How free is the media in Malta?

I feel it pertinent to ask such a thought-provoking question when, around the world today, World Press Freedom Day is being marked. The media in Malta do not exist in a vacuum. Ownership structures, some of them unique to these islands, influence the content and editorial positions.

The history of the press in Malta dates back hundreds of years, yet, many journalists working in our newsrooms do not have the experience or perhaps were too young to have witnessed difficult events many of the older journalists lived through from the 1950s right through to the 1980s.

I myself am too young to remember the vicissitudes of the 1960s, nor was I born in the 1950s, but I started my journalism career in the late 1970s and was so committed to the need for journalism to be recognised as a profession that I was a founder member of the Press Club (Malta), today the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), 16 years ago.

Over more than a quarter of a century working in journalism locally, I have witnessed few instances of solidarity among Maltese journalists; indeed, at times, there is outright distrust, which comes to a peak at election time. Working within the IGM has changed my attitude drastically.

Having collaborated with my fellow council members and represented the institute in many areas both in Malta and abroad has enabled me to see at first hand how it is possible for journalists to come together to promote a common goal in an effective way and to show solidarity.

For a constituted body that is made up of communicators - all volunteers - public relations may not be the IGM's forte. Its style is to work quietly behind the scenes, seeking little credit for its contribution at all levels of society. Those who have worked with council members in various bodies and during meetings will vouch for our no-nonsense, business-like approach.

The three platforms of the IGM's work over all these years have been ethics, education and professionalisation. These are long-term goals that even a 16-year-old body cannot hope to achieve in the short- term, given also the meagre resources at its disposal.

The ethical dimension is spearheaded by the Press Ethics Commission, which implements a code of ethics for the profession. In education, the IGM has worked with the heirs of the late entrepreneur Tumas Fenech to bring a living monument, the Tumas Fenech Foundation for the Education of Journalists (FTFEG), to life, holding courses with both foreign and local lecturers in Malta and Gozo.

Professionalisation has been promoted primarily though not exclusively through the Malta Journalism Awards. Being professional is a process and the IGM has worked with all local bodies, including the university, to bring about a much-needed quality leap.

Internationally, the IGM was a founder member of the International Association of Press Councils of Europe, and though not a trade union it is an associate member of the International Federation of Journalists and a full member of the European Federation of Journalists - both bodies grouping journalist trade unions.

It has also worked directly with the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht to organise a number of seminars attended by journalists from across Europe.

Looking back at some of the IGM's achievements over the years, it was instrumental to introduce changes to the Press Act that brought about the right of the confidentiality of the source and the privileged publication of reported speeches.

It held discussions with the director of the law courts that led to an improvement in facilities for journalists. Likewise, following discussions with commissioners of police, various improvements were made, although some problems still exist. Following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, a visit for the media was held to the detention centre in Safi.

The IGM is represented on various government commissions, including the Kunsill Nazzjonali ghall-Ilsien Malti, and is currently working with the Data Protection Commissioner on the drawing up of a code of practice to comply with the Data Protection Act.

The media scene in Malta is dominated by big egos, but the media is certainly free to express its views within the strictures of the laws of libel, which are there to protect every citizen. The next step is a Freedom of Information Act, but all this is a long-term process that includes the maturity of all citizens, which the media report about every day.

Mr Naudi chairs the Institute of Maltese Journalists.

www.maltapressclub.org.mt