Actually the Court is NOT going to decide whether I am a journalist

Something went awry in the original reporting back when Pawlu Lia made his scene in court, and the mistake has been repeated in every news report and discussion about the case ever since. The Courts of Justice are NOT going to rule on whether I am a journalist or not.

The Courts are not empowered to give any such ruling because essential safeguards on freedom of expression mean that journalists are not licensed or warranted individuals and it is not up to any body of the state to decide whether somebody is a journalist or not – for reasons that would be obvious in any real democracy but apparently not so obvious in barely democratic Malta.

Pawlu Lia, popping into the case at this late stage as legal counsel to the Health & Energy Minister, did not challenge my status as a journalist. That would have been ridiculous, given that I have worked as one since my early 20s and am probably the first name that will pop into most people’s minds, at this stage, when prompted with the words ‘Maltese journalist’. This is mainly because I have been around for so long and am actively and assiduously promoted by the Labour Party in many creative ways.

What Pawlu Lia asked the Court to rule on is whether I am a journalist when writing on this website. Bear in mind that he is one of many who inhabit that strange Maltese world where you are what you are at any given time depending on what you are doing at that moment. That is the way they can reconcile their many and several conflicts of interest. Pawlu Lia may not have any conflicts of interest for all I know, but he is certainly surrounded by people who do.

And this is quite apart from the fact that the law on the protection of sources does not even mention the word ‘journalist’ – which means that Lia never bothered to read the law before he pounced with his brainwave. It speaks of writers and publishers.