The Shift News will be participating in this year’s edition of the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, an annual festival held in Wales.
The Shift News journalist Caroline Muscat will be joining the editor of Index on Censorship Rachael Jolley and son of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Paul. They will be talking to the BBC’s Europe Editor Katya Adler on the murder of the Maltese journalist who investigated corruption for decades in the face of intimidation, libel threats and persecution.
Talking to The Shift News, Jolley said Index on Censorship – a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression – is very concerned about the rising threats to media freedom in Malta and the European Union.
“In the past six months it is particularly shocking that two investigative journalists were killed, in Malta, and in Slovakia. These frightening attempts to stop important reporting about corruption being published has resulted in growing public awareness about how much pressure individual journalists can face. We need more political action to provide transparency in these cases, and more protection for journalism,” Jolley said.
The event will take place on Monday 28 May as part of what has become one of the most anticipated annual literature events.
The festival programme features 600 of the world’s most known writers, journalists, policy makers, academics, musicians and innovators in 800 events over 11 days from 24 May to 3 June.
Created by Norman and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was described by former US President Bill Clinton as “The Woodstock of the mind”. Past participants include, Arthur Miller, Roberto Saviano, Stephen Hawking, Terry Pratchett, Muriel Spark, Stephen Fry, Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Tony Benn, Desmond Tutu, Yanis Varoufakis and Bernie Sanders.
This year’s star-studded line up includes authors Salman Rushdie, Shashi Tharoor, Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Britain’s environment secretary Michael Gove, former British politician David Miliband and health campaigner Chelsea Clinton.
Michael Wolff, author of the controversial book about American president Donald Trump ‘Fire And Fury’ will also appear in this year’s festival. Hollywood actress Rose McGowan, one of the first actresses to publicly speak out against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, will discuss her memoir, ‘Brave’.
Hay Festival director Peter Florence said: “We are facing alarming insecurities and crises. We need to approach the complexity of those challenges with all the hope and courage we can muster. We need to hear the wisest voices, not the loudest.”