2022 was, like any other year, an eventful one.
While Malta throughout 2021 was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and several major arrests which culminated in the beginning of legal proceedings in the country’s law courts, the dynamic in 2022 was quite different.
This was reflected in The Malta Independent’s 50 most read stories of the year: the list shows a year which was defined by a general election, the war which Russia started in Ukraine, and several other stories and interviews first reported by this newspaper which left an impact.
The stories we broke
Throughout the year, The Malta Independent broke a number of stories of great significance, some of which have made it into the list of most-read stories for the year.
Chief amongst those was an in-depth interview detailing the tragic story of Nicholas Camilleri back in June – our second most read story of the year. Camilleri was found dead four days after he was reported missing – but his story was far more tragic than the three-line media statement which announced that his body had been found.
The Malta Independent interviewed his son Daniel Nicholas Camilleri, who told a heartbreaking story of a man suffering from schizophrenia, who was failed by the country’s mental health system but who – even after everything which happened as a result – was still loved by his family.
Other high-impact interviews feature in this list: A woman who was raped as a child told The Malta Independent on Sunday in one interview in May that she wondered why she wasn’t getting paid for the abuse, like her mother, who worked as a prostitute, while a former prostitute also gave a riveting account of her work and why she did.
Investigative stories also feature. A wide-ranging report in July detailed how the Joseph Muscat administration effectively rolled out the red carpet for the American University of Malta, with leaked emails and previously unseen side-agreements showing how the government offered all manner of things to AUM in an attempt for it to be successful.
Other such stories saw this newsroom detailing how the highest officials of the MCAST knew about grave instances of sexual misconduct of its staff in front of students with a disability, and kept an inquiry report exposing the case hidden from the college’s Board of Governors; and also how Vitals Global Healthcare had spent funds given by the government on Mercedes cars as well as high-end apartments in locations like Sliema front and Ta’ Xbiex.
All of these stories featured in our list of most read stories for the year.
The general election
It is to be expected that a general election is what will get the tongues wagging most, and in fact 11 out of the 50 stories in this list were related to the vote held in March last year.
These 11 stories are a mix, with some detailing the Labour Party’s landslide victory, the full list of people who were elected, and the process of Robert Abela appointing his new Cabinet, and others of a more investigative nature.
Featuring highly for instance was a story quoting anonymous Labour officials warning in the run-up to the election that they were going to be tearing up their vote – and that there were many other “genuine Labourites” like them – because they were fed up with the way the country was being run.
The Labour Party may have won the general election by another landslide majority, but it did lose just over 8,000 votes compared to the 2017 general election while voter turnout was at its lowest, proving that there was truth in the story carried by this newsroom.
Investigative work done in the counting hall on election weekend also meant that The Malta Independent was the first to break that Nationalist Party voters had given a clear vote of confidence in favour of the party’s newer candidates over many of its veterans.
A year of tragedies
As was already detailed in last week’s The Malta Independent on Sunday, 2022 was a year of many tragedies. 8 people were murdered, 26 people were killed in road accidents, and another 8 people were killed in construction accidents.
A number of these tragic stories featured in our most-read stories of the year list.
The murders of Mario Farrugia, who was found in the boot of a car in Qormi, Paulina Dembska, who was brutally killed on the first night of the year, Bernice Cassar, shot by her husband in broad daylight all feature.
The deaths of Attorney General Prosecutor Karl Muscat, ruled as being down to natural causes, of bank employee James Buttigieg, who was one of 26 killed on Malta’s roads, and of JeanPaul Sofia, the 20-year-old killed in a construction collapse, are also present in this list.
The shattering of European peace
Perhaps the most defining moment of 2022 came in February, when Russia shattered over 80 years of European peace as it launched an invasion on Ukraine.
Several stories related to the war made our list, with the most read story being a story quoting The Telegraph suggesting that the US were worried that Russia may try and take advantage of Malta’s constitutional neutrality and use it as something of a proxy naval base.
That never happened as Malta joined the rest of Europe and most of the rest of the world in condemning and backing sanctions against Russia, but the US did appoint an ambassador to Malta for the first time in four years during 2022, perhaps indicating that it wants a stronger presence in the country.
The Malta Independent’s 50 most read stories of 2022
1. US worried Russia trying to use Malta as naval base – The Telegraph – 24 February
2. Nicholas Camilleri: Overtaken by schizophrenia, failed by the system, but still loved by his family – 22 June
3. IN FULL: All the 65 candidates elected to Parliament – 28 March
4. Election 2022: Labour wins with another landslide – 27 March
5. Two sets of government cheques to start being distributed from Monday – 9 March
6. ‘I wondered why I wasn’t getting paid after being raped as an 8-year-old’ – 8 May
7. Cabinet - Some changes, most ministers to retain portfolio – 29 March
8. General Election 2022: 304 nominations from 173 candidates across 13 districts – 8 March
9. ‘I will be tearing up my vote, and there are many others like me’ – Labour Party official – 6 March
10. Changing faces? Some of the PN’s new candidates appear to be outpacing party veterans – 27 March
11. Rolling out the Red Carpet for AUM: Government pledges students, schemes and ‘other assistance’ – 17 July
12. €45,000 temporary ramp near fast ferry terminal in Gozo built for Pope’s visit – 30 March
13. MCAST knew about staff sexual misconduct ‘in front of’ disabled students and 'did nothing about it' – 31 May
14. Malta ranked as one of the worst places for expats to move to – 13 July
15. Tribute to Robert Arrigo before Man Utd-Tottenham game at Old Trafford – 20 October
16. Man charged with murder of woman in Gozo, pleads not guilty – 2 March
17. Man found murdered in the boot of a car in Qormi – 5 April
18. AG prosecutor found dead in Swieqi, does not appear third parties were involved, police say – 3 August
19. Jason Azzopardi, Karol Aquilina, Glenn Bedingfield and Rosianne Cutajar will need casual election – 28 March
20. PN’s ‘blue heroes’ lose out as electorate favours party’s newer candidates – 28 March
21. Workers to receive €100, pensioners €200 as part of €70m cash injection – PM – 3 February
22. Could possible new Vatican post for Scicluna open way for new Archbishop for Malta? – 11 January
23. Who will form part of Malta’s next Cabinet? – 28 March
24. Russian oligarch’s 70-metre superyacht docks at Vittoriosa marina – 4 March
25. Eurowings and Lufthansa Group to establish Maltese company - 23 February
26. APS Bank employee dies after being hit by car in Mriehel – 26 February
27. Some 300 millionaires are expected to move to Malta, Henley & Partners claim – 14 June
28. Student with terminal illness completes studies, graduates in special ceremony – 1 October
29. If you have new info on double murder, report it, John Rizzo tells Yorgen Fenech lawyer – 6 June
30. Russia attacks Ukraine; peace in Europe 'shattered' – 24 February
31. Couple celebrating wedding have surprising encounter with the Pope – 3 April
32. Transport Malta Enforcement Director Clint Axisa charged with sexual harassment, granted bail – 25 February
33. Superyacht belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarch registered to holding company in Malta – 7 March
34. Marsascala restaurant takes up pavement, impedes zebra crossing with illegal wooden structure – 26 June
35. VGH used public funds for luxury cars and apartments – 27 February
36. PM Abela announces new 23-person Cabinet: Edward Zammit Lewis and Carmelo Abela miss out – 30 March
37. Gozo-Malta airplane ticket set to cost €25-€35 – GRDA – 22 May
38. RECAP: How Budget 2023 unfolded – 24 October
39. Robert Abela and Bernard Grech face off for the first time in rowdy University debate – 10 March
40. Grech says he will sack anyone who 'taunted' Mario Galea with medical condition – 22 February
41. ‘We can no longer sell passports to Putin's friends’ - Metsola in rousing speech at EP – 1 March
42. 5 workers hurt, 20-year-old missing as building under construction collapses in Kordin – 3 December
43. Woman shot twice in chest, face; husband is main suspect, Commissioner says – 22 November
44. ‘There will be blood,’ Chamber of SMEs deputy president says on MHRA’s 4.7 million tourists study – 2 October
45. ‘Corruption by omission’ and the need for investigations – Mary Muscat – 13 March
46. Programme: Highlight of Pope’s visit in Sunday Mass at the Granaries – 2 April
47. Degiorgio brothers plead guilty to murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, get 40 years in jail – 14 October
48. Polish woman found murdered in Sliema garden; Maltese man under arrest – 2 January
49. Marsaxlokk parish priest allegedly laundered €500,000, police tell court – 12 August
50. 'He picked up a brick and told me to be quiet or else, then he raped me' - former prostitute – 9 January