Journalist calls out Delia over ‘threats’: he’s leaving on six-month paid programme

The editor of The Shift News has called out claims by blogger Manuel Delia that he is leaving the country over threats, saying the blogger is taking up a paid six-month programme in Europe.

“I know that what Manuel is taking up is a temporary 6-month programme in a European city where he can continue to do his work while being paid a salary to take ‘a break’,” Caroline Muscat said.

On Thursday, Manuel Delia announced he will be leaving Malta temporarily due to security concerns and anonymous death threats.

The news was first reported on an Italian website as part of a wider interview on Articolo21. The portal said that Delia was being forced to leave Malta, including his family and children, while the European Center for Press and Media Freedom will help him spend time "in a safe place" until things get better.

Caroline Muscat issued a missive saying Delia, whom she revealed to be partly financed by civil society NGO Repubblika, was leaving for a funded programme of work and not because of threats to him.

“I have benefitted from such programmes before, but never in my wildest dreams would I have sold this in the same way.

“Any journalist who has faced any serious threat knows that you don’t announce your departure. And if it’s a serious threat, you certainly don’t leave your family behind.”

Muscat said that she called Delia “to make sure [she is] not undermining the threats he is facing.”

“We noticed in his reply to the Italian journalist’s question about how he earns a living, Delia said he depends on the donations from his readers and gets by with the help of his wife,” she said. “Nowhere did he mention that he’s an employee of Repubblika, receiving a full-time salary, whatever the amount may be.”

She said investigative journalists exposing wrongdoing wherever it happens, are often the targets of threats, insults, lies and defamation.

“These are dealt with as they happen, and we carry on with our work to the best of our abilities, undeterred by the daily onslaught. When and if those threats become serious enough to require action to be taken, we take it,” Muscat said.

She went on to say that such actions damage “the cause of truth and justice for assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia” if opportunities provided to activists are blown to do their work.

“Delia’s efforts in Caruana Galizia’s cause have been valuable, but indulging in this appeal to public sympathy can only deepen the mistrust towards the media, and, in consequence, towards the entire campaign for justice for Daphne,” she said.