Journalists have again been the targets of hate speech and threats on social media, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM) said in a statement, after the pertinent questions that were asked during a press conference called by the Prime Minister last Thursday.

The IGM condemned the attacks and expressed solidarity with the journalists affected, including Tim Diacono and Nicole Meilak.

“It is a journalist’s duty to ask questions to those who are accountable to the public. If this is not done, then journalists would just be propagandists.”

“In a situation where the Covid-19 numbers are rising, as are the deaths, journalists have a duty to ask those questions which the concerned public expect an answer to from those responsible. It is also a  journalist’s job to hold those in power to account.”

The IGM mentioned a number of the threatening messages posted. One was written by Rachel Micallef, who said: “I wish I could go and work part time with a  boom microphone so that I can break the jaws of some so called journalists.”

Another was by former V18 Artistic Director Mario Azzopardi, perhaps one of the more controversial figures in Malta who has had to apologise for comments he has made in the past. He wrote: “These lousy journalists we have running from one conference to another know that all of Malta holds them in contept  and laughs at them.”

The IGM hopes that the police takes steps against the legal breaches of hate speech and offers the journalists the security guarantees they are entitled to.

IGM also noted that, unfortunately, the Prime Minister, instead of answering the questions which did not make him comfortable, erupted into an attack on the journalists who made them.