Yesterday, Saviour Balzan’s pro-Labour rag, Illum, published a very bizarre editorial and caricature which I could not make heads and tails of. It started with an attack on Ivan Camilleri, a previous Times of Malta journalist who was accused of tipping off Yorgen Fenech before his arrest. I don’t know what’s the point of bringing it up again. He’s probably unemployable at this stage, depending on the goodwill and charity of others, and I don’t see the point of beating down your enemy when he lost the war and is down under. Let’s move on.
The editorial and the caricature supposedly imply that the European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola told the press that the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) would not include provisions to spy on journalists, and later on went back on her word to accept such provisions in the directive. The reality is that exactly the opposite happened.
Malta was one of the countries that was proposing to include provisions that allowed spying on journalists for national security reasons. The Maltese government already spies on journalists indiscriminately and without the authorisation of the judiciary through its politically motivated Security services. The proposal was dropped during negotiations with the Council and the European Parliament that were also supported by the Commission. Maybe, Illum, had it not been a government-funded Labour Party prop, it would have covered the story of why the Maltese government wants European approval to continue spying on journalists.
The EMFA has provisions that may strengthen independent media by obliging governments not to influence the public broadcaster and distribute funds to the press without conditions. The editorial ends by admitting that if the press doesn’t receive government funds, it will have to close shop, but also adds that “the press is better than bloggers”. So, supposedly Saviour Balzan deserves a grant because he prints a newspaper that no one buys while those who operate online are described as “bloggers”. Maybe, press like Saviour Balzan’s would close down without government help and it may be a good thing for a free market that rewards excellence instead of having a press industry dominated by government funds. Saviour Balzan thinks that he is the only journalist in Malta and that he can advise the government on who deserves government funds or not. My sensible counterproposal to his bullshit would be that it would be better for a free press, if government grants to the press don’t happen at all.
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