Malta Caruana Galizia’s murder overshadows Malta’s media, says Ross Davies


In search of the truth


I


n an interview shortly before she was killed, Daphne Caruana Galizia spoke of a climate of fear deterring Malta’s


journalists from reporting the truth. The country’s foremost investigative


journalist, Caruana Galizia was never one to shy away from a story. For this, she endured unprecedented levels of intimidation – not least arson attacks and the slaying of a family pet – before the car bombing that killed her outside her home on October 16, 2017. Ripples of scandal have since reached the top of Maltese politics, culminating in the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat after government officials were implicated in the murder. Malta has also slid to 77th place in the Press Freedom Index – with Bulgaria and Hungary the only two EU members faring worse. Caroline Muscat is the editor of The Shift News, an online platform that has run investigations into organised crime and money laundering on the island since its launch in November 2017. Last year, The Shift exposed a


network of closed Facebook groups, whose members included senior state officials, which supported making threats to journalists. The network had more than 60,000 members – around 14 per cent of Malta’s population. Muscat was close to Caruana Galizia


and, like her, receives almost daily abuse. “I get the witch analogies a lot,” she


says. “Recently, a picture of Daphne was posted on one of these groups next to my photo. The text alongside it read: ‘One witch has disappeared, and then another appears’. Someone commented below: ‘This one deserves a few more bombs.” Manuel Delia, who became a full-time political blogger after Caruana Galizia’s death, is also no stranger to harassment. We meet in Valetta, we do


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so in an empty private members’ club off the main thoroughfare; Delia is barred from the café across the street. “I get called a traitor a lot,” he says. “When I speak about justice for Daphne, I am accused of betraying my country. While we are not thrown in prison, what we do get to be is completely discredited. Destroy a journalist’s credibility and you don’t need to incarcerate us.” With the majority of Malta’s media


controlled by political parties, high-level corruption often goes unreported. Even outlets that claim to be investigative rely financially on the state. “The complete lack of regulation around government advertising is a massive problem,” says Tim Diacono, political editor of investigative news site Lovin’ Malta. “Ratio-wise, the government’s advertising budget here is more than in any other European country, and that goes right across


“ ”


Many journalists who once showed real promise in exposing the truth have sold out for the sake of survival


social media, TV and newspapers. It means we can’t get our message across.” Muscat says “only a handful of true


investigative journalists” now exist. Georg Mallia, who teaches media at the University of Malta, has noticed that, since Caruana Galizia was killed, “many journalists who once showed real promise in exposing the truth have sold out for the sake of survival.” Then there are strategic libel suits (SLAPPs). By the time of her death, Caruana Galizia was facing 42 of these, mainly brought by politicians and businesses. The Shift and Lovin’ Malta have been the targets of similar lawsuits. Costing little to plaintiffs, but


requiring time and money to defend, SLAPPS are widely used to intimidate journalists into self-censorship. Most media outlets threatened with SLAPPs give in and remove stories. David Casa MEP, of the opposition


Nationalist Party, is pushing for an EU anti-SLAPP directive. “The use of SLAPPs to silence journalists is an affront to Maltese media freedom,” he says. A public inquiry looking into who


ordered the assassination of Caruana Galizia. It is desperately hoped this will see people held to account and provide answers for her family. The pursuit of press freedom


continues. “This is about democracy,” says Muscat. “If we don’t defend it – who will?”


HEMIS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


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