Migrant rescues, candlelight vigils for assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, protests over the controversial Bill introducing embryo freezing and the murder of entrepreneur Hugo Chetcuti are among the news that made the top headlines in 2018.

The cover features a re-enactor eating a traditional pea cake during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of Valletta 2018. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Another important happening which marked the year was definitely Valletta 2018 ‒ European Capital of Culture, which saw a wide range of cultural activities taking place not only in the capital city but across the Maltese islands.

Salient moments of these events and many more are captured in the 13th edition of The Times Picture Annual. 

Beyond the bold column inches, news also comes in the form of normal, week-day moments – a hungry re-enactor eating a pastizz, art strutting and fretting its hour upon the stage, a young girl walking her dog in carnival costume and nature in all its massive, miniscule, colourful and whimsical glory. 

The 192-page publication features some of the best shots taken by photojournalists Jonathan Borg, Matthew Mirabelli, Chris Sant Fournier and Mark Zammit Cordina for the Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta. 

The foreword by Times of Malta editor Ray Bugeja focuses on laws governing the media and press freedom. He goes through history, starting from the beginning of the 19th century − when a movement for political freedom between 1832 and 1836 highlighted both the absence of a popular assembly and the lack of a free press – to the enactment of the Media and Defamation Act in May 2018, which replaced the Press Act of the 1970s and included electronic media.

Two children hold up a message at a vigil in Valletta on October 16, 2018, a year since Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Mr Bugeja notes that laws require updating and amending when the need arises.

“Innovative ways of disseminating speeches, writings, thoughts and images are constantly evolving and who knows what the media landscape would like in, say, five years’ time. That is enough good reason why the word of the law cannot just remain a script in print or on a website,” he writes.

Published by Allied Publications, The Times Picture Annual will soon be available for €27.30 from leading bookshops and stationers.

Nuns holding up placards outside the Prime Minister’s office in Valletta during a protest against a Bill introducing embryo freezing, on April 22, 2018. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

A man photographs the ill-fated tanker Hephaestus, which shipwrecked in Qawra after breaking its moorings on February 10, 2018. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

A national flag is flown from the bastions above Boiler Wharf in Senglea shortly after the rescue vessel MV Lifeline reached Malta carrying 237 migrants on June 27, 2018. Photo: Jonathan Borg

A proud peacock displays its patterned plumage during the annual bird show at San Anton Gardens in Attard on May 13, 2018. Photo: Jonathan Borg

A memorial outside a restaurant in Paceville where Hugo Chetcuti was stabbed on July 6, 2018. He died in hospital six days later. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli