Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1199625
25 20 YEARS OF MALTATODAY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2020 Jesmond Saliba MALTA today, is different to what Malta was on the day this newspaper was launched. The media scenario was different. The function of the 'com- munications' officer was different. The proverbial advertising cake was different. The people's perception of a newspaper was different. Like MaltaToday, I can say I witnessed all changes men- tioned, and I also had to adapt to the various changes.... but I also applied my knowledge and what I had learnt at the university and as a practitioner along the years. Despite being 'on the other side' of the communications equation, my roots are and will always somehow be linked within the journalistic side... As such, in my professional career, I always valued the media as a stakeholder, an important stakeholder, which needs to be respected for its role, where the 'commercial' side is seen for its value, but more importantly where the value of its role is seen, respected and supported. As you can imagine, it was a rather hectic period, and I had tried several attempts to prepare today's presentation. But with every hour that passed, you're more tempted to follow what was going on than actually do the real stuff. And where one would look for information? Social media? No... At a certain point in time, people look at the media because despite various attempts to discredit the media, the media is still seen as the source. And why? Because the 'media' is still seen as credible. The impact of the credibility of the media as a source of informa- tion is often highlighted when the things that are revealed put an organization or an individual in bad light. And once that is happening, the media is criticised and the credibility is at- tacked. What changed when MaltaToday entered the spectrum.... In my various jobs, MaltaToday was always a newspaper to be 'feared', respected... that is... your first read on Sunday, so that before I send the reports of what's on the news, there's some 'revelation' worth reporting, and then see how my Sun- day plans have to change to deal with the issue. Eventually, it was a read on Sunday, to get a different angle. This perception, in my view, remains valid till today. The newspaper evolved into one which, apart from providing dif- ferent angles to stories, and different stories, it also provided weekly analysis of issues. I'm referring to the analytical skills of James, who I look for because in many ways, they represent a high level of analysis, a deep thinking process and also a layman's approach, where in a thought-out way presents the items on the national agenda, and truly dissects and presents a story from multiple perspectives. There's also a level of investigative journalism in the realm of the corporate and financial world, which as we're witnessing also requires scrutiny and analysis, as at times we often tend to focus and build stories around politics and politicians.... and more often than not it requires the same level of scrutiny.... Then there's politics, and perhaps given the importance that politics is given in this country, this is where the medium has probably struck most chords. In a tribal country like ours, the chords struck would never get applause from all of the house. There are various reasons for this. The reality, as Matthew Vella puts it in the commemorative book, is that the journalist is the sole mediator between power and the reading public. He goes on to say that being "a critical voice and the power of the question, seemed a radical proposi- tion", and it's perhaps because of its radicalism that it often ended being criticised. Criticism which emanates from the importance of, while understanding that every medium has an agenda, just as much as every journalist has one, that agenda needs to be communicated and understood, to reflect the transparency which journalists seek in those in public life. It is also an established fact that today, the market is posing several challenges for funding. I believe that although media houses are run commercially – and in many situations the media distinguishes commercial interests from journalistic re- sponsibilities and ethics – private enterprises can't look at the media simply as a carrier for commercial messages; the private sector should look at the media as a guarantor of all things that are right, of things that should be right. The media should be treated as an institution and as the fourth estate, but it needs to find the relevant funding, to be able to retain its role, where it carries its obligations in a sus- tainable way, without fear or favour. This does not mean that MaltaToday is always right or that it never made mistakes. No one is infallible – not even those who continually criticise MaltaToday because they have to fit it in their pre- conceived ideas. The problem is that whatever MaltaToday says must perforce be seen as pushing – or denigrating – some political side. Perhaps it is impossible for some people to realise that a MaltaToday can steer between these sides simply by following its beliefs and principles. I do not always agree with MaltaToday on everything it says. I am sure the owners themselves sometimes argue about their own stories... Nor do I think that the journalists working at Mal- taToday are just yes-men of Saviour Balzan who is a yes-man of someone else. I know, from experience, that the journalists at MaltaToday have much more freedom to express themselves than others in some publication houses. I know how news- rooms work and I know that MaltaToday's journalists are not at the beck and call of some political party. The effort to be independent that Saviour Balzan continually strives to be has infected the newsroom at MaltaToday. It is not made up of a bunch of puppets serving their master. But people keep on hold- ing on to their preconceived ideas. Even the fact that I write a regular weekly opinion piece in the Sunday issue of Mal- taToday leads some people to conclude that my beliefs – political or otherwise – clearly coincide with those of that unscrupulous black- guard who goes by the name of Saviour Balzan, unless they conclude that they coincide with that media superman who goes by the name of Sav- iour Balzan. This is complete nonsense. Even in such assessments, the difference is between two extremes. As always, the truth is somewhere in between. Objectivity is a scarce com- modity on this island of ours and 20 years of MaltaToday have not impinged much on the sorry state of our childish political divide. Some do not even believe that I write what I like and what I want without any prompting or interference inspired by the newspaper's owners. Most newspapers all over the world kowtow to the views of their owners. In Malta we have newspapers kowtowing to the PN or to the GWU/PL tandem. The interest of their owners comes before the interest of their readers. This is not a unique Maltese situation. Just look at the situation in the UK where most newspapers belong to millionaires and push an agenda that is in the interest of their owners. Brexit has put this sorry state of the British media to the fore as never before. From this point of view, MaltaToday is in a unique and rare situation and this should be appreciated more. To stay independent and survive is a challenge for newspapers all over the world – more so in Malta where circulation figures are limited by the limitations of our population. It is not a rosy prospect. It becomes even worse, when one considers the competition that printed newspapers are facing from news sites and other blogs on the internet Attempting to be independ- ent from the influence of ad- vertisers whose money is vital for the newspaper to survive is one of the big challenges that MaltaToday continually faces. As Roger Degiorgio puts it in his introductory con- tribution to the book being launched today: "In such a harsh business environment, the litmus test for MaltaToday's credibility remains how to secure jour- nalistic integrity and finan- cial independence." This is MaltaToday's every- day challenge. And challenges suddenly spring up taking everybody unawares. How MaltaToday responded to the challenge of what was happening in Malta in the last week or so, contin- ues to show that at MaltaTo- day, journalistic integrity is not taken lightly. And so it should be, of course. Securing journalistic integ- rity has been MaltaToday's challenge for 20 years and it has managed to survive with honours. Not unscathed of course – because it also made mistakes that are even acknowledged by both Roger and Saviour. But the fight must go on. MaltaToday – warts and all – is a very valid contribution to the freedom of the press in our country: that freedom without which our imperfect democracy will be dented much more than it actually is. The problem with MaltaToday is that it cannot be put in a box, as we Maltese keep on doing whenever we see or experience anyone or anything. MaltaToday does not fit in the pro- labour 'Viva Joseph' box... nor does it fit in any of the anti-Labour boxes that seem to be continually fighting against each other In November 2019, MaltaToday invited three friends of the newspaper to pen their analysis of our last 20 years breaking stories and carving a new niche in the world of Maltese media