Migration in Maltese local newspapers – press clippings part one

Migration in Maltese local newspapers – press clippings

This was not meant to be a blog post at first. Rather, it was an idea to have some local press articles about migration ready when we were to send a copy of local photography book on the issue to be reviewed abroad. In the beginning, we thought to have one week covered but interesting stories kept appearing and we kept on cutting them out. March went by and April arrived and we continued to gather all local stories on the subject. Then last week – everything changed. Two boat drowning in just five days and over 1000 people dead, only a handful bodied recovered to be buried on the island. We have spoken to several foreigner journalists covering the story and the first question they have asked us: what is happening in Malta. How is the migration phenomenon being reported on a local level. We came back to our archive now consisting of two months worth of local press articles and decided to scan everything and put it online. Whoever needs to view the articles can simply click on the scan and see the article.

We have made some notes on the sides of some articles, to explain a term used or to highlight some other issues or to inform who the person writing the article is. Each scan is described by the same key: Name_month_day_year_page, to make it easier.

Now, most of our archive is Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta as this is the biggest (circulation wise) English newspaper on Maltese market and they have put in a lot of emphasis on the story in all its aspects. The other newspaper that we use as a second source in The Malta Independent, mostly to have stories that may not be reported in TOM. There is a third English speaking newspaper on the island – Malta Today but since it is a tabloid and their coverage may be sensational, we have so far not included it in the archive – we may in the future if a story that they report will be of value.

Please note one thing. This was not done to republish local articles for profit
or anything of that sort. This is solely for informational purposes, mostly hoping that foreigner journalists who may need to see the stories for their reports, will be able to realize how dedicated Maltese media are to migration issue and how complicated and multi-layered it is for such a small island.

Malicia had written in the past her thesis on how media report a story (her thesis was about Northern Ireland peace process reported by Polish newspapers) and she hopes that perhaps somebody will use this blog for similar purpose. She also hopes she is not breaking any laws but if somebody objects, please let her know and she will put this blog offline.

We will be also using this blog to promote the local photography book and to convince people far and wide to come to Malta and tell the world what is happening around the Mediterranean. We can`t have hundreds of people drowning and nobody to care.

So educational and informational purposes only – in case somebody is asking.

If you are a journalist covering a story regarding Malta and need any assistance to get in touch with local media representatives, freelance photographers, MOAS, Refugee Commissioner, etc, please get in touch via lil_lilac_tree@yahoo.com and we will try to help you as much as we can.

February 2015:

Times of Malta February 22, 2015, page 7

Times of Malta February 22, 2015, page 8