COVID-19, Journalism and The Times of Malta
by Francesca Attard
The present global pandemic has been dominating the news for the past five months. The journalism industry can be said to have been affected by COVID-19. It has definitely affected the Times of Malta financially.
“We’ve been badly hit financially. Due to the whole situation, advertisements have decreased numerously and people, of course, were unable to buy newspapers the traditional way,” says Bertrand Borg. “We also had to postpone certain projects that were down the pipeline”.
Financial Problems and Fake News
The current pandemic has heightened the challenges that journalists are facing in today’s world. Not only social media is dominating all corners with stories coming out on a daily basis (whether they’re fake or true stories that is a whole other story), but put this pandemic into the mix and journalists are also facing financial problems (just like many other industries around the world).
Setting aside the ongoing problematic discussions of fake news in journalism, its core is about presenting facts and truth to the audience. “We showcase the facts and truth”, says Borg, editor of the Times of Malta. Times of Malta is an independent media, therefore the published stories on their website timesofmalta.com and newspapers are supposedly free of any influence by the Maltese government.
During this pandemic, we can see that even though The Times of Malta has been hit hard financially, on their website their audience is still being updated on a regular basis on the current situation in Malta and many other stories are being published on a daily basis. What I am coming to is that journalists are doing their job to their best capabilities regardless of the situation we are facing at the present moment.
It is a time of uncertainty for many but for journalists, we can say that this year it has been the journey of a lifetime. They are in the front lines when it comes to covering stories to keep us updated on what has been going on in the past few months. “In the beginning, the panic was building up amongst the population and many photos bombarded social media. There were different claims from different people so we put connections together and sorted through them one by one and helped readers seek what is non-fiction”, says editor Borg.
However, it has been quite an experience about the way they have been conducting the stories during this whole situation for the last few months. “It’s been an interesting experience and we had to adapt”. The Times of Malta journalists have been relying heavily on technology. “Meetings are being done online and press conferences are happening through Zoom”, says editor Borg. Since they have to do everything remotely, technology has been the core basis of communication with the outside world.
News of Covid-19 was everywhere
Borg describes how the first few weeks, especially the first week when COVID-19 was the epicentre of everything in Malta “all the news revolved around COVID-19 in any way, shape or form”. Everyone’s attention was focused on the pandemic and obviously so was the media. “However, as time went by, at the present moment we are following more stories other than COVID-19”.
In fact, The Times of Malta website covers stories from diverse backgrounds: national, world, community, sport, business opinion, #TimesTalk and Odd News are all news categories that are provided on the website for their audience. Their news is diverse therefore readers can find what suits their own interest whilst at the same time being updated on the latest news. Their audience can log in through their Facebook or their Google Account and they can also subscribe to a suitable news option that suits one’s requirements: Go Premium where one can subscribe to gain access on premium content, Buy Credits where one can purchase to download the individual publication and they also provide home deliveries for people who like to read the newspapers the traditional way.
The Times of Malta online platform uses a clean and user-friendly approach through the use of pictures and headlines and all their content is English based. On the front page, they also incorporate diverse types of advertising. They also have a comment section underneath each article which lets the readers showcase their own opinion. It’s a positive factor from an audience’s point of view because it offers freedom of speech to the people reading the article.
“In terms of COVID-19 news on our website, we have a daily briefing and we also report coronavirus news from Malta and abroad continuously” says Borg. They do not have a section dedicated to COVID-19, however they have a tag and the reader can press the tag and it will give the him/her all the articles related to that tag.
Since Times of Malta is independent journalism they have the support us tab so they appreciate any contribution from their readers. It is a positive thing since this news site is not biased by politics. Apps are also provided in order for anyone who would like to share any article on the following social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, What's App, LinkedIn.
Daily Quizzes
At the moment due to the pandemic that hit 2020, Times of Malta has also partnered with Quizando which is basically a quiz channel. They have created a diverse range of games on the online platform which gives everyone the opportunity to put your knowledge to the test. Moreover, people are given the chance to win a cash prize.
If you would like any additional details please click the link below: