The Liberty of the Press 1939

One of the crucial needs for a democracy is having Liberty of the Press where people can express their
opinions about the running of the government, where political parties can run their propaganda and where
people can voice their concerns and complaints. Newspapers played an important role in the 19th century
especially when any other means of communications were primitive, slow or expensive. Newspapers were
the most affordable and accessible means for people to learn the ‘news’.

No one could import printing apparatus nor print something without the Governor’s permission. In 1817
Alessio Schiada was found owning a printing press and it was confiscated by the British Governor.

It was thanks to the members of the Comittato Generale Maltese (Giorgio Mitrovich, Camillo Sceberras etc..)
who had presented a petition in London that the Royal Commission of 1836 was sent and that it encouraged
the introduction of the Liberty of the Press. Lord Glenelg announced in January 1836 that the British
Government had the intention of granting the Liberty of the Press to Malta.

Not everyone was pleased by this:

Mons. Francesco Saverio Caruana – who feared the church, would be attacked. He wanted a law to
specifically protect the Catholic Maltese church from abuses. The governor had to consider their point of view
as the Church was very influential.

Duke of Wellington – in London he feared that Maltese people would criticise the British Empire and its
policies.

The King of Austria and King Ferdinand I of Naples – both of them apposed the Liberty of the Press as they
feared direct attacks towards their monarchies. These attacks would create more instabilities and harbour
more revolutionary ideals.

Nonetheless, those in favour of the Liberty of the Press increased their efforts and starting printing more
pamphlets to support their claim. Printing apparatus was smuggled to Malta with the help of Giovane Italia
(by leader Mazzini).On the 4th August 1836, the British Government announced that it was sending a
Commission to study the situation.

Thus the Cornewell-Lewis-Austin commission suggested the introduction of the Liberty of the Press but with
the Libel Law in place. This guaranteed that people could not abuse this freedom and they would write
responsible material. The Liberty of the Press came into force on the 15th March 1939 nonetheless some
newspapers were published before this date.

Some of the early newspapers included:

Lo Spettore Imparziale: (April 1838) by Canon Fortunato Panzavecchia. It was cancelled after the 8 th edition
after Panzavecchia was reminded by the Bishop that the Pope was not in favour of the Liberty of the Press. It
was to be eventually the first independent newspaper in Malta.

Il Portafoglio Maltese (May 1838) by the lawyer Paolo Sciortino who was against the fact of Malta was being
inundated by Italian refugees and feared Malta would become a niche for revolutionaries.

The Harlequin (July 1838) It was a protestant newspaper by editor John Richardson.

Il Mediterraneo (August 1838) It was the newspaper of the Giovane Italia who had the duty to inform exiled
Italians and Italian sympathizers in Malta, Greece, North Africa and Ionian Islands. It had the duty to prepare
the revolutionists to support the revolution for the unification of Italy that was imminent. The editors of this
newspaper tried to win favour with the Maltese people by also publishing articles to encourage to British
Government to improve the standard of living of the Maltese. Some claims were: more liberty, a better
constitution, less administrative abuse by the British etc… This tactic seemed to have worked as many started
to sympathize with the Italian cause; nonetheless the Church was also heavily criticized for keeping people
ignorant and this turned many Maltese people against this newspaper.

8 Months after the Liberty of the Press was granted there were 28 publications in Malta, many of them
financed by those who were against the Liberty of the press in the first place. These included ‘Il Corriere’
published in Malta by Salvatore Costanzo and Salvatore Tornabene that were sent by the King of Naples.
Another newspapers financed by this monarchy was ‘L’Ordine’ whilst the ‘Malta Times’ was financed by
London.

The Libel Law was also passed at the same time as the Freedom of the Press. An example when the Libel Law
was used was against the editor of The Harlequin; John Richardson who was condemned to 6 months in
prison or a fine of 250 scudi for saying that the Roman Catholic Church was a disgusting religion and he was
questioning the, existence of all other religions too.

During the 1848/49 revolutions in Italy, many refugees came to Malta. In June of 1848 there was a curious
case in the Grand Harbour. A Venetian Captain removed the flag with the words ‘Viva Pio IX’ and replaced it
with the coat of arms of King Charles Albert. The Austrian consul got involved and asked for an explanation. In
the meantime the newspaper ‘Il Mediterraneo’ published an article entitled ‘Gli Italiani a Malta’. The author
was Lorenzo Borsini who was a priest and involved in the propaganda in favour of Italian refugees. In 1845,
Borsini used to publish the newspaper ‘Stenterello’ that together with the ‘Mediterraneo’ they used to
publish many articles in favour of the Italian revolution. Borsini had many issues with Governor O’ Ferrall that
had asked for his expulsion from the island multiple times but always in vain.

Another revolutionary was Luigi Zuppetta that was a republican extremist and an adversary of the Borbon
family. In Malta he published a number of newspapers such as ‘L-Unione-Gazzetta di Malta, Il Vagheggiatore
delle Scienze e delle Lettere and Giu’ la Tirannide’. Zuppetta did not manage to escape O’Ferrall’s wrath as he
was exiled from Malta.

Even though the 1848 revolutions failed in Malta, many refugees still came to find solace in Malta. In May
1849, 238 revolutionaries tried to come on board the ship Perolo, however O’Ferrall did not allow them to
land in Malta and insisted that the island was not a nest for revolutionaries. He appealed to the Secretary
general for the Colonies and claimed to allow them to disembark only for a few days in Malta. In July more
refugees tried to disembark on the island however O’Ferrall managed to hold them back. The Associanzione
Politica Maltese of Delicata critised him heavily.

Even British newspapers criticized O’Ferrall’s behaviour. The following newspaper in England wrote articles
against him: ‘The Times’, ‘The Daily news’, ‘The Sun’, ‘The Chronicle’, ‘Punch’ and ‘The Herald’. Even the
author Charles Dickens condemned him and praised the republicans in Rome. All this opposition led to
O’Ferrall’s resignation in 1851 and the arrival of the new governor William Reid. After 1850, the influx of
Italian refugees decreased. Amongst the revolutionaries that sought refuge in Malta we had Adriano Lemmi a
friend of Mazzini and the Hungarian Kossuth. In 1853, Francesco Crispi a future Italian Prime Minister, came to
Malta and started to publish the newspapers ‘La Valigia’ that later became ‘La Staffetta’.

From the early newspapers ‘The Malta Government Gazette’ is still being published today containing all the
information about the government and various announcements.