READING Anton Cassar’s column in l-orizzont “il-50 sena ta’ It-Torca u jien” (3/11/09) made me feel sad and angry. The present administration of the Union Print Limited somehow ignored Anton during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the GWU Sunday paper ‘it-Torca’, together with other veteran journalists and members of the ex-management. Anton was not even invited to write dedicated memoirs, recording those hard and uphill struggles of half a century ago. With courage and determination and personal sacrifice, he led a small, young and inexperienced team to create journalistic history, both on a national scale and within the GWU.
Anton had a good job with Miss Mabel Strickland. Well-liked and a respected journalist at the Allied Malta Newspapers, he was an important link with the late Anthony Montanaro on the popular daily il-Berqa in the early fifties. Somehow, he was lured by his love of the Labour Party and by his mentor, Joe Attard Kingswell, to join Union Press, soon after new rotary printing presses were installed at the basement of the new Workers’ Memorial Building.
Attard Kingswell was an intelligent trade unionist with vision and guts. He was looking at a new dawn of union journalism. He was a strong believer in the media and moved his plans to launch his media dreams despite many critics inside the GWU. Joe Attard Kingswell knew the GWU lacked the impact of the media amongst its members and the public in general.
In the late fifties the GWU had a bilingual paper for members. It had more paper than news. Through sheer work and dedication, Anton took the helm of the new it-‘Torca’. It was transformed into a real newspaper, becoming a Sunday favourite as visualised by its new architect. Operating from a modest office and one telephone line, he worked long hours, writing and sub-editing the latest news. He compiled his editorial in the last moment before going to press, thus frustrating the linotype operators and the printers who were under constant pressure to keep the dateline. At that time he had only one full-time journalist, the late Alfred Zarb, and one photographer.
When a terrible tragedy struck the Cassar family, Anton struggled to cope with the loss of his young daughter. He found solace and grieved in silence as he gathered strength through his challenging work.
Attard Kingswell was still chasing his dream of a daily newspaper beyond the horizon. In October of 1962, ignoring opposition even from the Labour Party and other union officials, he launched ‘l-orizzont’. Together with Anton, he persuaded an experienced journalist, Paul Carachi, to take over the running of the newsroom and employed six young, inexperienced lads. The natural choice for the editor of the new newspaper was already at hand.
Anton Cassar toiled with the same dedication and initiative to raise the new newspaper to a national recognition despite the turmoil of the political religious struggle between the Church and the Labour Party of the sixties. Within months, l-orizzont attracted thousands of readers from all political shades. For months ahead, he worked seven days a week within the limitation of staff shortage. It took more new staff to join the union press before Anton could be relieved from the editorship of It-Torca.
Years have rolled on from those pioneering events of the sixties and the seventies. It was a time when a mere few gave so much to GWU journalism, when others thought it to be the impossible dream.
When the present Union Press administration forget people like Anton, the master builder of the GWU press, they reveal that something is terribly wrong down there.
Of course, some people always try to create the impression that the press and its newspapers were born when they appeared on the scene. Anton is a hero of the workers’ movement and thus respected by all those that worked so close with. He led by example.
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