The release of two American journalists, kidnapped in Gaza nearly two weeks ago, was very welcome news indeed. At the same time, however, their ordeal highlights the often dangerous circumstances in which people in this vital profession are expected to operate.
Upon their release, the two Fox News reporters said they hoped that their abduction would not discourage other journalists from going to Gaza to tell the story of the Palestinian people. This is very true, as the world would not be the same without the media to act as reporter, watchdog and storyteller all in one.
To a lesser extent, the same principle also holds true of journalism in Malta. Admittedly, the circumstances surrounding local journalism may be a million miles from the ordeals faced by these and other journalists in the trouble spots of the world, and yet the very nature of the profession, even in Malta, is sometimes fraught with dangers and threats.
Time and again, we have proved to be a very insular society that closes ranks whenever the media try to get information. Cases in point include the political parties, which exempted themselves from the Data Protection Act on the issue of databases, the police and the Armed Forces – both of which operate detention centres which are out of bounds to the media (except on special occasions, of which there has so far been only one), and other public offices and departments.
We seem to live in a society where everyone wants to know what is going on, yet information is scant and is also, on occasion, deliberately withheld.
The Journalists’ Action Committee has recently called for the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act, in order to help remove some of the shackles that all media organisations have to try and unlock every day.
To be fair, the Prime Minister has promised to look into the matter, and has already acceded to some of the committee’s requests, including the appointment of a new Press Officer. But we remain a long way from having access to all the information that we need. In fact, sometimes it is like trying to draw blood out of a stone.
One another aspect with which the media have to deal on a regular basis is threatening behaviour whenever they attend spur-of-the-moment activities. These include traffic accidents, strikes and protests, as well as any other event that may entail tense and hostile circumstances, to the extent that newsrooms often send their most “battle-hardened” journalists to certain activities, as they might need to have their wits about them to avoid getting embroiled in any fracas.
Recent cases in point have included dockyard strikes, the “Tuna Wars”, mass break-outs of detained immigrants and various traffic accidents and fights. Unfortunately, sometimes people do not realise that there is an inherent contradiction in this behaviour: that while members of the public rightly expect the media to provide them with accurate information, and even criticise it when it fails to deliver the goods, they often seem to do an “about-turn” when the issue is in their own back yard.
The world would be a very dangerous place without a responsible and free press. This is why restrictions of press freedoms continue to be cause for concern all over the democratic world. In Malta, as elsewhere, there can be no justification for any suspension of this supreme principle.