Another recent first anniversary was the election of Adrian Delia as leader of the Nationalist Party. It is a moment to take stock, and political stalwarts have come on stage to give us their view on the strengths and weaknesses of the current state of the Opposition.

I respect those who have tried to prop up their new leadership. And I agree that meeting and listening to people is a good thing, and that solid structures and bridges must be built at grass-roots level. But the image of the party is still in tatters.

The PN soundbites are currently out-of-tune. Criticising foreign workers and immigrants does not sound good, even if it is undeniably true that the huge influx of people puts a massive strain on the country’s infrastructure and environment.

Besides knocking on doors, political victory also depends upon having an inspirational message, something to believe in, and this is surely missing. The lack of overall vision around which people might rally, is disheartening – even if it makes sense to aim for good timing to announce proposals.

The frequent political gaffes made by Delia’s wife are unhelpful. The inability to unite the party is disturbing. The lack of progress in the polls is demoralising.

The country needs a strong Opposition. This is not about individuals or egos. As has been said time and again, ultimately the bigger picture comes first. If core ingredients are missing, the dish cannot be cooked.

Yes, let’s move away from tribal warfare, but power must be challenged from the Opposition benches, and not cosied up to. Does this set-up have what it takes to seriously oppose a government (and perhaps even to win an election)? People ask this question every day. A learning curve and a period of time to gather momentum is reasonable, but where is the limit?

Activists and other journalists

I have been involved in ‘activism’ for years, mainly environmental but I have worked with activists in other areas too. Essentially, activism involves pushing for social change.

Last year I attended a journalism conference in Italy. The speakers were mostly engaged in tough, investigative work, often at personal risk. Some worked in mainstream media, but a significant number lived more precariously as freelance journalists. Some had taken to writing blogs, gaining more freedom in their reporting.

Good journalists are activists for the truth, for accountability and transparency

It struck me how strongly the atmosphere reminded me of activism. It is the received wisdom that journalists should be impartial and not plug a cause. But here their passion and belief in uncovering the truth, their energy and drive, working against the odds and often without adequate financial return, had the air of activism. I later attended another conference on journalism, organised by UNESCO. Again, I sensed a resonance with activist meetings and behaviour.

Columnists and bloggers write to express opinions and are not expected to be neutral. Mainstream news journalists were once more reluctant to voice personal beliefs or be involved in activism, but this has changed too. Today they constantly post on social media, openly taking stands on multiple issues.

  CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour famously said that hearing both sides and being objective does not mean drawing a false moral equivalence. When there is a clear aggressor and victim, they should not be put on the same level. Telling a story also means paying attention to the morals and ethics of the story. Peppi Azzopardi and his Xarabank team should take note.

Hence what can we make of last Sunday’s hit at ‘activist journalists’ by former newspaper editor Steve Mallia? He implied that they threaten the credibility of good journalism. Independent writer Manuel Delia felt targeted and reacted, but the argument can be stretched to columnists, bloggers, reporters and editors across the local press.

Many of our journalists support environmental activism, for instance. Several have been actively involved in politics, or even morphed into political candidates.

I am not clear where to draw the line here. Good journalism has strands of activism embedded in it. They are not the same, but they are related. Activists push for change. And the best journalism achieves results in the same way – it makes people in power take action. Good journalists are activists for the truth, for accountability and transparency. They change society, for the better.

Activism and journalism inspire and influence one another. One difference is that activism pushes for a particular outcome, more selectively, while objective mainstream journalism should bring all stories and facts to the table whatever the outcome. But the lines are blurred, and to try to cleanly divide them seems unrealistic.

Much more troubling than this tussle over activism is the poor standard of news journalism in the potent media outlets owned by political parties, who blatantly ignore and twist facts in their quest for power. Moreover, occasional articles by elected politicians in independent newspapers are fine, but allowing them to occupy the spaces of regular weekly columns is a disservice to readers. Writing to please political masters and partisan agendas is the underlying weakness of journalism in Malta, across the board.

petracdingli@gmail.com

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece