A picture book about the life story of late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is being launched three years after her assassination. Author and illustrator Gattaldo hopes the book will also inspire young children to write, to be brave in the face of adversity, to fight in what they believe in and to learn about the importance of journalism in a democracy.

“Fearless – The Story of Daphne Caruana Galizia is the story of an investigative journalist but it is also the story of how important it is to fight for what you believe in, to dare go against the grain if you know you’ve got the truth on your side,” Gattaldo says.

“It’s a story of a girl who found her universe in books, who used words to express herself and dared to dream of a better world. It’s a story of perseverance in the face of adversity. It’s a David and Goliath story,” he continues.

“It’s about misogyny and about the empowerment that information can
bring to everyone. It’s also about the importance of a free press.
Hopefully, it also brings home the importance of ‘herstory’.”

The book started off as a personal project and served as a form of catharsis for the author who knew Daphne well and who found it very hard to come to terms with her death.

Gattaldo was in his 20s, studying fine arts in Florence, when he came across
Daphne’s weekly column in the Times of Malta some 30 years ago. Her writing
struck a chord with him, so he decided to send her a letter at her workplace.

“Surprisingly, she wrote back, we became penfriends and our friendship
evolved from that,” he says.

In October 2017, as he was flying back to Malta where he was born, his
friend was assassinated with a bomb placed under her car.

“Daphne’s assassination was particularly difficult for me to come to terms
with," Gattaldo admits.

"As I was reading a book to my seven-year-old niece in Malta one evening shortly after Daphne’s death, my niece asked me about my friend. I recounted Daphne’s life story and what she had attempted to achieve through her writing.”

“Back in London, I started sketching and writing. I attempted to tell the story
in a way my nieces and nephews could understand, and this picture book was
born. I wanted them to look up to Daphne but also to understand how
vital journalism is to democracy and our way of life.”

To him, Daphne stands for honesty, that is for the courage of one’s
convictions, and much more.

“Being true to yourself goes beyond personal interests. Paul, her son,
recounts the time when his father asked Daphne why she couldn’t delay
writing about a magistrate he was due to argue in front of the following
morning −“Do you have to do it for tomorrow?” he asked. Yes, she replied.
Journalism was Daphne’s first priority − she felt she owed that to her readers,”
he notes.

The journalist is she/he who asks questions in our name, the one that alerts us to dangers, who has our interests at heart

“She also stands for informed opinion. Everyone has an opinion but unless it’s well researched, it’s of no use to anyone. It’s a lesson we should all learn before sharing information we come across on social media. We should always fact-check it, even if it’s something we want to believe in because it confirms our previously-held beliefs.”

To Gattaldo and his partner, Daphne was first and foremost a friend, who was concerned about their well-being and with whom they would chat over coffee
or lunch whenever she visited London.

“She was someone with great taste and a fellow creative with whom I could
exchange ideas.”

Gattaldo believes that both girls and boys can identify with Daphne.

“Where her ambition and dreams for a better world are concerned, her
gender is irrelevant. The misogyny Daphne encounters in the story will, of
course, be something girls are more familiar with than boys because they
will have encountered it personally. Each time they’re told they can’t play with the boys, or when they’re faced with gender stereotypical toys, they’ve already experienced the way the world pigeonholes them,” he says.

He adds that girls will be inspired by Daphne’s determination not to take no
for an answer and to be audacious in their ambition. They should also see
that this is in no way incongruous with motherhood. On the other hand, boys
should learn to accept girls as conceivable role models.

“It is important that readers, both boys and girls, have role models of any gender,” Gattaldo stresses.

“Investigative journalism was seen as a man’s job at the time Daphne embarked on her career. Daphne would recall how she would be asked if Peter (her husband) had written the articles for her, because they honestly thought a woman couldn’t think for herself. I’m hoping that Fearless might even persuade some young readers to pursue a career in journalism.”

The author believes journalism is indeed essential in the “age of
conspiracies and misinformation”.

“Children are growing up in a society which seems to reward the opportunists
and the unprincipled. We must make sure they know that honesty and
the quest for truth ultimately make for a better world for all,” he says.

“The journalist is she/he who asks questions in our name, the one that alerts
us to dangers, who has our interests at heart. The journalist is the one that holds the powerful to account in our name. That is why it is so insulting and so
telling when politicians refuse to answer journalists’ questions or discredit them.
Their disrespect is in reality directed at us citizens.”

Interestingly enough, the book, whose London publishers Otter-Barry
Books rated 6+, does not mention the assassination.

“It was a choice I gave a lot of thought to,” Gattaldo says.

“The point of the book is to celebrate Daphne’s life, her work
and her legacy. It is to tell her story so that children get to know the
woman behind the work. I feel that there has been an entire propaganda
machine churning out misinformation about her and demonising her. When
that well-oiled machine failed to present counter-arguments to hers, it
attempted to undermine her credibility. It’s important that truth wins.”

Fearlessdaphne.com

The book project was followed by a website which aims to go beyond Daphne’s story and create a conversation with children about journalism.

“Journalism is facing its own demons, problems which partly came about with the advent of 24-hour news. There is an ongoing debate about which direction
journalism should take. Trust is crucial,” Gattaldo points out.

“There are important elements that good journalism cannot do without, such as having more than one source and checking twice before publishing. It is not only important for journalists to be imbued in these requisites but also for us at the
receiving end to demand them.

“I feel it is crucial to educate our young to know how to interpret information and come to an informed decision. This is how the idea for fearlessdaphne.com came about.”

At the moment, the website serves as a brief introduction to journalism. It has articles about different types of journalism, critical media literacy, the difference
between news and opinion, and some journalists’ stories like those of Ida Bell Wells-Barnett and Marie Colvin.

Gattaldo’s favourite is, however, an article on Daphne as a child written by a school friend of hers.

He would now like to develop the website further and is looking for collaborators to add more educational resources.

“The website is now at a stage where third party finance is vital if the site is to evolve into a more comprehensive learning source for schools and children. Apart from adding more content, I’d like to create downloadable activity sheets
and other resources specifically designed to be used in class. I’m also looking for the right collaborators on this project, so if anyone in the education sector is interested, please get in touch,” he says.

The virtual launch for Fearless − The Story of Daphne Caruana Galizia will take place on Saturday, October 17 − Daphne was assassinated on October 16, 2017 − with a panel discussion chaired by Rebecca Vincent, director of international campaigns at Reporters Without Borders. For more information, visit fearlessdaphne.com.

This article was first published in Child magazine on October 3.