A discussion meeting on the media reform by the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) to be held on Thursday evening is “actually pointless now”, TheShift editor Caroline Muscat told Bonġu.
The IĠM forms part of a government-appointed ‘Committee of Media Experts’ that consulted behind closed doors due to a “gentlemen’s agreement” with the government.
Draft legal amendments, already tabled in Parliament, were presented by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard who said there would be no further public consultation.
Muscat said the IĠM signed off its power “when it decided to support the government’s insistence on non-disclosure”.
“As journalists we work in the public interest, we work for the public, and not for the government.”
“I think at this point the IĠM meeting is not going to lead to much”, Muscat said after hosting a debate on freedom of information on Wednesday evening.
Media Committee still working?
On Thursday, a link to a questionnaire by the ‘Committee of Media Experts’ was sent to selected journalists and newsrooms through the government’s Department of Information.
The committee said the anonymous answers would “greatly help” its members in their “deliberations and conclusions”.
