Union rag l-Orizzont attacks MaltaToday in editorial

The newspaper owned by the General Workers Union has added MaltaToday to its roster of newspaper companies inimical to the Labour government.

In its editorial Thursday, the newspaper led by Josef Caruana, launched a direct attack on MaltaToday journalist James Debono, calling him a “simple-minded opinionist” [l-opinjonist bahbuh] and “a ferocious militant against the Labour government led by Joseph Muscat”.

The leader appears to take umbrage at a blog by Debono – in which Debono argues that the Nationalist Party has not yet answered the existential questions posed by Joseph Muscat’s political earthquake – to discredit the journalist.

Unable even to muster an argument for higher minimum wage, the so called ‘independent newspaper’ owned by the GWU shills for Joseph Muscat’s agenda, and pays tribute to the global rich by supporting the Individual Investor Programme that sells passports for €650,000.

“It is unbelievable that anybody who dares criticise the government of the day is taken to task or accused of being a stooge,” MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan said, warning that no attack on MaltaToday would stop journalists from doing their work.

“It is not surprising that l-Orizzont fails to realise that real journalists have opinions, and not led by political masters,” Balzan said. “The attacks on James Debono and Raphael Vassallo will not deter MaltaToday from reporting, analysing and providing a platform for debates on what really matters.”

Matthew Vella, executive editor of MaltaToday, said it was a pity that a union newspaper, purportedly positioning itself on the left wing, was refusing to present itself as a critical voice.

“This is not the first time l-Orizzont has attacked other newspapers, such as The Times and even individual journalists who carried out sterling work on the Panama Papers. It is a great irony: a newspaper for the working class that does the bidding for the political elite and their big business chums.”