Maybe, the answer is in the question.
So, lately, Lovin Malta published a hit job against me for taking 3000 in funds in 2023 for a book export project, and for preparing to apply for more funding again next year. All is fair, free speech, and all that. It’s their right to write whatever they want including scrutinising my work and what I do and even shame me etc, but it is also my right to hold Lovin Malta to the standards they are trying to project by publishing such an article. Above all, it is strange that among the many things I do publish and say that are headline noteworthy like my latest investigation on Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, Lovin Malta is more interested in a 3,000 grant I received from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for a book export. Once again, it is their right.
Lovin Malta got to know about this because I was bantering on Twitter. I didn’t make money this year, because my exuberance last year led me to work on three consecutive book projects that were not profitable, so admittedly I am a little short on cash at the end of the year, hence my bantering on Twitter. In the Lovin Malta article, I was also quoted without my permission as I explained the situation to a fellow journalist. I find it strange that a journalist would investigate another journalist, but that is his right. It’s also my right to question his priorities and intentions.
In any case, Lovin Malta has no business whatsoever to investigate an independent journalist on how he funds his work when Lovin Malta itself is a major recipient of government funding and serves as a direct PR agent to the government while often obfuscating its “journalism” with the PR that it has been paid to publish. Even more bizarre is Lovin Malta’s behavior, singling me out as a recipient of government funds when the entire Maltese press industry depends on government funding. I am completely excluded from this financing network because, unlike Lovin Malta, I don’t engage in government propaganda.
It’s quite easy for millionaires like Saviour Balzan and well-resourced media houses to hit out on me and my alleged sources when I am operating without the access to public resources that Balzan and LovinMalta have. The difference between MaltaToday and LovinMalta and my operations and what I am trying to build is that I am not trying to get money from the government in exchange for PR, fraud, and propaganda. I am trying to build an investigative journalism website. I have never received one single advert from the government despite the Maltese press industry mostly depending on the said adverts. Lovin Malta should get off its high horse about this. There is plenty of evidence that indicates how unprincipled Lovin Malta can be in its propaganda and this is how they fund their newsroom. Konrad Mizzi was even making use of MaltaToday and Lovin Malta two months before Yorgen Fenech was arrested. I don’t think that Lovin Malta has the moral ground to hit out at me for taking public funds on book exports that incur a significant loss on my operations.
To conclude, Lovin Malta may continue to investigate and the issue hit pieces on me instead of paying attention to the serious work being published on this website. It is their right. As a full-time practitioner in the Maltese press industry without a salary, it is also my right to include Lovin Malta in my requests to the Auditor General to investigate how and why they are receiving government funds and to what amount and extent, while I am barred from receiving my equivalent portion of public funds for my journalistic and press activity.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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