The Times front page in November 2011 |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | Allied Newspapers Limited |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Political alignment | Centre-Right |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Strickland House, 341 St. Paul Street, Valletta |
| Circulation | 37,000 |
| Official website | http://www.timesofmalta.com |
The Times (formerly The Times of Malta) is a national newspaper published daily in Malta. Founded in 1935, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation. It has the widest circulation and is seen as the daily newspaper of "reference" of the Maltese press. The newspaper is usually considered to be on the center-right politically, and emphasises coverage of the economy and finance. The popular Sunday edition forms an important part of the local cultural arena.
On January 1, 2003, the Times of Malta launched a new formula, less formal and more modern. It multiplied its many supplements. The paper's website puts online the whole of the daily newspaper, as well as archival search. AP, AFP and PA dispatches supplement local information.
The Sunday edition of the paper is called The Sunday Times.
Contents |
The history of The Times of Malta is linked with that of its publishing house, Allied Newspapers Limited. This institution has a history going back to the 1920s, when it pioneered journalism and the printing industry in Malta. It all started with the publication, by Gerald Strickland, of Malta's first evening newspaper in Maltese, Il-Progress. This was a four-page daily with its own printing offices in what was then 10A, Strada Reale, Valletta. The name "Progress" is retained to this day by the commercial sister of Allied Newspapers Limited, Progress Press Company Limited, formed in 1946.
Bilingual journalism, Maltese and English, was introduced in Malta with the publication, on February 3, 1922, of an English supplement to Il-Progress. The Times of Malta and Il-Progress lasted till March 1, 1929. The English supplement then became The Times of Malta Weekly (forerunner of The Sunday Times of Malta). The Maltese side was named Ix-Xemx, later changed to Id-Dehen and later still to Il-Berqa, first published on January 29, 1932. Il-Berqa ceased publication on November 30, 1968. In February 1931, Progress Press moved from Strada Reale to 341, St Paul Street, Valletta, the present site of Allied Newspapers Limited, also known as Strickland House.
As readership of the English supplement to Il-Progress soared, Strickland was quick to see that there was room for an English daily. This would happen so long as the new publication achieved and maintained a high standard of public service in information. The first issue of The Times of Malta was published in full co-operation with the British MI5 on August 7, 1935 under menacing war clouds as Italy planned the invasion of Abyssinia, which began in October of that year. On September 2, 1935, Mabel Strickland, who was a founder member of Allied Malta Newspapers Limited and formed part of the first Board of Directors, became the first editor of The Times of Malta. She also edited The Sunday Times of Malta from 1935 to 1950 when she was succeeded by the late George Sammut who retired in 1966. Anthony Montanaro was the next editor. He retired on March 1, 1991.
On August 6, 1960, the 25th anniversary of The Times of Malta, Strickland wrote that The Times of Malta, whilst originally a party paper, had become a national newspaper. The paper won for itself a reputation for objective reporting whilst upholding its own strongly held editorial opinion. Strickland's editorship covered the difficult years of World War II. Nevertheless, none of the newspapers forming part of the Group ever missed an issue in spite of continuous bombing and all kinds of shortages in the siege years between 1940 and 1943. The building was bombed twice, receiving a direct hit on April 7, 1942, when sixteen rooms where demolished but, miraculously, sparing the printing machines.
The Times has only had four other editors. Thomas Hedley took over from Strickland in 1950. He edited the paper through the traumatic years of political and industrial change culminating in Malta's Independence in 1964. He retired in 1965. Under the editorship of Charles Grech Orr, The Times kept up the tradition of never missing an issue when twice hit by industrial action in 1973 and when arsonists burned the building down on October 15, 1979. That date came to be known as "Black Monday". In the face of serious danger, the editor and his staff had to abandon the building. Printing of the following day's paper continued at another printing press, Independence Press. The paper was out on the street as usual the following morning, reduced in size but a triumph for freedom of expression.
Grech Orr retired in 1989. He was succeeded by Ray Bugeja in 1990, who in 1993 left The Times to join The Malta Independent. In 1993 Victor Aquilina became editor, spending 10 years in the post, and retiring in 2003, when he was replaced by Mr Bugeja, who had since returned to Allied Newspapers stable[1] .
On June 14, 2011 in a landmark decision in the case of Aquilina and Others v. Malta, the European Court of Human Rights found in favour of former editor Victor Aquilina and former journalist Sharon Spiteri and ruled that there had been a breach of their right to freedom of expression (Article 10 of the convention). [2]