Media and Maltese Society

This seminal work is the first comprehensive analysis of the media landscape in the Mediterranean island of Malta. It examines the media owned by political parties, trade unions, and the church and how they successfully compete for audiences with the public and private sectors. Carmen Sammut explores institutional efforts to influence the information flow by means of field observations and in-depth interviews in newsrooms. These influences are further examined in an analysis of news content and discourse during the referendum campaign for European Union membership. In a field where literature often overlooks small states, Media and Maltese Society takes advantage of the small context to examine the communication circuit holistically, observing traits that British and American journalism lost with the growth of media capitalism.

Ably argued and extensively researched, this book is a major contribution to the study of media in Malta.

Carmen Sammut is a lecturer in the Department of International Relations at the University of Malta, teaching global economy of the media, media and society, and media and international relations.