Like the famous Windmill Theatre in London, the 85-year-old Times of Malta has never closed. In the face of constant aerial bombardment during World War II and an attempt by a lawless mob four decades ago to close it down, this newspaper has never missed a day’s publication since 1935.
But today, the Times of Malta and other independent media face a threat to their economic survival posed by an insidious coronavirus pandemic.
Since the long fight for freedom of the press in the 18th century, the importance of newspapers as ‘the Fourth Estate’, informing, reflecting and shaping public opinion has been unquestioned. The need for independent journalists, free comment and access to information are today accepted by all liberal democracies as a fundamental right.
In Malta – as with many of our other civil rights – we came late to the concept of freedom of the press. The battle was won over a century-and-a-half ago in the face of stiff opposition from the Maltese Church, reluctant to cede what it saw as a threat to its power. Malta has enjoyed freedom of expression and of the press ever since. It is embedded in article 41 of the constitution as a fundamental right.
Apart from those newspapers which exercise their version of freedom of speech under politically partisan banners, the objectivity we look for, both in news reporting and analysis, is to be found in three independent, mainly English language newspapers: the Times of Malta; The Malta Independent, Malta Today, and their Sunday stablemates.
A mark of freedom of the press is the role of investigative journalism in holding politicians and those exercising power to account. Until recently, the capacity for investigative journalism in Malta has been largely lacking. This changed fundamentally with the publication of graphic accounts of clerical abuse in Church children’s homes 12 years ago, and Malta Today’s scoop of the ‘oilgate’ corruption scandal in 2013 was followed by Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sensational exposure of the Panama Papers in 2015.
As the Times of Malta achieves 85 years of unbroken publication, we reflect that speaking truth to power lies at the heart of a truly free independent press- Martin Scicluna
As the Times of Malta’s recent reports of WhatsApp contacts between the leader of the opposition, Adrian Delia, and Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind in the assassination of Caruana Galizia demonstrate, this newspaper has been fearless in pursuing the public right to know in the service of fairness and transparency in a liberal democracy.
The country needs this robust form of reporting if we want to preserve an open society. The independent press must strive to assess objectively the successes, failures and follies of our political masters and other powerful institutions, including the presidency, the judiciary, big business and the Church.
In the last six months, the independent press and media organisations have been severely affected by the economic downturn in the wake of COVID-19. Papers which were already suffering from underlying economic problems found themselves particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic when it struck.
The crisis has hit the local independent press and media from two directions. Advertising revenues have plummeted, and newspaper sales have been disrupted due to restrictions in distribution to limit the spread of the virus. Newspaper staff salaries, I suspect, have been reduced and jobs in the industry cut, or staff sent on leave.
But rarely has access to reliable news been more important in saving lives and raising the morale of people facing unprecedented personal challenges. There is never a good time to lose good independent newspapers. But a pandemic makes them truly essential.
They are, at heart, the fifth emergency arm after the public health service, the police, army and fire service. They provide vital information on sudden changes to local services and neighbourhood or voluntary schemes to help the vulnerable. Platforms such as Facebook are neither as accountable nor as fact-checked as the independent newspapers. They also serve an important social purpose, helping to stitch communities closer together.
In its statement some months ago announcing its aid plans to support Maltese businesses and the economy, the government said it considered media organisations were an “integral part of the country’s democracy” and noted their importance in disseminating the health message to limit the spread of the pandemic.
In an editorial, the Times of Malta argued it was time to introduce some form of state funding for media organisations to help weather the economic downturn caused by the virus, administered by an independent body to avoid political interference.
Although the government has said it would provide aid, including some form of financial assistance to “ensure television and radio stations, newspapers and news portals can continue to operate”, there has to date been no firm indication of what form the aid would take, nor indeed any sign of it.
In many European states, journalists have rightly been regarded as ‘key workers’. It is perverse that in Malta many may instead be spending the pandemic idling at home, laid off or placed on reduced paid leave. There can be no excuse for the government continuing to ignore the problem.
As the Times of Malta achieves 85 years of unbroken publication, we reflect that speaking truth to power lies at the heart of a truly free independent press. The press and those placed in power over us are locked in an unlikely love-hate embrace. This is not perfect but, like democracy, nobody has come up with a better system.
The government must show that in the media’s time of need brought on by an unexpected and (so far) invincible pandemic, it possesses the breadth of vision to ensure independent newspapers are helped financially to survive the current emergency.
Martin Scicluna is an independent columnist.