Anniversary of Daphne's death: hope and resignation
The European Parliament has launched a journalism prize named after Daphne Caruana Galizia to mark the third anniversary of her murder. The prize will honour outstanding journalists whose work reflects the values and principles of the EU. Commentators discuss whether anything has changed for the better in the three years since the investigative journalist was killed.
So much for crooks being invincible
All that has happened since the journalist's murder is cause for hope, Népszava believes:
“The turning point came out of nowhere. In November it was revealed that the millionaire casino king who did business with the state and was friends with politicians commissioned the killing. After that, the beneficiaries of a corrupt system fell like dominoes. ... Former prime minister Joseph Muscat recently had to give up his seat in parliament, and he'll be lucky if that's all he loses. Who would have thought that a year ago? A few die-hard optimists - at best. But now eleven suspicious cases are being investigated, ranging from power plant construction to hospital privatisation and passport fraud. Some crooks thought they were invincible - but nothing lasts forever.”
Free press needs protection
Unfortunately journalists in Malta continue to face all kinds of threats, the Times of Malta comments:
“Among them is the government's habitual lack of transparency even in the face of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, and the control and influence of large swathes of the media by political actors, to list a few. All this is happening amid a narrowing pipeline of funding for independent and investigative journalism. ... Independent media needs to get all the help possible to carry out its essential role as a watchdog to the institutions.”