World Press Freedom Day has come and gone, grabbing a few headlines here and there but, overall, doing little to stimulate attention.
Perhaps the public out there is too embroiled in other issues to give two hoots on what the media is all about. Perhaps the lines between the traditional media and the social media are now too blurred. Perhaps we are still to learn from the past.
The media has not been perfect in Malta. We are humans too, and we have made our mistakes. Like in any other profession, there have been occasions when a few of us did not make us proud. But, in general terms, most journalists love their job, carry it out with dedication, passion and a selfless search for the truth, and act as professionals.
It is not an ideal situation to see that only 51% of people taking part in a Eurobarometer survey said they have trust in the media to provide reliable information, when the EU average is 63%. Probably, the fact that in Malta political parties own their own media outlets which seek to promote their side and denigrate the other greatly contributes towards this lack of trust.
But, even though this may sound as if we’re trying to blow our own trumpet, it must be admitted that the independent media in Malta has been instrumental in uncovering scandals that have forced our institutions to act. As the fourth estate, we have been capable of keeping governments, political parties, the judiciary and all other sections of the community in check.
It is, after all, our work, our duty to do so. And we do our job in spite of the difficulties that we have been facing for years, which were further exacerbated over the past months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hit us hard as it did to other sectors of the economy.
Our job has become more difficult as a result of the waves of misinformation that is available on the social media, with which we have to combat each and every day. It hurts us that some people seem to think that what appears on the social media is a reflection of what is published on the traditional media. They are not one and the same thing.
Our job has also become more difficult when we often find brick walls in our search for information, not least because even the Freedom of Information act has not opened all the doors that need to be opened.
Events in the past years have also served to reduce media freedom in Malta. The 2017 assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, apart from being a tragedy for the journalist’s family, was also an attack on journalism. Malta has consistently lost places in the World Press Freedom Index, dropping from the 45th place in 2013 to the 81st position in 2020, a position retained in 2021.
What we can and will promise is that, in spite of all the obstacles that challenge us, we will continue to do our work, our duty to the best of our abilities.