timesofmalta.com soars to new record

Timesofmalta.com, the news website of the Allied Group reached a new record of almost 55,000 unique visitors on Monday.

The recently revamped site had been seeing a steady growth in viewers over the past few months but its numbers soared during the electoral campaign, when it was the leading news site in terms of coverage of political events and debate.

“The electoral campaign was a very trying test for us, but thanks principally to the newsroom we share with The Times and The Sunday Times, timesofmalta.com was able to carry accurate and timely reports from almost all the political activities in Malta and Gozo” timesofmalta.com editor Christopher Scicluna said.

“Importantly, the website was also able to generate debate, with literally thousands of comments being posted. At times we risked being swamped by the sheer number of posts that came in, but it was an immensely satisfying experience,” he added.

Timesofmalta.com also featured blogs from contributors with different political leanings, further contributing to the debate.

“The internet played an important role in this year’s political campaigns and we are proud to have been a part of it” Mr Scicluna added.

He pointed out that the site had also carried out its own audio-visual material, including video interviews with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, conducted in association with The Sunday Times.

The political parties appreciated the strength of the site, with three of them buying space for audio-visual and text advertisements.

“We would like to thank our visitors for the trust they placed in our website, and we promise to keep reporting all developmentsas they unfold,” Mr Scicluna said, while also thanking the technical team for their hard work in trying circumstances.