Covid-19, tragedy, politics: Our most-read stories from 2020

Albert Galea Sunday, 3 January 2021, 10:45 Last update: about 4 years ago

2020 is a year which few will forget in a hurry.

It was a year fraught with political upheaval, tragic incidents, and, of course, the matter of a global pandemic. Covid-19 will no doubt be what defines 2020 – and it is by and large the subject which defines our top stories for the year.

The Malta Independent has been at the forefront of bringing news to the Maltese public for many years, and – in spite of all the difficulties and limitations that were faced – 2020 was no different. On this, the first Sunday of the new year, we take a look back at the top 40 stories which we reported during 2020.

Tracking the pandemic

It comes as a surprise to virtually nobody that the Covid-19 pandemic dominates our list of top stories for 2020.

The most read story in fact was from 16 February, some three weeks before the pandemic arrived in Malta, when it was announced that two Maltese people are in quarantine in Malta after arriving back in the country from the cruise liner MV Westerdam, which had some cases of Covid-19 onboard.

A further 17 stories in our Top 40 were related – either directly, or indirectly – to Covid-19.

The report of Malta’s first case of the virus on 7 March was the fifth most-read story of the year, while Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne’s warning that Malta may face deaths due to Covid-19 as well, on 18 March, ranked 14^th.

Fearne’s words proved to be sadly correct: by the end of the year, 219 people had died while positive for the virus.

News related to travel, such as when Malta shut its airport in March, started to debate reopening it in June, and saw activity come to a halt owing to restrictions being placed by other countries in July after a spike in cases also feature in the list.

Meanwhile, our story in August revealing how a frontliner who worked within one of Malta’s testing centres had been paid for only one month since the previous March also features in the list, as do two iterations of the popular video blog that well-known statistician Vincent Marmara has been doing on the pandemic with this newsroom.

Tragedy: Miriam Pace, Christian Pandolfino, Ivor Maciejowski

2020 was a year which took a lot, and it took many people who did not deserve to be taken. Among those are Miriam Pace, Christian Pandolfino, and Ivor Maciejowski, who all feature in our list.

Mother of two Miriam Pace was tragically killed in her own house, after it collapsed into a construction site in Ħamrun on 2 March.

The angered and pained cries of her husband to the contractors who ran that construction site, where work was ongoing at the time, asking them how he would get her wife out of the rubble was our second most read story of the year, while our report from the incident itself was the seventh most-read story of the year.

Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski meanwhile were brutally murdered in their own home in Sliema, after a gang of three apparent would-be burglars allegedly got access to the house and shot both of them dead.

Our report from the scene of the crime in Locker Street, Sliema on 18 August was our 30^th most read story of the year.

Charges have since been pressed in relation to both cases, and these are two stories which The Malta Independent will continue to follow throughout 2021.

The collapse of a ceiling in Sliema after a heavy object fell from a crane onto it, which resulted in the injury of a resident on 22 February, was our third most-read story, while the death of a woman after her car fell off a cliff in Għargħur on 13 March was our sixth most-read story.

Political upheaval

2020 was a year where Malta’s political landscape changed drastically. We came into the year knowing that we would be having a new Prime Minister, after Joseph Muscat’s tenure petered out in little more than a televised whimper in December 2019 as he was faced by mass protests – however we ended the year with a new Opposition leader as well.

Our biggest political stories related to the above: the less than sparkling legacy of Joseph Muscat and the upheaval within the Nationalist Party.

Keith Schembri’s marathon testimony in court during the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was our seventh most-read story, with the public watching and reading of Schembri’s denials of involvement in the murder.

Meanwhile, this newsroom’s story about the fact that service providers had a year’s worth of data detailing Keith Schembri’s movements, phonebook contents, incoming and outgoing calls and SMSs, as well as his GPS data usage – information which could be key to the fate of Schembri’s infamously lost phone – was the 16^th most-read story of the year.

Stories about the Nationalist Party’s drawn-out leadership race also featured: with a story charting those who backed Adrian Delia resigning from their posts within the party after Delia lost the leadership election to Bernard Grech featuring in this regard.

However, it was a story which looked back at the past – specifically Bernard Grech’s past – which featured highest in this regard. No, the story was not related to his well-documented issues with the taxman – it was related to a singing role he reprised in an Air Malta advert, where he belted out a rendition of ‘O Sole Mio’. That story was our 11^th most-read story of the year.

Other stories which featured

There were some other stories which were unrelated to the three topics presented above, but which featured in this list.

Most notable of these is our story quoting a whistle-blower, who came forward and exposed corruption in the Police Traffic Branch early in 2020, who claimed that officers would collect ‘protection money’ from a number of major construction firms and transport companies.

In return, the officers would turn a blind eye and not dish out fines to these companies for traffic contraventions and other violations. That story, published on 17 February, was the 17^th most-read story of the year.

Other stories which featured in our top 40 include an annoyed Pope Francis slapping a woman’s hand on New Year’s Day after she yanked his arm, the finding of an incredible and undisturbed Punic-era tomb in Tarxien, and the recounting of a hit-and-run incident which left a woman, Frances Galea, dead 30 years ago, as told by her son, who lamented that even now he doesn’t know who killed his mother.

Top 40 most-read stories of 2020:

1: Coronavirus: Two Maltese in quarantine in Malta – 16 February

2: ‘Now tell me how I will get my wife from under the rubble’, husband tells contractors – 3 March

3: Ceiling collapses after heavy object falls from crane, resident injured – 22 February

4: Coronavirus: Many defy Health Chief’s suggestions to remain indoors – 19 March

5: Malta gets its first Coronavirus case – 7 March

6: Woman dies after car falls off cliff in Għargħur – 13 March

7: Mother of two found dead in Ħamrun home collapse – 2 March

8: Joseph Muscat told me to make sure Yorgen Fenech did not leave country - Keith Schembri – 22 June

9: Bus driver tests positive for Coronavirus – 23 March

10: Covid-19: Four square metres per staff member - Guidelines for offices published – 2 June

11: Do you remember this: PN leadership hopeful Bernard Grech sings in Air Malta advert – 8 August