Malta is not mentioned many times in the international media, and when it is it always attracts our attention.  It is more so when the news featuring our country involves our national security, well-being and peace of mind.

The Malta Independent has not grown exponentially in the last few years because we have ice-bucket friends at the Office of the Prime Minister who leak stories to us.

It has grown because it has sought to report stories people were talking about, always doing so with the utmost respect towards its readers who seek information, analysis and as much proximity to the truth as possible. We do not believe we have invented journalism and we do not tell others how to report news; neither do we claim to be always right. We carry out our duties as journalists diligently and responsibly, always on the look-out for anything that others want to hide and other media outlets want to keep hidden.

We have been taken to task for publishing a story that was circulating in international circles on possible missile strikes towards Europe, including Malta, from North African countries. This story had been picked up by media of international repute, including Rai, although some people think that Rai is not a mainstream media.

But let’s not go there. After all, we weren’t the ones to publish a story a few days ago about graffiti on a De Redin tower, only to retract it when it was realised that it was just a digital super-imposition. Neither did we say that the monti hawkers would be limited to the lower part of Ordnance Street, when in fact the government is still toying with the possibility that the hawkers could spill over to the other side, just between the new Parliament building and the TeatruRjal. Neither did we write a story about a tearful ambassador who caused public outcry because of her exorbitant salary.

The missile story came up a week after the attack on the Malta-owned Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, which was certainly not a figment of our imagination, and followed high alert status at the Armed Forces of Malta on Thursday and Friday. It came in the week that two hostages – a Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist – were killed in the most macabre way by the same people who were reported to now be targeting the southern European region.

Previous reports indicated that the illegal migration phenomenon could be used to transfer terrorists from North Africa to Europe. We all know that Malta, being the southern-most border of Europe, has had to face illegal migration issues for years. Were we to ignore such reports too? Some might think so, but we don’t.

In the prevailing circumstances, the possibility of missile strikes was certainly a story that was worth reporting. It did not come out of the blue, and it was certainly not a story that should have been kept away from the general public, as some have suggested. Our intention, of course, was not to alarm or create panic, but to inform. But perhaps there are some who believe in gate-keeping.

While it is good to be cautious on the validity of stories coming from foreign desks, it is perhaps more important to watch out for propaganda stories spoon-fed from ‘across the street’ in an attempt to influence the local electorate.

We have not fallen into this trap, and this is perhaps why The Malta Independent is never invited to the Prime Minister’s more delicate trips abroad, such as that which took place to China last year and, this week, to Berlin.