Charlot Zahra
Malta this year dropped to 37th place in the world Free Press rankings, down from 22nd place in 2008 – the third consecutive downgrade by the influential US non-governmental organisation Freedom House, which has expressed concern regarding Malta’s press laws, self censorship as well as political ownership of broadcast stations.
In the 2009 Freedom of the Press report (which covers events during 2008), Malta’s rating was lowered by two points, from 20 to 22, which dropped its world ranking from 32 to 38.
Speaking exclusively to MaltaToday, Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Senior Researcher and Managing Editor, Freedom of the Press Index, explained how “the overall rating downgrade reflects concerns in two areas – self-censorship and freedom of information (FOI) laws.
“On self-censorship, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in 2008 condemned a Maltese news web portal Di-ve.com, for its decision to ban political coverage and commentary in the critical period directly before the general election,” Karlekar told MaltaToday.
On Freedom of Information Laws, the Managing Editor of the Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press report highlighted “the continuing inability of Parliament to pass a Freedom of Information Bill makes Malta one of only a few countries in Europe without such a law.”
Although a Freedom of Information Act was passed by the House of Representatives last year, will only be brought fully into force by 2010, a spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister has told MaltaToday last Sunday.
Part of the law is expected to be put into force by a legal notice that is to be issued shortly. But further legal notices will be issued to bring the remaining provisions of the Act in force in due course.
“It is envisaged that all the provisions of the Act will be in force during the course of 2010,” the OPM spokesperson had told MaltaToday.
Asked about which were those areas in Malta’s press freedoms that were of most concern to Freedom House, Kareklar told MaltaToday: “First of all, it is important to stress that Malta’s rating and ranking in our 2009 report puts it solidly in the middle of the free category – in line with France and better than Greece, Spain, and Italy.”
However, she warned that the lack of a freedom of information law “puts Malta out of line with freedom of information legislation throughout most of the EU, and this remains a concern”.
Media self-censorship, Kareklar warned, was “a major problem in many countries around the world, and systemic self-censorship is always of concern.
“Over the last few years we have not observed self-censorship to be a problem in Malta, and it is certainly our hope that last year’s incident regarding www.di-ve.com was an isolated occurrence,” the Freedom House senior researched told MaltaToday.
What should the Maltese authorities do to improve press freedoms in Malta? Do you have any concrete suggestions about the matter?
Once again, passage of a Freedom of Information Law is important.
Asked to comment about the reasons behind the constant deterioration of Malta’s press freedom ranking, over the past few years, the senior Freedom House researched told MaltaToday: “You are correct that Malta’s ratings have slipped over the last few years. Several factors have contributed to this decline.
“In looking over notes from previous years, another area that has been of concern is the perceived political bias of Maltese private media, especially involving broadcast outlets owned by political parties,” Kareklar warned.
“Also, a number of cases of extra-legal intimidation and physical violence against journalists raised red flags in 2007” after a number of journalists and photographers were assaulted and beaten on 7 March 2007 following an FKNK demonstration in Valletta, the editor of Freedom of the Press 2009 report told MaltaToday.
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