Activist group Il-Kenniesa will again be running the Malta marathon in aid of The Shift and in defence of press freedom.

This is the second year running the team will be tackling the challenge to raise awareness and funds for investigative journalism.

“While many of us are not athletes, our need to support Malta’s free press and frontline journalists continues. This is why on 24 February we will be running for The Shift News again,” the group said.

In 2017, Malta’s free press took its hardest hit and today the consequences of those who brutally silenced Daphne Caruana Galizia are still being felt.

“Our urgent calls for a public inquiry into Daphne’s assassination continue because we need to ensure that this cannot happen again. We continue to urge Joseph Muscat for an urgent public inquiry into Daphne’s assassination, something a Prime Minister should have done months ago of his own accord if safeguarding Malta’s free press and democracy is a top priority for him,” Il-Kenniesa said.

“We shouldn’t be calling our journalists courageous for simply doing their job, but all the abuse and attacks our journalists face both in Malta and around the world means we have to. Something is terribly wrong and this is our way of giving back to those who provide us with the truth,” the group added.

The team will again be taking part under the team name of ‘Running For Change’. “Anyone who sponsors us will be directly contributing a donation to The Shift to support them in connecting the dots for justice and truth”.

The Shift’s Managing Editor Caroline Muscat thanked every individual participating. “Every individual action to support press freedom directly contributes to our investigative journalism. The Shift is on record as the news portal that faced most attacks in its first year of operation for uncovering the truth”.

“We have never succumbed to pressure. We have defended the public interest, even in the latest DDoS attack that tried to take our site down after we revealed the hidden contract on the scandalous deal on public hospitals. They did not manage to take us down thanks to your support, which we invested in improving the site’s security. Your support of our attempt to run / walk the marathon will continue to strengthen our efforts to give you the truth,” Muscat said.

This is our 2019 team for Running for Change:

John Said- Last year, John also took part in our campaign where he finished third among all participants. We have no doubt he will repeat his excellent score this year. Go John!

Jeremy Debbatista – Another Running For Change runner who also will be joining this campaign for the second year in a row. Some of you may remember Jeremy’s photogenic shots in the ‘We Support Free Press’ t-shirts. We want more photos this year Jeremy.

Rosa Borg – Rosa is courageously joining this campaign as she has with all our previous campaigns for truth and justice. She said: “When Daphne was murdered I realised how vital the free press is. I am taking part in this marathon in aid of The Shift News to show that everyone can make a difference”.

Mark Borg – this year’s youngest participant – an incredibly passionate activist for free press and for justice. Mark said: ” I’m running for change because journalism is not a crime. Journalists need to feel safe doing their job of keeping the public informed and holding the government in check if we want to all live in a safe country, and that is the Malta that I want to live in.”

Robert Zammit – Robert is flying all the way from the UK to take part in this marathon. He has been a strong voice for Malta’s frontline journalists including Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Members of The Shift Team will also be joining the activists in taking up the challenge.

You can support this effort by donating here. Last year, Il-Kenniesa collected €2, 000 from donations. “We hope we can top that this year, and we promise you, we will be start and finish this marathon with shaky legs, parched mouths, pink faces, rain or shine”.

Updates on our journey through the marathon will be available through Il-Kenniesa’s instagram and The Shift’s Facebook and Twitter account.