Jon Mallia Lambasts State’s €500,000 Injection To Aid Print Journalism In The Face Of ‘Piles Of Unanswered FOIs’
Malta’s leading podcast host Jon Mallia questioned the state’s motives behind a €500,000 injection to support newspaper publishers.
“They think we are imbeciles,” Mallia wrote on Facebook, addressing especially how the government was doing so purely to ‘support independent journalism’.
Mallia questioned the government’s ‘love’ for print journalism, which is often seen as unsustainable when compared to its digital counterpart.
“Perhaps this affection they have towards printed journalism was never picked up because it was hidden (by accident) under a pile of FOIs (freedom of information applications).”
“What if, perhaps, you can give us half of the sum in cash, and the other half in the form of answered FOIs?”
Later speaking to Lovin Malta, Mallia first pointed out that “if the government truly cared about free press, then they would have no problem in answering the FOIs.”
“Plus I’m not too big on the government intervening in the market,” he added.
“Regardless, we cannot ignore that printed press is on its way out. The government’s solution is like giving a dying patient narcotics, even though the real end is inevitable.”
Lovin Malta’s CEO, David Grech, also expressed serious reservations about the effectiveness of the suggested state aid and how the agreement was reached.
The government had said that newspapers are “an integral part of contemporary media having a key role as a strong instrument of democracy.” However, one could also argue that it’s high time we consider a total, inevitable shift to digital news platforms.
Presently, only 8% of the Maltese read newspapers, whereas 72% of the population consume news from digital platforms.
“So when the Prime Minister shied away from independent platforms during the electoral campaign, he was practically a mascot of free speech,” he said.
The price of paper has increased as a result of a number of factors, including ongoing shipping issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine.
This financial injection could set a dangerous precedent for the government. With all industries feeling the financial pinch of the war, could they be expecting to receive similar aid in the weeks to come?
However, till now, no similar fund was announced for digital media or other modern variants in journalism.
It remains to be seen whether an injection of funds into the industry will solve the core issues that come from print journalism in the world of the digital.
Do you agree that the government should support newspaper publishers?