Matthew Vella to step down as editor of MaltaToday, new appointments at Mediatoday
Matthew Vella steps down after 10 years as executive editor, and is replaced by Kurt Sansone with Karl Azzopardi as editor online
Matthew Vella (centre) with Karl Azzopardi, editor MaltaToday.com.mt, and Kurt Sansone, executive editor MaltaToday
MediaToday, publishers of MaltaToday, has appointed Kurt Sansone as Executive Editor of MaltaToday and Karl Azzopardi as Online Editor together with Nicole Meilak as deputy online editor.
Matthew Vella who served as executive editor from 2013, and as editor on various Mediatoday publications from 2006 onwards, announced he will be stepping down from the role to have more time for his family.
He will remain a journalist for MediaToday and also anchor the TV production Mill-Kamra.
MediaToday managing director Saviour Balzan said: “I have to thank Matthew for his unique contribution to MaltaToday. For the last 20 years, his hard work, long hours, work ethic, investigative skills and drive have contributed to making MaltaToday what it is today. There are simply too many agenda-setting news stories to mention, marked by Matthew’s irreverence towards the establishment and his intolerance to injustice. His editorial line on migration, land use, divorce, abortion, corruption, liberal values and gender equality helped mould MaltaToday into what it represents today.
“He also oversaw the transition from print to digital and trained some of our best journalists. Thankfully he will still be contributing to MaltaToday, but I wish him well and I will miss our fiery but fruitful owner-to-editor discussions.”
“On the other hand I welcome Kurt, Karl and Nicole in their new roles, and I am sure that together with all the other journalists in the newsroom they will be a formidable team together and continue to make MaltaToday a relevant and credible news source.”
Kurt Sansone, 48, is editor-in-chief at MaltaToday, bringing with him over 25 years of experience in print, online, TV and radio. He was involved in the creation of the first Maltese portal di-ve.com, and later deputy editor of MaltaToday soon after launching in 1999. Sansone was also the first editor of Mediatoday’s Maltese-language newspaper Illum. He spent seven years at the Times of Malta before returning to MaltaToday as online editor in 2017. A graduate in communications and sociology, he is a father of two and married to Antonella.
“It is a great responsibility to take the baton from Matthew Vella, who takes a step back for some well-earned rest after anchoring MaltaToday as one of Malta’s leading news organisations for cutting edge analysis and incisive journalism. I aim to continue nurturing those values while ensuring that through professional, ethical and irreverent journalism we remain a beacon of hope at a time of information overload,” Sansone said.
Karl Azzopardi, 26, joined MaltaToday as a student in January 2018. Azzopardi studied journalism at degree level at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). He obtained a Master’s Degree in Media and Public Relations from the University of Leicester. He was Institute of Maltese Journalists best human story winner in 2019.
Nicole Meilak, winner of the Upcoming Journalist Award at the 31st edition of the IGM Awards
Nicole Meilak, 23, joined MaltaToday in 2020, having obtained a degree in economics and public policy from the University of Malta. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Film Studies at the University of Malta. Meilak was also named most promising journalist in the 2023 Institute of Maltese Journalists Awards.
