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2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 AUGUST 2021 Press 'registration': a red herring for control Editorial IT has been exactly a month since the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder presented its conclusions on 29 July; and understandably enough, the media attention has so far focused mainly on its conclusions regarding the culpability of the State. But the inquiry also raised a number of other issues: including the call for a police unit entrusted with pro- tecting journalists from intimidation; and also for a Constitutional amendment that recognises free jour- nalism as "a pillar of a democratic society", and the ob- ligation of the State to protect it. There is definitely a lot of merit in these propos- als, but as this newspaper has consistently argued for years, in order to strengthen and bolster the work of journalism in Malta, we must first be cognisant of what the real problems (and dangers) are. The threat of violence and harassment – both online and offline – is certainly among those problems; and far from the only one. As pointed out in the same report, the inquiry also lamented the lack of any protection for journalists from SLAPP lawsuits through which Maltese journal- ists end up being sued in foreign jurisdictions. Effec- tively, this amounts to form of censorship; it silences critics by burdening them with the disproportionate cost of a legal defence in a foreign jurisdiction. Yet Maltese law is toothless when it comes to defending local media from SLAPP lawsuits. And matters were not helped when government re- cently voted down an Opposition anti-SLAPP amend- ment, which proposed that the Maltese courts would have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine such proceedings "irrespective of whether the publication in question is hosted or otherwise broadcast from servers located outside Malta". Clearly, this is one recommendation that requires ur- gent prioritisation. Unfortunately, however, the board did not stop there: it also called for the self-regulation of the profession, in the same way that "accountants, architects and pharmacists" regulate themselves, that is, through professional bodies with the power of en- forcing a code of ethics and also disqualifying people from the trade, as it were. Unwittingly or otherwise, the inquiry board was in fact floating a suggestion that had already been made – and shot down – in Malta before. During a June 2020 debate on a bill amending the Broadcasting Act, La- bour MP Jean Claude Micallef had likewise suggested that "Journalists should require a warrant to practice their profession […] much like other professions – such as lawyers – were." On that occasion, however, numerous voices react- ed to the proposal with outright horror. Ġorġ Mallia, who heads the Department of Media and Communi- cations at the University of Malta, even described it as 'an attack on freedom of expression': arguing that it was "intended to pave the way for an imposition on the freedom to state one's opinion freely in a democracy." That is, naturally, debatable. But there can be no doubt that the idea of a professional warrant for jour- nalists is both impractical, and potentially dangerous. At the very minimum, it serves as a kind of red herring that can be easily manipulated by any of the powers that be: to either ignore the real issues facing the future of the press, or else – as suggested by Prof. Mallia – to further control the question of who can, and who can- not, act as a journalist in Malta. Suffice it to say that in the world of more accessible data-enabled technology, the act of communication is one of the most radical ways of revealing truth, wher- ever it maybe. Thanks to modern technology, this ca- pability is no longer in the hands of gatekeepers; and nor would it be democratic to have it in the hands of just a select few. So the act of the broadcaster or reporter – who may, in today's world, even be a social media commentator with a mobile phone in hand – cannot be controlled by a registration system, quite so easily as practising 'architects' or 'accountants'. That media workers want to be held up to high- er standards of accountability is not in doubt: but the solution to this is neither punitive measures, nor blocking the door to who gets to qualify as a journalist. The way to ensure higher standards is to create a charter of trust to which the industry subscribes to; and which must also include a rapid system of conflict resolution, to ensure that truth prevails at all instanc- es – more speedily than in long drawn-out libel cases. There is also an argument to be made for the impor- tant role that the free press plays in informing people, and helping them make democratic choices. In this sense, the State needs to acknowledge the role of the press by also supporting it financially – whether di- rectly or not. This can come in the form of tax rebates, but also by way of a sustainable financing system that allows the continued and more widespread distribu- tion of news. Ultimately, however, decision-makers need to un- derstand what the priority for Maltese media really is. There is safety at stake, certainly. But there is also the question of a sustainable future for the press to fulfil its role without excessive interference. 28 August 2011 Former minister hits out at fire-and-brimstone monsignor NATIONALIST MP Censu Galea is calling on the Church to refute statements made by a priest, Mgr Anton Gauci, who branded MPs who voted for divorce as "heretics" and "on the road to hell." In a letter published on Sunday, 21 August on the Nationalist Party's newspaper il-mu- ment, former minister Censu Galea took to task Gozitan priest Mgr Anton Gauci, over a fire-and-brimstone attack he penned those who criticised the Prime Minister for controversially voting against the divorce bill in parliament. "Whomever supports the introduction of a law that goes against divine law, whether a member of parliament or simple faithful, is on the road to hell," Mgr Gauci wrote. He also maintained that anyone oppos- ing the indissolubility of marriage had made themselves heretics and had excommunicated themselves, meaning they "placed themselves outside the church." "Why? Because the indissolubility of mar- riage is church dogma as defined by session XXIV of the Council of Trent and was defined as ex iure divino," Mgr Gauci said. "It is worth- less that these even present themselves for Communion," he said. "This is nothing short of a sacrilege." Mgr Gauci had prominently opposed Malta's accession into the EU in the run-up to the 2003 referendum, slamming the EU's leadership as "pagan" in left-leaning newspaper it-Torca over its stand on same-sex relationships, abortion, and its reluctance to recognise god in the Euro- pean constitution. Reacting to Gauci's letter last Sunday, Na- tionalist MP Censu Galea – who voted in fa- vour of the divorce bill in parliament – drew at- tention to the Curia's silence in the face of Mgr Gauci's fiery warning. "What is the Church's position on this letter?" he asked. "If they agree with it, they should be clear about it. If not, they should condemn it without reservation," he said, adding that the Church is duty-bound to clarify its position on the matter. ... Quote of the Week "We don't want this area to become just a ga- rage, where the yacht owners park their vessels and go and enjoy themselves somewhere else. We do not deserve this." Resident Marianne Theuma, on the pro- posed Marsaskala yacht marina plans MaltaToday 10 years ago