Over the past couple of weeks, the Maltese news media found itself under attack again.

This time it was in the form of impostor emails and fake websites carrying ‘reports’ naming several key figures in politics or civil society. The main aim seems to have been do discredit the prosecution against suspected Daphne murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech, PN MP Jason Azzopardi and civil society activist and blogger Manuel Delia were among the people who were targeted.

But several media houses were also affected by this fake news attack. Cleverly set-up emails were sent ‘on behalf’ of newsrooms, carrying fake news articles, often carrying fabricated comments by the individuals mentioned above.

All media houses reacted by informing the public that these were, in fact, stories that they had nothing to do with. That the content being bandied around on social media was all made up.

Even newsrooms that were not directly affected – including this one – supported their colleagues in spreading the message that these were fabricated stories.

All newsrooms, that is, bar the Labour Party’s One News.

One News did not report a single thing about the spoof website and fake emails. They did not even report it when their own website was spoofed and fake emails bearing their name were sent out to the media.

They did not report the IGM statement condemning these attacks, nor the OPM statement in which it was said that even the Prime Minister had been a victim of spoof emails.

When civil society NGOs organised a protest in Valletta in support of journalists, no representative of the Labour media attended. All other newsrooms had someone attend.

To make matters worse, a One News crew that showed up and filmed the attendees, but nothing about the event was reported on their TV bulletin or news portal.

It is shameful that, despite this new attack on the journalistic profession, our colleagues at One News chose to remain silent and act as if nothing had happened.

When the Labour media censors the news in such a blatant way, one cannot be blamed for suspecting that the Labour Party, or perhaps some Labour people were involved in this dirty game.

One might argue that we should not expect better from the two politically owned newsrooms, who place partisan propaganda above all else. But what happened this week was much worse than the usual style of the political newsrooms.

It was even worse than the way in which Net and One reported the recent political survey, where the PN media focused on the fact that the party has gained ground but omitted any mention of the fact that Bernard Grech lost support, and One News did the exact opposite.

The way in which the PL media has been acting lately is beyond reprehensible.

Just last week, they broke the cardinal rule of journalism and tried to uncover another newsroom’s source. Net TV had spoken to a prisoner – anonymously – about the dire situation at Corradino. In a bid to discredit their report and peddle the government propaganda that everything is peachy at the prison, One News ‘outed’ the prisoner by revealing his identity. It claimed that the prisoner was none other than a notorious drug kingpin. But it got it wrong.

The prisoner quickly denied the claims, saying he had never spoken to a journalist in his life.

But this is not just about getting the facts right. What One did was reprehensible. Journalists know better than to reveal the identity of their or their colleagues’ sources. This is something that should never been done. We know all too well that if even of our sources is revealed, we might lose the others too. We will go back to a situation where people will be too scared to speak to journalists and shed light on corruption or other abuses.

Despite the mistake, there was no apology forthcoming from One News. They did not carry the IGM statement that condemned their actions. They did not even carry the Right of Reply sent by Net News in full, as they were legally obliged to.

While the sad truth is that party-owned newsrooms are designed to serve their political masters, they should never abandon the principles of decency, fairness and respect towards their followers.

Just because One News serves Robert Abela’s Labour Party does not mean that it should abandon all forms of decency, objectivity, and solidarity towards their colleagues in the media.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry made a number of recommendations on how the state can better protect journalists, and this has set in motion a long-awaited reform in the sector. But we must do our part too. All of us. If we want people to take us seriously, we must stand together in the face of the ever-increasing threats against journalism. This goes beyond petty partisan politics. It is about our survival in a world that needs us more than ever before.