Category: Library

Categories
Zolabytes

Acts of engagement: an appeal

Anton Caruana Galizia sent this open appeal for publication. These are times when different people from different walks of life have been shaken into action. At this moment the reflection is on what to do and how to do it. Anton’s appeal includes that of small acts of engagement. It is definitely a first step to which all of us can subscribe.

I venture to state that it is in the little things that we find answers to the big questions that democracy asks of us. The simple act of becoming aware of truths we find unsettling. Taking the time to gather information on which we can voice a point of view. Summoning the confidence to enter into a conversation, however quietly. Discovering that others share in our perspective or cause us to shift it, (for we are none of us all-knowing). Taking that first step towards a place where we gather together. Casting a vote.

From our fictions of political life we expect soaring rhetoric from a polished podium, or a prophet to emerge ragged from the wilderness. We expect others to provide the answer that we might follow. I don’t consider that a reasonable expectation, however often we indulge in it. If it is answers we want then we must participate in finding them. We must share in their creation. I suggest that this is achieved through small acts of engagement: sharing, listening, reflecting, participating.

I urge you not to succumb to cynicism. I hold the view that the people of the Maltese islands are capable of rational discussion and reflection. That as citizens of the Republic of Malta, we can recognize an attack on the liberties we claim as fundamental to the operation of our democracy. That our claim to those liberties and our aspiration to uphold them can serve as a source of unity.

From what I observe, unity won’t simply appear by summons or appeals. It is not, to my mind, a spirit that responds to incantations and wild emotional gestures. It must be demonstrated and articulated. And for this to occur, I would suggest that there must be a broader understanding of what it is we aspire to, an understanding that it is incumbent on each of us to cultivate for ourselves and to share with others. There is hope here, for this is happening already, and has been happening for some time. I want to encourage all others involved in this enterprise to broaden their conversation. To engage more people in it.

I venture to state further, that the rational response to an attack on liberty of expression, is to make more intensive use of that liberty. And to hope and strive for justice.

 

Anton Caruana Galizia

Categories
Zolabytes

Joe Bloggs: Thoughts on Daphne

Joe Bloggs (a pseudonymn) shares his thoughts on Daphne Caruana Galizia.  Joe Bloggs regularly commented on the Running Commentary as well as on other online papers. Here he tries to look at what it might have been like to be on the receiving end of insults and threats.

Perhaps the worst part was the degradation, the dehumanising.

Those who saw her as being on their side would say that she could give as good as she got, she was strong. She portrayed herself as such. But she got blamed for electoral losses or close shaves, in fact the Running Commentary was born out of that.

Others called her a witch, a bile blogger, a ‘bicca blogger’, a gossiper, a slut. Partisan newspapers called for her ‘cleansing’ in editorials, a magistrate’s partner and government consultant actively posted and tweeted about wishing to consign the ‘Galizia mindset’ to history, the Government supported the setting up of an anti-Daphne blog (glennbedingfield.com) that actively degraded her with photos of her butt, the internet is literally replete with insults, edited photos and hate pages. Lord only knows what she received in her mailbox, email (which was always there on her website), mobile and comments section.

This went on for 20 odd years. 20 years of insults, threats and fickle friends.

Guess what, she was human. I recall being added out of the blue by her on LinkedIn earlier this year and found that rather odd. Months later I realised that whilst her blog posts were slowly dropping in frequency she had started sharing articles on LinkedIn, slowly building up to a mini blog. A new channel. When I pointed out that I noted that she was starting to post on LinkedIn and told her she’s right that that is an important audience, her characteristically concise reaction, “and no abuse” struck me as so weary. She often wrote about the misogyny and the insults but many took it (if I am honest with myself, to a degree I think I did too) as perhaps reinforcing her strong persona. This was a private conversation, it resonated.

Her last post, almost an outburst, about crooks everywhere and crooks denying that they are crooks was the first about that topic, the Panama Seven, in what felt like a long while. Deep in the comments section, perhaps best found on her Disqus profile (https://disqus.com/by/daphnecaruanagalizia/?) is the explanation. Besides taunting references to stories that she was yet to finish writing (Labour using Cambridge Analytica’s Psy-Op Services being one that springs readily to mind), Daphne was attuned to what her readers wanted to read and which topics would elicit a reaction, start a discussion, be shared. She called it the ‘news cycle’.

When prompted just 11 days ago as to why she was still writing about Delia and had stopped writing about the poor state of Maltese institutions and the crooks in power, she said to one commenter: “Nobody is interested right now. Certainly not my readers.” And “I have a good understanding of what people want to read and when they want to read it, and right now – wholly understandably – they want to read about the new man.” to another.

11 days later she broke the news cycle.

You lent us  your mouth,  so  that we  could  speak  our mind.
You lent  us  your  ear, so  that  we could find solace by  sharing  when  others would not  listen.
You lent us  your  nose  for  a  good  story,  so  that  we  could  read  about  that  which no  one  else would  dare write.
You tried  to  set us  right  when  we  were  wrong.

We got  lazy.
We got distracted.
We compromised and allowed ourselves to  be bribed.

Those who ought  to  know  better  took  advantage.  First  they belittled  you,  then  they demonised you, then  they  isolated  you, then, when  few  were  those left  looking, they  erased your mouth,  ears  and nose.

Now the Running Commentary has stopped. Forever frozen in a deafeningly silent  scream. This memory  will  not  be erased,  we  will  not  allow  it.

We  must each use our  own  mouth, ears and nose to  speak up, listen, educate and hold  those  that  took  advantage  to  account.  We must  wake people up  from their  slumber.  We must  prevent  a  repeat.

Rest in  peace dear  friend, we will  continue  the  narrative.

–  Joe Bloggs

Categories
Mediawatch

The birth of a blog [3 days 6 hours]

[3 days 6 hours]

The 2008 election campaign was the first one to feature blogs heavily. The Maltese blogosphere had only just really kicked off and most times it was a case of blogs being quoted in what was then referred to as the mainstream media. J’accuse (already three years young at the time) was one of the leading blogs and the comments section also served as a forum for discussion between quite a varied group of individuals. Comments were full of heated exchanges of all sorts and I remember that at the time moderation was still a controversial issue with wild accusations of censorship or appeals to the moderator to intervene when things got too heated (or offensive). One major topic on these pages at the time was the “Wasted Vote” issue as J’accuse’s editorial line developed around the need to elect a third party that breaks the hold of the major parties.

It was around this time that Daphne became one of the regular persons to comment on the blog. Daphne being Daphne, whole discussions soon turned into a Daphne versus the rest kind of match. It was thrilling, it was lively and at times it was dangerously violent – as violent as words and accusations that could fly on the net could be. Daphne’s take on the wasted vote issue was that anyone thinking of voting for a third party was immature and unable to fathom the consequences of “risking” getting the dreaded Labour party elected. We argued. Oh how we argued. I scrolled through the endless arguments in the posts of February and March of that year. Daphne is all over the place. One minute she is arguing with persons who in the future would become trademark Labour trolls, another with Raphael Vassallo, another still with Claire Bonello, Justin Borg Barthet, Fausto Majistral, David Friggieri, Kevin Ellul Bonici and so many many other regulars.

There were times when life got in the way like when I had to absent myself from the keyboard for a few days because I had booked a skiing trip and when I finally found a cybercafe’ in the middle of the Alpes de Huez I noticed that J’accuse had been inundated with comments awaiting moderation. It is so ironic for me to see the comments by Daphne jokingly telling me off to have left the blog for such a long time – when would I be back? when can the discussion resume? Little would I have known that years later I would be the one wondering why Daphne was taking an inordinately long time between one blog post and another. That damn refresh button.

The closer the election got the less patience Daphne had with being moderated by others. It was not in her nature of course to accept to be told what was out of order and what was not. We were all on a learning curve back then remember. I did my best to keep the ensure that discussions on the blog remain civil but those early days already showed the worst of some people when interacting online – and Daphne, being Daphne, managed to get the worst out of some people (and I am not in any way excusing those people). I remember being told off by Daphne for having moderated a whole discussion thread – “we are not schoolchildren here”. In the end I like to think that it was not the random insults that were bandied around that made her move on. It was the need to be in control. Daphne had seen the potential of the blog and wanted part of it.


And that was it. The adventure began.  Running Commentary was here to stay. The first post on her blog was entitled (surprise, surprise) Zero tolerance for corruption. The first comment to appear on The Running Commentary? Why of course…

Why am I writing all this? It’s probably my way of coping with the grief and with the anger. 2008 seems like another world, another era. Lawrence Gonzi’s PN would win the election and the battle for constitutional reform would be postponed again. The Running Commentary would go from strength to strength shifting between punditry, cutting analysis and what seemed to me to be petty gossip-column like observations. When the “one man wiki-leaks” dimension came about first with the John Dalli scandal and then with the more recent undoings of the Labour government  (first among which is Panama but the list is endless) Daphne’s blog became much larger than an online opinion column. For what it’s worth my main criticism in recent times had been that Malta could not afford to have a “one man wiki-leaks”. First of all because I felt that it is not right that one person should be the gatekeeper of such information and secondly because of the dangers that were being borne by one person.

And those dangers were brought home with the horrendous assassination. We had a one-man wiki-leaks because of the collective institutional failure. We had a one-man wiki-leaks because nobody in his right mind trusts the police. We had a one-man wiki-leaks because it was evident that the whole apparatus of government would turn onto anyone who dared go against the tide of sanitised positivism as proposed by official propaganda. We had a one man wiki-leaks because the abuse of the libel system in the courts of law afforded little comfort to everyone other than the bravest. We had a one-man wiki-leaks because  because the fourth estate was an embarrassing shambles – sold out to the highest bidder or, in the case of partisan media, busy being their master’s voice. We had a one-man wiki-leaks because the system of the rule of law had broken down.

Often in her last posts since the last election, Daphne exhorted whoever could to leave the island. There was no future in Malta. The country was going to the dogs. She did say that she urged her successful sons to do so because the island had no more hope. I often wondered what stopped Daphne from leaving herself. What kept her going? Was it a sense of patriotism and some misplaced hope that one day this nation of egoists realises that it needs to think about its collective future? Really. I could never find an answer to that question until her son Matthew spoke to the Guardian. He said something very important: Daphne never gave in to cynicism. She believed she could bring about change. Her work in exposing the wrongs of the nation was all in the hope of getting people to understand why change is needed.

After last election I had given in to the cynicism. I would still be glued to the internet to follow the latest developments from home. Yes, I too would refresh my Running Commentary tab to see if there was anything new that the mainstream press was still unable to report. A few posts here and there on this blog were more the force of habit than anything else as the last shreds of hope waned. Cynicism and lack of faith in fellow citizens had almost dealt a final blow to my will to engage and work for change. Then came October 16th.

I am sad. I am angry. I am full of feelings of revulsion. I am responsible. I am helpless. I I I I. I is the word I feel most guilty of using. I needed to write something to break the blankness of the last few days. I decided to share this chronology of the beginnings of a blog that would change Malta’s history.

We are back. We want change and we will start to fight for it to happen as from today.

[3 days 8 hours] – the time for grieving is over. The time to fight has begun. For the change we all believed in – to make Malta the country we all want to live in again.

 

Categories
Mediawatch Politics

They cannot kill us all

 

Eleonora has had to be particularly patient with me in the past two days. It must not be easy having a brooding, melancholic zombie walking around the house. I still find myself unable to string coherent words together about what has just happened. Unable on a personal plane, unable on a political plane. Until this period of shock and grief is over I am thankful to have someone like Eleonora beside me. Someone who understands and clearly expresses what we are going through. We, as in her newly adopted second home that is fast turning from a fairy tale paradise into a pirate island of darkness and misery. Here is Eleonora’s post on facebook today.

I would like this opportunity to thank all my colleagues at work from all nations who have sent me private messages of solidarity. I wish to be able to convey this kind of understanding to many of my fellow citizens – the same citizens in whom I had lost faith already a few months ago and who I will hopefully strive to win over to the new battle for change starting from the coming days. 

 

This week I’ve received A LOT of messages of friends expressing their sorrow and shock for what has happened to Mrs Caruana Galizia last Monday.

As an Italian citizen whose partner is a Maltese citizen (sorry, Gozitan), obviously I felt the emotional blow that followed the announcement of her tragic murder. On the one hand, being Italian my mind immediately recalled the death machine that took the life of Judge Giovanni Falcone in Capaci back in 1992. A car exploding, a major quantity of explosive probably detonated by someone/something operating a remote control, a road that will be left for long with a crater and a country mourning one of its most important and controversial public figures. We Italians have unfortunately developed a special awareness when it comes to this kind of events. On the other hand, I am also getting acquainted with “my country-in-law” and therefore I knew who Daphne was, what her work consisted of and how it was perceived among the Maltese population.

But it struck me when I realized that I wasn’t the only non-Maltese-citizen genuinely feeling for the “desperate situation” in which Malta finds itself right now. Colleagues and friends, they all sent a text over the past days to express their sorrow for what happened to Daphne. Why is that?

At first I considered it very strange, because usually everybody tends to undermine the role played by the smallest EU country or its potential. People actually make fun of the fact that such a small country manages to sit at a table together with Frau Merkel and Mr Juncker. Then I thought that perhaps all this empathy was due to the fact that the brutal way in which the murder has been carried out had caught the attention of the usual crime-news-audience.

But I was mistaken.

Friends who are writing me simply need to share their emotions, to express their shock, and want me to convey their sympathy to my partner. I realized that they are doing this because they too have been affected by this tremendous assassination. Because I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
We, people living in the long-awaited Area of Freedom, Security and Justice simply cannot conceive that an investigative journalist is murdered, let alone in this brutal manner, because of her ideas. Also our rights as human beings, our fundamental freedoms have been violated by this savage act. Because we’re no longer Maltese citizens, Italian citizens, German citizens. We’re Europeans, we’re citizens of this world, and we all feel for each other, especially when these events occur.

Now it’s the time to ask ourselves: what of this stream of emotions? Will we just burst out our sorrow, feel for the family of Mrs Caruana Galizia and watch from far what will be done to bring to justice those who are responsible for this?

I think that it’s important that Maltese citizens feel that we all will not immediately forget what’s happened and, in a broader perspective, what’s happening in and to this country. It may sound too obvious, but keeping in the public eye the events that will follow what happened to Daphne will allow all those who are now protesting in the streets and calling for a more democratic society to feel that they are not alone, that they still have our support and that they are claiming something that we all deem essential. A Maltese citizent told me today that you can assess what’s the status of the rule of law in Malta by seeing what will be the follow up of this tragic murder. Let’s make sure we all follow closely what will happen now.

Because as Judge Rocco Chinnici (also murdered by a car bomb parked in front of his domicile) said when he first envisaged the establishment of the antimafia pool, “they can kill one, two of us, but they cannot kill us all”.

Categories
Mediawatch Politics

Blood on their hands

 

On any other day this facebook post would have been taken up and pasted onto the Running Commentary. The blog is no more but the spirit not only lives on but will grow. I am reproducing this post here with the kind permission of its author Justin Borg Barthet. 

We don’t know who ordered the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Perhaps we never will.

But there’s blood on your hands, Prime Minister. You systematically destroyed the institutions which would have protected journalists from the violence of those who feared the truth. You emasculated a police force, and you reprogrammed the constitutional order to eliminate the rule of law. There’s blood on your hands, Prime Minister.

There’s blood on your hands too, Leader of the Opposition. Your political career is built on the dehumanisation of a journalist, on the weakening of the truths for which she stood, on the removal of the support of people who stood between her and yesterday’s events. There’s blood on your hands, Leader of the Opposition.

There’s blood on your hands, Attorney General. I have never addressed your omissions before for fear that my voice would be amplified undeservedly. Not now. I don’t know if it is cowardice, promise of preferment, or plain lucre which has made you remiss in your constitutional duties. But chances are, had you done your job properly, a journalist, a mother, a wife, a sister, would still be with us. Her murderers would be in prison. There’s blood on your hands, Attorney General.

There’s blood on your hands too Police Commissioner. But about you, least said soonest mended.

Categories
Mediawatch

Black Monday

“Chi ha paura muore ogni giorno, chi non ha paura muore una volta sola.” – Paolo Borsellino