Updated 8pm: Adds OPM's reply
Almost 90 local journalists, columnists, researchers, and activists have urged Robert Abela to open proposals to reform Maltese media laws to public consultation.
In a letter to the prime minister, the signatories noted that the government has yet to publish a report produced by a committee of media experts, six weeks after it was completed.
It was of “grave concern” that a process intended to strengthen free speech and journalism was being carried out with such a lack of transparency, the letter noted.
“Free expression cannot be protected by secretly drawn up laws. Without the active participation of members of the profession and of the public, this law will be secretly written. It cannot, therefore, reflect society’s needs and will, consequently, fail,” signatories noted.
They urged Abela to ensure that any legislative bills concerning media reform be first published as a White Paper before being tabled in parliament.
Times of Malta editors were among the letter’s signatories.
Work to reform local media laws began in January 2022, when the government announced that it had appointed an eight-person committee to assess local laws and advise on how they could be improved.
That process was one of the recommendations made by a public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in 2017.
Both that inquiry as well as the media experts committee were chaired by Michael Mallia.
The government received feedback from the committee one year ago. But instead of making the committee’s report public, it unveiled three bills which it said were based on the committee’s feedback.
An outcry ensued, with journalists and editors noting that they had not been given any opportunity to provide their input.
Having initially defended the process, the prime minister eventually agreed to freeze the bills, to allow the media experts committee to consult the broader media sector.
Attached files
The committee eventually submitted its final report to the government in July.
In the letter sent to Abela on Wednesday, signatories also noted that they expect the government to implement all recommendations of the Caruana Galizia public inquiry, in a holistic manner.
“This must include the recommendations on how to address impunity, corruption, and the abuse of power. This is the only way we can ensure journalists are protected,” signatories said.
In a reply, the Office of the Prime Minister said that the government is bound with the terms of reference of the report which state that this has to be tabled in Parliament. This was to be done during Parliament's first meeting after the summer recess.
The report, it pointed out, had been received when Parliament was recess as a number of extensions had been requested.
On the consultation process, the OPM said the governmet had already drafted a number of laws to strengthen journalism and, on its own initiative, passed these on to the Committee of Experts for their initial reaction.
Based on this reaction, which had also been published, the government moved legislation in Parliament. Although consultation had already taken place, the IĠM felt that more needed to be done and the government trusted the Committee of Experts with this process.
A few weeks ago, the committee submitted its final report which will now be evaluated for the legislative process to take place the OPM said.