Maltese humurous newspapers

Abstract

In modern times, newspapers have proved to be a potent force in society. With the development of the printing press, the newspaper became an important weapon in the hands of agitators, reformers, political leaders and anyone who wanted to pass his ideas to others. In some cases, the newspaper proved to be a better instrument in propagating new ideas than books and pamphlets, because it reached a wider group of people regularly. In Malta, newspapers have also been exercising their influence for the last one and a half centuries. Humurous newspapers have existed intermittently since 1839. They have served several purposes - from just pure recreation to political propoganda. But whatever their purpose, each humurous newspaper - in some cases perhaps better than any other newspaper - throw a great amount of light on our people as social history. Rumuors, customs and traditions, conflicts between band clubs, or supporters of different orchestra conductors at the Opera House, or between various villages all figure prominently - directly or indirectly - in their pages. The social historian has ample opportunities for research. In fact, humurous newspapers in Malta have proved to be very influential factor in forming public opinion. People have realised their importance and appreciated it. Hence, for example, in the 'Sette Giugno' Riots, the rioters destroyed all printing presses, except those publishing humurous newspapers. This clearly shows the affection with which the common people held these newspapers. Another instance which shows the extent of influence these newspapers had is the question of the dismissal of Prime Minister Howard from office. The constant attacks which the humurous newspapers rendered on him proved too much for the Governor to resist their call. In this humble work of mine, I have tried to give a general idea of the history of the humurous newspapers. Unfortunately, the Public Library in Valetta does not have copies of all such newspapers. A number of these newspapers are only available from private hands. Hence, I did not have the opportunity to review all of them. I have found the work very interesting, though painstaking, since I had no other work on the subject to refer to. I have referred - and based my conclusions on the newspapers available at the Public Library. For the chapter, on banned humurous newspapers, I have consulted the Bishops' Circulars available at the Archbishop's Curia.