Raphael Vassallo
The public relations agency handling the account for Smart City has hit upon a novel way to control the way its clients are represented in the media. BPC International Ltd now requests a deposit of Lm1,000 (€2,300) before releasing any comment to the press, refundable only if Dubai investors Tecom Investments Ltd are satisfied with the resulting coverage.
This unusual strategy has been met with indignation in certain parts of the media, but BPC’s director of public relations and erstwhile Press Club official, Carmel Bonello, defends the deposit scheme on the grounds that it offers immediate redress in the event of his clients being misquoted.
“We are not doing this to shut journalists up,” he assured MaltaToday this week with regard to the unorthodox and questionable practice. “We are doing this to ensure fairness in the way our clients are represented in the media.”
Bonello explained that the agency hit upon this strategy after “a breach of trust” by a local media organisation. Without going into detail, he described how “a certain article” caused a lot of damage to a national project which is set to bring over €200 million in direct investment.
“We had agreed beforehand to see the article, and like all others it was also cleared by the investors in Dubai,” Bonello said. “But there was an abuse of trust, and the article which appeared was not the same as the one to which we had agreed.”
In practice, BPC’s “Smart Deposit” system works like this: journalists who wish to quote any Smart City officials in their articles are expected to front the sum of €2,300 to the advertising agency, which in turn will get to see the final draft before it goes to print.
“If the article appears as we agreed beforehand, with no amendments, the deposit will immediately be refunded,” Bonello said. “Serious journalists have no reason to fear or complain about the system. It is only those who have an agenda to misrepresent the truth that need worry.”
Bonello stressed that the issue as far as BPC was concerned is one of factuality and correctness, and to forfeit the deposit, the unforeseen changes would have to be of a serious nature. But not everyone in the media is convinced.
One journalist was put off by the system and desisted from writing about Smart City altogether. “What guarantee do I have that they would not take advantage of (for example) a revision of grammar, or an alteration made by a sub-editor, to keep the money?” the journalist, who preferred not to be named, said.
Faced with such criticism, Bonello gave his assurances that the system was in place only to guard against malicious and deliberate misreporting. But he admitted it is not an ideal scenario.
“If any journalist wants to suggest a better idea, we are ready to listen and to discuss,” he said. “But we need to do something to ascertain that our clients are fairly represented. Who can guarantee immediate redress to the injured party when journalists do not do their job properly? The law courts? Libel cases can take up to three years, and in the meantime the damage is done.”
But the idea of requesting a deposit simply for being quoted in the news has been met with incredulity among media workers.
Malcolm J. Naudi, chairman of the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), expressed concern at the possibility of being “charged” for information which is by its own nature a matter of public interest.
“As far as I know this is the first initiative of its kind in Malta,” he said yesterday. “I know of no other agency that has ever taken this position.”
Naudi said that the Institute will be convening this week, and before the matter is discussed at committee level he could not speak on behalf of the IGM.
“But in my personal capacity I think this is a worrying development, that will stifle the communication of information in the country,” he said. “I feel the agency in this instance has taken things too far.”
Naudi also warned that the “Smart Deposit” system may discriminate between different media organisations.
“In practice, this may create a situation which benefits those media organisations with large budgets, at the expense of all the others,” he said.
Ironically, BPC International Ltd is the same agency which for years sponsored the IGM’s Journalism Awards, while Smart City itself is the official sponsor of one category of the award, that for internet journalism.

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt

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