Journalists' representative body gets new faces

Times of Malta assistant editor Matthew Xuereb has been appointed president of the Institute of Maltese Journalists.

He succeeds Sylvana Debono who has stepped down after moving on from journalism to another profession. 

Also new to the council is MaltaToday news portal editor Kurt Sansone, who will be replacing IĠM General Secretary, former Television Malta journalist Nigel Mifsud, who also moved on to pastures new. 

Xuereb, 42, has been a journalist for more than two decades. He started off his career at The Malta Independent and then moved to Times of Malta where he served as a journalist and eventually Head of News before becoming the organisation’s assistant editor. 

Sansone, 46, is editor of this news portal and has been working as a journalist for almost 25 years with various media houses.

Both were co-opted and will form part of the Council that was elected during last June’s AGM. The term of the current council ends in 2022.

The Council will continue working on enhancing journalism in Malta through education, protect those within the field who face hardships while in the line of duty, bolstering ethical principles within the journalistic sector, while also advocating the values of freedom of expression and the role of the fourth estate in a democracy

“It is an absolute honour and privilege to serve in this role where I can directly contribute towards giving the profession the protection it deserves as well as take journalism to the next level,” Xuereb said following his appointment. 

Sansone said: “Journalism continues to play an important role in democracy despite the multiple challenges we face, which is why I accepted to serve on the IĠM council from where I hope to contribute to strengthen the profession.”

High on the agenda will be a drive to relaunch a revised code of ethics for the profession as well as explore avenues for continuous professional development for journalists, editors, photojournalists and videographers.

The Institute of Maltese Journalists thanked Debono and Mifsud for their contribution within IĠM.

The council is also composed of vice-president Claire Farrugia, Christine Amaira, Neil Camilleri, Julian Bonnici, Mario Schiavone, Charles Camenzuli, Domenic Aquilina and Sandro Micallef representing sports journalists.