Analysing the discussion on abortion in Malta in online and printed media

Abstract

How does the Maltese media portray the topic of abortion? This research explores the way that Maltese media discusses abortion through the analysis of the content of the four most popular media houses: Lovin Malta (LM), Times of Malta (ToM), MaltaToday (MT) and The Malta Independent (TMID) between the years 2017 and 2019. This collection of media amounted to 302 publications which were either authored by journalists working with the media house itself or by external individuals. From the overview conducted on the full collection of media, the researcher found that the most common stance adopted by news houses is neutral in their writing, with no inclusion of personal opinions by the writers. Moreover, external contributors were more likely to include their opinion within their writings, predominantly being antichoice. It was also noted by the researcher that the amount of publications corresponded to events which were taking place over the years analysed. This research also brought to light the subjectivity often present within media content which signifies latent messages to what is being said by the author. This research concludes that the discussion on abortion in the media is still polarised, reflecting the fact that abortion in Malta is still quite a ‘taboo’ subject but that the voice of pro-choice activists is increasingly present.