No doubt the prosecuting in-spector who suggested that the court should order a witness, Saviour Balzan, of Malta Today newspaper, to reveal his source(s) was acting zealously, going all out for a conviction.

Nevertheless, he was wrong. I have no doubt that the court will reject his request.

There are instances when a court may order journalists to reveal their source(s). They essentially relate to the national interest.

The case in question, bribery in high places, is doubtless of great interest at a national level, but not at the rare national interest level as we understand it.

It indicates a collapse of propriety in the public sector, which should be taken for granted, but can never be any more.

Mr Balzan and his newspaper offered a fine example of investigative journalism. The result, perhaps not yet complete as there might be more revelations, reverberated like little else has done before.

It has led to several court cases dealing with alleged bribery as well as to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee embarking on a marathon examination of some of the allegations.

The story continues... it will have to do so on the basis of what has been revealed so far and what is said by the accused, should they testify, and the witnesses in the various cases.

The original source of the exposé should – and surely will – remain with Mr Balzan, unless it is identified as the bribery hearings continue.

Investigative journalism is not new in Malta, yet in the past it tended to be more a question of unsubstantiated allegations flung out from the political arena or close to it.

In recent years, this type of journalism has evolved into a very potent offensive.

Newspapers, not least Times of Malta’s stable, are on a constant lookout for shortcomings and, once they smell a rat, leave no stone unturned to try to uncover any wrongdoing.

Journalists chase their story by gathering as many facts as possible, giving the chance to those allegedly implicated in the matter under investigation the opportunity to have their say and be reported accordingly. This style and approach includes questions put to public authorities.

Society expects those who observe or are forced to be part of wrongdoing to be more forthcoming with information

Not infrequently such questions are not answered by printing time, if at all. That is bad and there should be no let-up by the media to make public authorities give proper account of themselves.

Ministries and public sector bodies have developed their resources to include chiefs of staff, private secretaries, public relations or media officers and what not.

All these resources for use by public authorities are paid for out of taxpayers’ money. They should be there to serve the public, not just their political or organisational masters.

In fact, politicians in office should blush when they read that their ministry or other parts of their portfolio have not replied to questions by journalists.

But, it seems, politicians rarely blush these days.

Not so long ago former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had developed an untypical habit of turning his back on journalists waiting to put questions to him on the then prevailing party and government issues.

That was bad and not answering remains bad. Such silence is far from golden.

While journalists are doing their competitive utmost to ferret out stories that but for their perseverance would remain hidden, it is not at all usual for information to be passed on to them like it was initially given to Malta Today in the bribery cases.

To an extent, that is good – journalists have to watch out for individuals with an axe to grind.

Yet in a new era that now sees whistleblowers protected, society expects those who observe or are forced to be part of wrongdoing to be more forthcoming with information.

They can submit that to the authorities. Possibly such information will be more quickly and thoroughly analysed by the media, if given to them.

The written media are being undermined by social media, affecting both circulation and advertising.

That notwithstanding, written media, though not to the exclusion of sound media, remain essential guardians acting on behalf of society.

Social media can never truly take their place in that regard, though they are also used to spread some genuine exposés plus a lot of idle gossip.