malta.

Those questions take on more relevance because Allied remained largely silent since allegations against Adrian Hillman were first exposed by Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2016.

That silence is in large part due to the way in which Allied Newspapers is structured, with the commercial side kept completely distinct from editorial. No commercial consideration motivates an editorial decision. On the contrary, the company has at times been forced to watch impassively as advertisers pulled out because of an unfavourable report online or in the newspaper.

Editors have complete independence from company management and are not beholden to them. No editor has sat on Allied’s board since Mabel Strickland in 1950.

Having an editorial department that is cut off from the company’s commercial arm also means that editors are not privy to decisions made by company management.

This is unique in Malta and no other media organisation operates this way.

A lot of criticism also stems from the fact that editorial remained conspicuously silent about the internal Hillman inquiry.

There is one simple reason for this – the editors have never seen the concluded inquiry. Formal requests for a copy of the inquiry (which had not included testimonies of all senior editorial members) have been turned down. Editorial disagrees with this stance and believes its conclusions should have been made public.

Editors have also not seen the conclusions of a magisterial inquiry into the Hillman-Schembri case and know little about the company’s involvement in those proceedings apart from what has been reported so far. 

While we do not speak for the company – never have, never will – Allied Newspapers Ltd said on Monday that if money was passed on to former directors, it was done behind the company’s back.

We will wait for the facts and investigate any developments. Editorial would also like to see an external auditor inspect Allied’s financial affairs going back years.

If anything, we are victims of this sordid affair

All we can assure is that Times of Malta will continue digging and publishing any information about any serious allegation, even if it involves one of its employers.

Times of Malta’s editorial has nothing to hide. Why shouldn’t we probe backroom dealings between Hillman and Keith Schembri which have led to a financial haemorrhage of the organisation?

If anything, we are victims of this sordid affair.

To rub salt into the wound, certain dubious characters have used the recent shocking revelations as an opportunity to tarnish Times of Malta’s name.

It is indicative that both Joseph Muscat and Schembri tried to refocus news of the latter’s prosecution onto the news organisation, which has been at the forefront of exposing their misdeeds.

It is also telling that a rival news organisation’s ‘managing’ editor has adopted that same tactic, just weeks after publicly announcing that he was taking a “step back” from editorial to focus on raising money for his company.

We urge our readers to not be distracted by these diversion tactics. 

There are some who are rubbing their hands in glee to see Times of Malta being dragged through the mud, not realising the implications of a democracy without an independent press.  

But there are many more who continue to support a news organisation that has exposed so many scandals (with its journalists taking huge personal risks), that brings live coverage of the most critical events and delivers crucial information during a pandemic.

We thank our readers and supporters for standing by us. It is a difficult and painful time but we hope to emerge from this even stronger.

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