Economy minister singled out journalist for online harassment, IGM says

The Institute of Maltese Journalists has condemned the harassment of a journalist after economy minister Silvio Schembri posted an edited clip of a question he was asked on Facebook.

The IĠM​ said Schembri’s actions fuelled the hostile environment towards the journalist after being personally ridiculed on his Facebook account.

During a virtual press conference on 6 May, a Net TV journalist asked questions to Schembri on former PM Joseph Muscat’s involvement after being consulted by the government in relation to the COVID-19 economic impact.

Schembri posted a video on his Facebook account, with a slightly-edited version of the journalist’s question, and with a part of his initial answer.

The video received over 400 comments and used as fodder on One TV’s Pjazza in the evening.

The IĠM​ claimed this was “another example of bullying towards members of the press by a prominent politician.”

“While politicians have every right to state their side of the story, they are obliged to reply and should never make the journalist the subject of the story. IĠM will not tolerate such actions that only instigate hatred towards journalists. Journalists cannot be used as bait by politicians to gain political mileage and to increase their popularity amongst the public.

“The intentional editing of the said journalist’s question shows a level of disrespect towards journalists, whose duty is to ask questions in order to serve the public. Such incidents also create an intimidating situation, where journalists are exposed to harassment online.”

The IĠM​ said politicians were entitled to their side of the story but not to singling out journalists who are only doing their job. “If we really want to pass on the message to the public, that is not acceptable to harass journalists. It is not acceptable to have a situation where politicians conveniently mock journalists, irrespective of the media outlet they work for, to score political points. While condemning such behavior, IĠM​ again reiterates its call for politicians to lead by example and to send a clear message that such actions are unacceptable.”