Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1432934
Saviour Balzan 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 NOVEMBER 2021 OPINION A reform that needs all stakeholders on board THAT Malta needs closure and justice on the Caruana Galizia assassination, is perhaps a moot point. This country cannot move on without addressing the complex issues related to this national tragedy. One of them concerns the press itself, because the public inquiry's conclusions have led the government to consider set- ting up a media reform commis- sion. In my sworn declaration to the public inquiry, I made it a point to focus on the real malaise fac- ing the Maltese media, trying my best to explain that the qual- ity press had to employ the best people on the market to deliver trusted news. These people cost money. And in a small market like Malta's, government adver- tising budgets are crucial for the existence of the independent press. I spoke as both a veteran jour- nalist but also as the owner of a media company. I told the in- quiry's judges that the existence of the Maltese press was threat- ened not because of the threat of 'impunity' or SLAPPs – real though they are. The bolts and nuts of the Mal- tese press are the economies they deal with. And the press is facing a threat of extinction be- cause of a lack of revenues, and how new technologies shifted people's attention away from the physical consumption of printed and online media; and into the hands of social media 'publishing' gatekeepers, thanks in part to the convenience of the smartphone. That technological shift – both in terms of hardware itself and the digital world we operate in – had also changed the newsroom and the stories it reports on. I am aware that the govern- ment wishes to set up a media commission to address the wid- er issues concerning the press in Malta, but the terms of ref- erence and its composition are being 'questioned'. My under- standing is that the Caruana Galizia family wishes to have its say on green-lighting the com- position of the commission. And this I find unacceptable, because the future of journal- ism and media houses is some- thing Maltese journalists them- selves and media houses should map out. We cannot simply think of journalists as solitary protag- onists; or think of online news as counter-cultural responses to the mainstream media. Most media organisations have had to survive at all costs, feeding jour- nalists and their families in re- turn for their service to provide quality news, finance design and technological teams, and pay printing costs and audiovisual expenses. They have had also to fight hundreds of defamation cases, in the absolute majority of cas- es the cases have been initiated by politicians from both sides of the political divide. This very mundane of realities may seem far from the horrific circumstances that ultimately killed Caruana Galizia; but real- ities they are. The dynamics of every newspaper is to have the best people they can employ to produce the job that needs to be done; those jobs must be paid from revenues that must come from somewhere. Media companies depend on various sources of revenue for their sur- vival. And without government advertising budgets, that mon- ey would come from political sources and, of course, private business. Titles like the Times are of course reliant on advertising, but it has also had the family silver (property) to sell off and pay for losses and debts; Media- today and Standard Publications are strongly driven by a business model to make ends meet year after year; they are unlike the Catholic Church's media, the political press or Union Print, which finance expensive news- rooms through a mixture of old money, donations and institu- tional revenue. It is clear that we need a strong press that can manage a quick transition to the digital reality while maintaining a solid base for future sustainability. To talk only about matters of freedom of the press or SLAPP without due consideration for the struc- tural foundations of a press that can provide a living for media workers, sounds futile. * * * I was amused at reading a copy of an appeal against the port au- thorities in western Sicily dated 5 October 2021, lodged by Virtu Ferries with regards to the oper- ation of competitors Ponte Fer- ries, against a permit granted to allow Ponte to occupy a Ro-Ro jetty in the port of Augusta. Virtu is spearheaded by Fran- cis Portelli, who is presently still facing criminal charges in the infamous oil scandal of 2013. In their appeal, Virtu remind- ed the Sicilian court that they had – in an email dated 2 Au- gust, 2021 – requested the Au- gusta port authorities for Ponte Ferries to be refused a request to berth. And that sounds strange considering that on 5 August 2020, Virtu issued a public statement saying: "Pon- te Ferries have once again had to delay their ferry service, no doubt causing their clients much angst. This time they are seeking to conceal from their responsibility by seeking to shift the blame on Virtu Fer- ries, alleging that we have made a last-minute legal challenge. Virtu Ferries made no such, or indeed any other, challenge." In this saga of ferry compe- tition, Virtu have resorted to vexatious court action as is their right, yet betraying their heart- burn when it comes to the free market, competition and better pricing for travelling to Sicily by sea. So much for the entrepreneur- ial spirit. Now what's wrong with having a choice?