The Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) has expressed its disappointment that some media houses were excluded from the one-on-one Budget briefings that were open to the media hours before the official Budget 2027 speech.

In a statement published on Tuesday morning, IĠM also questioned as to why the government opted to deviate from the standard pre-Budget procedure and opt to hold one-on-one briefings with individual journalists from select media houses, instead of organising a single, confidential meeting with all media houses represented.

These individual press briefings were organised by the Office of the Prime Minister. Among media houses that were left out was the Nationalist Party's media.

The journalists' trade union stated that while it understands that these briefings are subject to trust, "this is a strange departure from the usual protocol without any seemingly good reason to do so."

IĠM stated that pre-Budget briefings are "essential tools for journalists to be able to prepare their coverage and analysis for what is ultimately the single most important policy document published by the government each year."

It concluded that it would be happy to work with the government to ensure that briefings do not exclude anyone while ensuring that a level of trust and respect could still be maintained.