The President of Malta addresses members of the Malta Press Club

A Code of Ethics for the media must be a serious one that would allow the profession to regulate itself in its applications.

This was the appeal of H.E. Prof. Guido de Marco, President of Malta, to journalists when he addressed members of the Malta Press Club at a dinner which concluded the Malta Press Club's 10^th anniversary convention "Journalism - The Way Forward" at the New Dolmen Hotel on Thursday evening.

"There has to be a Code of Ethics which is in itself a real regulation for the profession and it must be applied in a way that shows transparency and seriousness," Prof. de Marco said.

The President spoke of the need for investigative journalists to observe ethics. "One of the problems facing Maltese journalists is the question of investigative journalism. In this field, perhaps, we have not made all the headway that we can make, possibly because of the difficulty of finding a story to investigate coupled with the right observance of the proper ethics of the profession."

"An investigative journalist has to work in strict adherence to a recognised Code of Ethics. I believe this is of the essence if we want investigative journalism to be done in a truly professional way with a professional aim," Prof. de Marco said.

The President said that journalism in Malta has been improving a lot over the years and has, slowly but surely, moved from journalists being reporters, to journalists being commentators, to journalists being opinion-formers. He added the essence of true journalism is not just informing the public but forming others.

In future, Prof. de Marco said, one of the issues facing journalists will be the question of independence. "To what extent does a journalist act in terms of his convictions or in terms of a mandate? To what extent is a journalist bound by the mission statement or editorial policy of a media organisation?

"In no way do I believe that a journalist can respect himself if he abdicates his beliefs. It is this golden thread which ties the journalist to the nobility of the profession. The independence of the journalist, within a context of the newspaper, has to be understood. A journalist can resign from his post if he finds he is in disagreement with the editorial policy of the newspaper but a journalist can never abdicate his opinion and write something in which he does not believe. "

Looking ahead to the new century, the President said the media will become much more "alive" and will be forming society more. "We have to be prepared for the right kind of onslaught from the media. The media will shape our mentality further." He added that with the increased accessibility and availability of the media via the Internet, the clientele approach will not be as strong as it is today, which means that one has to compete more to get more attention. He remarked that the stronger the competition, the temptation to reduce standards would be much more present.

The President called for a press which realises its responsibilities, "a press which realises that while so much good can come out of the freedom of the press, much evil can happen as a result of the abuse of the press." It is here, he added, that the role of the Malta Press Club is of paramount importance.

"The profession has to live by a Code of Ethics which is logic, strict and which is applied with transparency. If this is applied, then the future and nobility of the profession is assured. If this is not applied, then, I'm afraid, in losing standards, we are losing ourselves. A democracy thrives as long as there is a strong, fair and able press. If the press succeeds, democracy itself will succeed. This is the challenge of the coming century. I am sure that journalists of today will be an example to future journalists."