Empowering the media
World Press Freedom Day was marked this week, and the importance of having a strong independent media sector has never been more evident than it has been in recent years.
The role of a journalist is to seek the truth and report it, to keep those in power in check, to be the fourth estate that keeps watch over the other pillars of democracy. It is by no means an easy job. It is often filled with constant battles to get information, many phone calls to be made and events to cover. It can at times be combative and when starting out, it is not easy facing down someone in power and challenging them with the tough questions. Because of the nature of the job, journalists make enemies of those in powerful positions who do wrong.
But journalists are not judge and jury, and their reports should always have a strong follow-up response by the authorities to ensure that potential wrongdoing that is reported would see action being taken.
Journalists have also been subject to threats over the years, and one journalist within our own shores, Daphne Caruana Galizia, paid the ultimate price.
On 16 October 2017 she was assassinated. Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was also a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister was killed by a car bomb while driving down the road from her home. The country failed her. Some people thought they could get away with such an atrocity, and that was a clear sign that things were seriously wrong in this country. We must never allow that to happen again.
Journalists must never be vilified. A state of impunity must never be allowed to reign. Journalists must be given respect by the institutions, and the protection and necessary tools to conduct their work in peace and with ease. A strong journalism sector guarantees that the institutions are kept in check.
Last year, the government had tabled a few bills with regards to the media sector. It is good that the government has undertaken an exercise to try and better protect journalists and enshrine the role of journalism in the constitution… but many of the clauses in the bills are either simply not good or are not good enough. If they are not seriously improved, then this would be nothing more than a box ticking exercise.
One of those bills deals with SLAPP lawsuits, which in themselves are attempts to silence journalists. What was proposed by the government is convoluted and doesn’t provide much protection. In fact, Media lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia, when speaking with The Malta Independent, was asked what was wrong with the anti-SLAPP law presented in the bill, to which she said: “Everything. There is nothing in the current legislative draft that can protect our journalists from SLAPP. Absolutely nothing.”
One hopes the committee of experts will now put strong recommendations forward and that the government’s final version will provide a strong defence against SLAPP cases. The purpose of SLAPPs, which is short for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, is not to seek justice but to intimidate, silence and drain the financial and physical resources of the targeted victims. An example would include threatening a Maltese newsroom with a court case in the USA, for instance, where it would cost an exorbitant amount of money to merely hire a lawyer. These kinds of lawsuits can have a chilling effect not just on the journalist being threatened with such a lawsuit, but also for other journalists in the country, and that is dangerous for democracy. The new bills should include, among the many improvements that need to be made to them, deterrents to filing SLAPP cases and the effective non-recognition of SLAPP judgements.
There are other parts of Maltese law that also need improving which are not covered by the aforementioned bills, such as the Freedom of Information Act. The length of time it takes to go through a Freedom of Information process is far too long. Added on to that are the refusals to provide information which is in the public interest. In order to be transparent, the government needs to be more open when providing information.
Journalism is the fourth pillar of democracy, a watchdog over the public institutions. If journalists aren’t protected, if information which should be public isn’t granted or is extremely difficult to get, if the environment created does not see independent journalism thrive, then that will lead to a far weaker democracy.