The influence of political and shareholder value on the presentation of journalistic audio-visual material in Malta

Abstract

This dissertation aims to explore political and shareholder influences on journalists and editors in the context of news organizations in Malta. In addition to this, it will explore ethical standards and conflicting values in news professionals as well as how this affects democracy. This study will be reinforced by recent literature as well as ethical theory in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges of journalistic ethics. In-depth, semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were conducted via Zoom. The interviews consisted of fifteen questions which were designed to gain insight into the feelings and opinions of the news media professionals. The findings shed light on the current media landscape in Malta with regards to various aspects such as transparency, journalistic autonomy and impartiality.