Humour in the Maltese press

Abstract

Humour has often been used as a commenting tool, with satire being a predominant element in printed media over the years. The Maltese press boasts of a number of newspapers that have used humour as a way of ridiculing opponents of their ideological standpoint. This paper presents a sampling of these. It provides a comprehensive list of Maltese humorous papers since the ordinance granting freedom from censorship and the right to establish and operate presses by private individuals came into effect in Malta in 1839 to the present day, sampling some of the more prominent of them for content. It also discusses humour in the ‘serious’ press, particularly in relation to political cartooning, singling out three of the greats, Robert Caruana Dingli, Alfred Gerada and Maurice Tanti Burlò. The paper ends its look at humour in the press by listing a number of other cartoonists, their styles and general content.