Former journalist and long-time publicist Godfrey Grima has passed away at the age of 79, after contracting Covid-19.

He was a regular on Maltese programmes.

Grima had founded the Associated News Group, his publicity firm. He had been its chairman for a long time. He began his career in journalism as a journalist for the newspaper Il-Ħaddiem. In 1967, he moved to London, where he worked for the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror. He also worked for the Financial Times' foreign desk.

In 1971 he was the Financial Times' correspondent in Malta, and covered Malta's relations with Libya, and the issues between Malta and the British military services.

Grima was also the brother of former Labour Minister Joe Grima, but was critical of Labour's past authoritarian style under Mintoff. He later supported Joseph Muscat in 2008.