On a cold Monday morning in February 2020, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family delivered piles of evidence to the public inquiry. They included screenshots of media posts by Labour Party officials targeting the journalist.
Most disturbing was a photo of her car, number plate clearly visible, which Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield uploaded. He wrote over 1,000 posts about her, 597 with her name in the title. Joseph Muscat never asked him to tone it down. Muscat put her face on a billboard.
He approved Henley and Partners’ legal action against her. Even worse was a video of a ONE TV show, Tanatnejn, depicting Caruana Galizia as a whisky-drinking witch surrounded by candles.
That evidence helped the board conclude that Labour engaged in a “sustained campaign of hate and personal attacks against Daphne, verbal abuse, harassment and stalking”. The board concluded that Labour’s “web of control” was an “orchestrated plan” to neutralise her investigative journalism. The plan worked because it was organised by the prime minister’s office, the inquiry concluded.
That prime minister is thankfully gone. But nothing’s changed. His replacement is still pursuing the same tactics ‒ using ONE media as his battering ram and ONE ‘journalists’ as henchmen. For their dirty work, Robert Abela rewards them handsomely with tens of thousands of taxpayer’s money.
Trischia Falzon, a senior journalist at ONE’s newsroom, is one such beneficiary of Abela’s generosity with our money.
Falzon earned her reward. She leads ONE’s relentless intimidation and harassment of Labour’s critics. I should know because I’ve become a target.
“Beppe Fenech Adami’s brother-in-law states Labour supporters are the least educated in the country,” her news item read. Of course, I never said that. Falzon made it up, entirely. I simply quoted the MaltaToday survey showing that 54.7% of those with only a primary education support Labour while 23.9% support the PN. Among those with tertiary education, Labour support drops to 22.8%, compared to the PN’s 33%. These are facts, not my opinion. But the truth doesn’t matter to ONE’s senior journalist.
“He launched into new insults against Labour supporters,” her report accused.
There were no insults against Labour supporters in my piece. Quite the contrary. I stated that Labour supporters are victims of ONE’s lies.
“In the same article he resorted to attacking this station and its newsroom,” she incited. Legitimate political critique is not an attack. Exposing disinformation, deception and blatant falsehoods is a duty. I simply pointed out that ONE news deceitfully reported that the NAO praised IT improvements at local councils when the NAO found only 7% of recommendations had been implemented in three years. Those are undisputed facts.
That’s why Falzon chose to ignore them. She didn’t even bother to reference the article she was denouncing for fear her readers might read it and find the truth ‒ there were no attacks on Labour supporters and Falzon was lying.
Falzon didn’t stop there. She resorted to personal insults and attempts at humiliation.
“Kevin Cassar was left behind when he wasn’t elected at the general election” (“Dak li ma nġabarx f’elezzjoni ġenerali għax baqa’ l-art”). “Kevin Cassar was never chosen when he contested,” she repeated. That’s entirely irrelevant. It’s a classical ad hominem attack that ONE excels at.
The TV news item was even worse. It included footage of my children.
Don’t expect New Year resolutions from Labour- Kevin Cassar
Falzon’s objective was clearly to incite hatred. It worked. Over 1,000 mostly vile, offensive and hateful comments were uploaded underneath Falzon’s article on ONE’s Facebook page. Some even threatened violence.
What’s even more disturbing is that Abela rewards Falzon for her lies, fabrications, and incitement. Falzon works full time as a senior journalist at ONE. But Labour also appointed her on the Residency Malta Agency Approval Board. She was also appointed on the Dwejra Steering Committee. She got a direct contract to provide “social media services” to Elderly Minister Jo-Etienne Abela worth €9,750 annually ‒ conveniently just short of the €10,000 threshold for a public tender ‒ two years in succession.
Abela planned to appoint her director of a major Malta-Libya government investment firm, LAMHCO Ltd, despite the fact that the 27-year-old Falzon lacks any qualifications or expertise in the field. When journalists raised serious doubts about Falzon’s suitability for the role, her nomination was quietly withdrawn.
Even her boyfriend, Ronald Vassallo was rewarded. Besides being Labour’s communications head, he’s been appointed director at Malta Air Traffic Services and at the Housing Maintenance and Embellishment Co Ltd. He also sits on a Film Awards Committee.
Amazingly, Falzon juggles her full-time senior journalist post, her government positions and her social media consultancy and still finds time to be a university student where she first enrolled almost a decade ago ‒ but still hasn’t graduated.
She’s clearly spent more time investing in Labour’s dehumanising rhetoric than in her studies. She quickly figured out qualifications or competence aren’t necessary to become senior journalist at ONE.
Paul Caruana Galizia commented that the inquiry report was confirmation of a “government-sponsored dehumanisation campaign”. The party leader has since changed. Labour’s strategy hasn’t.
Labour’s still using public funds to reward party apparatchiks for exacting revenge on critics. Labour is still busy inciting hatred with lies. Labour not only makes critics a legitimate target but also puts a price on their head.
Caruana Galizia’s barbaric assassination hasn’t tamed Labour’s vicious disregard for basic decency or its ruthless tactics. I was tempted to say Labour has learned nothing from its despicable dehumanisation of Caruana Galizia. In fact, Labour learned a lot. They know Caruana Galizia was a lone voice crying in the desert ‒ and they’re rid of her. Many others remained silent, too terrified to take a stand against the Labour juggernaut, leaving Caruana Galizia alone, exposed, and vulnerable.
Labour knows its publicly funded strategy of intimidation, dehumanisation and fear works. Labour knows it can inflict it with impunity, even when it paved the way to murder. The Caruana Galizia report said it best: Labour’s “denigration campaign that demonised Caruana Galizia in the context of impunity created a favourable climate for those who wanted to eliminate her to do so with the least consequences”.
So why change? Don’t expect New Year resolutions from Labour.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.