How to make news

News is just not neutral. You cannot escape your own perspective and understanding". Marguerite Moritz, holder of the Unesco chair in International Journalism Education, made this statement in an interview with The Times (June 10). She added that the press primarily targets the middle class; coverage seeks to address the concerns of its main audience. What is included, and what is omitted, she added, determine how distorted the coverage is.

A week before, local newspapers carried articles relating to the EU's Bathing Report for 2007. The report found that four Maltese beaches out of 87 were not up to minimum standards. The headlines varied and ranged from Four Maltese Bathing Spots Fail EU's, Minimum Water Quality Standards to Malta Gets High Marks For Bathing Water. The key question is: To what extent is journalism a question of perspective and not of deliberate manipulation? Does the media mirror public opinion and attitudes or does it seek to mould them?

The media has come to pervade our lives. It has created a new dimension to human reality transforming social relations, politics as well as economic and legal structures. This phenomenon, motored by technological breakthroughs, is relatively new and still evolving. The power of the media should not be dismissed, even though it may be argued that people are not mindless victims.

Public policy analysts have even come to regard the media as the fifth pillar of society. (The other four being the government, bureaucracy, the judiciary and civil society). However, to fulfil this role the media needs to act as a watchdog, to provide an early warning system that ensures that the other powers remain sensitive to the needs and concerns of the people. And, yet, there are times when the media assumes power for itself, losing sight of the public interest.

Excessive preoccupation with circulation and ratings leads to undue commercialisation and sensationalism. This is why journalism demands constant self-criticism and scrutiny.

Of particular concern is the growing trend towards increased concentration of global media ownership and control.

In The Media Monopoly (1983) Ben Bagdikian warned about the dangers to American society as 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media. By 2000, when the sixth edition of this book was published, the number had fallen to just six corporations (Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corp., Bertelsmann, Viacom and NBC). These corporations now control some 90 per cent of the broadcasting and publishing industry even though entertainment remains the core business for some of them.

Media concentration tends to limit the free flow of ideas and opinions, increase the chances that public opinion is manipulated and that journalism becomes a smokescreen for potent political and business interests.

Perhaps no other democratic country in the West exemplifies this better than Italy. Premier Silvio Berlusconi, business magnate-turned-politician, has managed to destroy any notion of journalistic objectivity that could have existed in the country. Mr Berlusconi has been a constant threat to the autonomy of journalism in Italy. He has militarised his media empire to attack all those that he perceives as opponents. Magistrates delving into allegations about his corrupt business practices are a favourite target. Some years back, he forced public-funded RAI to sack journalists Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro. It has been estimated that Mr Berlusconi occupies an incredible 40 per cent of news airtime on his own media.

What is the situation in our country? According to the latest report by Freedom House, an American NGO, press freedom in Malta is faring worse.

This report also pointed out that while our Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, our country is only one of three EU members that lack legislation on freedom of information. The government has lately announced its intention to remedy this situation in the next few months.

Media ownership and management remains largely concentrated in the hands of the political parties and the Church. Local journalists are not immune from pressures to toe the line of those that issue their pay cheque.

Despite a number of restructuring exercises our public broadcasting continues to disappoint. PBS has lost its public mission and has come to stand for "profits before service". Pluralism in Malta was a positive experience but overall the desired results have not been achieved.

The smallness of our society tends to lead to fragmentation with less resources being available for quality output. Investigative journalism remains limited, even though the overall level of local journalism has improved tremendously.

The Labour Party's initiative to set up a commission to draw a code of ethics for its journalists is a step in the right direction. Joseph Muscat, leader of the party, wrote that his vision for party media "... is one whereby the editorial policy is clear and transparent but at the same time open to divergent views and ready to engage in intelligent debate. The media's duty is first to inform, then to comment" (The Times, June 23).

If the time is right for a "new political season", then it will have to start from the media and how it makes news. This does not apply solely to the Labour Party.

fms18@onvol.net