Let us remember the meaning of 'conflict of interest'

At some point PBS, contracted WE to produce reliable public service content: as things stand, the public is the biggest loser.

Carmen Sammut 23 June 2010, 12:00am

3 min read

My bona fide blog ‘PR and journalism should not mix’ was written just as MT let the cat out of the bag: WEadvertise Ltd, is in charge of the public relations campaign of the White Rocks project. AlthoughLou Bondi and Peppi Azzopardi are not the only journalists involved with PR campaigns, the White Rocks issue clearly illustrates the incestuous relationship that exists between some journalists and public relations.

Yesterday the Times’ confirmed WE’s involvement in a story by journalist Christian Peregin, who asked several people, including myself, for their responses. Very high profile public figures astoundingly dismissed the ‘conflict of interest’ and so please allow me to cite eloquent others to refresh our amnesiac minds of its meaning.

“A conflict of interest is a situation in which a person... has private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise of his or her duty... there is no need for the objective exercise of a person’s work-related duties to be truly compromised, only that it ‘appears’ to be compromised.” wrote Patricia Parsons, author of the Ethics of Public Relations.

Admittedly, the Maltese Journalistic Code of Ethics does not offer much guidance on the matter. It merely asserts that journalists misbehave “whenever commissions or requests are accepted to give undeserved publicity”.It says nothing about journalists who sell out and it cannot do much to deal with challenging situations. Yet, there are now efforts for a European Code of Journalism Ethics. This specifies that journalists shouldnot be influenced by the business interests of third parties or their own personal economic interests. Nonchalant media organizations may still decide to ignore this principle but when they face the moment of truth, they cannot expect the public to trust them.

WE has grown big over the years. There are many areas where they positively contributed to the evolution of the Maltese media. It is clear they are facing a crossroad. The revenue from the PR campaigns of multi-million projects, as also revealed in other press reports today, are a great temptation as it is revenue that could further entrench the position of their business in the media market. Yet the White Rocks debate involves the government and private investors. We are told that this is a €200 million sports project that will include 300 apartments on 221,000 metres of prime land. We are told that the consortium obtained the land from the government at a give-away-price. The Maltese public sphere needs autonomous and credible media players whom they can trust to present all aspects senza interessi.

At this point WE may have forfeited this important role. Although they have publicly acknowledged that they are behind the PR campaign, producing programmes that are perceived to be credible is now difficult. The space where such a debate should take place is PBS. At some point PBS contracted WE to produce reliable public service content and so, as things stand, the public is the biggest loser.

More from Carmen Sammut

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Question 15: Before the last election, l-Orizzont engaged yet another regular columnist to lambast the government in the most partisan way. Weeks before the election, for instance, he wrote that “life would be unbearable if a PN government is reelected” (O:19/2/08). That columnist was Reno Borg, a member of Broadcasting Authority, the constitutional body which is the bulwark of balance and impartiality in broadcasting. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest?

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Dear Ms Sammut, Sorry to bother you again. Here is another question. Question 14. The Malta Communications Authority confirmed that MediaToday Ltd, which runs MaltaToday, has tendered to enter into the business of telephone directories. Isn’t this a conflict of interest? I would appreciate it if you find the time to answer this question as well.

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Dear Ms Sammut, Here is another question I would like an answer to. Question 13. Yesterday’s MaltaToday ran a full-page MFCC advert (p.9). They then ran a double page spread PR puff piece on MFCC (p.50-1). Isn't this a conflict of interest? Sorry to burden you with all these questions but I really do value your opinion.

Peter Paul Azzopardi •

@Lou I find you comments on various blogs particulary long and nauseating. They are always numbered, irritatingly boring. It's like staring at the lift in a 100 floor building, waiting for the numbers to stop (the toilet was commonly located in room 100 of buildings. Some say that the English "loo" is so named because the toilet was commonly located in room 100 of buildings) Lieux d'aisances apart, a one weekly program must leave you a lot of spare time on your hands. Damn, I'm jealous! I should have chosen that line. But then again, not everyone likes being a nosing wannabe journalist licking anyone's ass for lucre. To your perceived list of “conflicts of interest” you forgot one important point. Can’t you see that with your reasoning, anyone who adverts in your “program” is a perceived conflict on interest ? Can’t you see that this reasoning can be extended to all programs by WE ? ...and where do we stop ? ...remove all adverts from all newspapers and discussion programs ? Now what wouldn’t be a bright idea, would it Lou ? That would make a big ouch to your bank account. So please think before jotting down another list. Whatever these journalists do with their private lives is their business as long as it is deemed fit to their boss. But when it comes to public funds it is OUR business because we pay taxes too.

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Dear Ms Sammut, I would appreciate your learned opinion on a dozen questions regarding conflicts of interest I am desperately grappling with: 1. One TV news and current affairs programmes, like NET’s, have a conflict of interest by definition. A political party uses its media for propaganda, not journalism. Yet you were on the Board of Directors of One TV, while projecting yourself as a ‘neutral’ media analyst. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 2. Last December, Julia Farrugia, the editor of Illum (MediaToday) spent three days raising funds for One TV, the propaganda arm of the PL. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 3. Sometime ago, MaltaToday, ran a series of front page stories regarding the closing hours imposed by the police on a Gianpula party. Gianpula belongs to Roger Degiorgio, one of the owners of MaltaToday. His son, Matthew Degiorgio, who runs Gianpula, was extensively quoted in the MT stories. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 4. You were a journalist in the PBS newsroom in the eighties, when that newsroom was nothing more than a propaganda machine of the socialist regime. For years, violence, political discrimination and corruption were not even reported on, let alone investigated. Didn’t the incestuousness of politics and journalism bother your conscience then? 5. MediaToday regularly tenders to produce programmes on PBS which are in direct competition with Where's Everybody’s? At the same time, for years, MaltaToday has systematically conducted the most viscous and baseless attacks against everything WE does. Isn’t this a conflict of interest? 6. Today, Evarist Bartolo is a Labour politician AND teaches journalism at the University of Malta. In addition, as a legislator he also influences the passage of media laws through parliament. In the past, Bartolo was simultaneously a politician AND a journalist. Isn’t this a formidable concoction of conflicts of interest? 7. Julia Farrugia, the editor of Illum (MediaToday) recently presented a PBS financial affairs TV programme which was effectively an advertorial for certain financial companies. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 8. Saviour Balzan was part and parcel of John Dalli’s PN leadership campaign (and I had direct experience of it) at the same time that he was editor of MaltaToday. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 9. Julia Farrugia, the editor of Illum (MediaToday), is a director of her media company which offers marketing and media services to public and private clients. Isn’t this a conflict of interest? 10. Maltatoday’s current editor, Matthew Vella, reported (4 April, 2010) that John Dalli, when he was a minister, was one of the owners of the defunct newspaper The People. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest on John Dalli’s part? If so why, has Malta Today remained silent about it for ten whole years of its existence? 11. Saviour Balzan was on the government’s payroll, as a consultant on EU matters, at the same time that he was editor of MaltaToday. Wasn’t this a conflict of interest? 12. Julia Farrugia, the editor of Illum (MediaToday), is currently appearing in a TV commercial for a local bank. Quite interestingly, in the commercial she appears in her newscasting persona. The commercial is commissioned by ANG, a marketing and PR company which is owned by Godfrey Grima, who calls himself a journalist. Isn’t this a particularly fascinating set of conflicts of interest. I am really looking forward to your replies to each of the above questions. If you have no time during your busy schedule to respond, I will understand. In such circumstances, I shall reluctantly have to look for answers elsewhere. Lou Bondi

Kenneth Borg •

Peppi and Lou have managed to maintain a certain degree of perceived impartiality till the 2003's EU referendum. As time passed by they have managed to reach new lows in Maltese journalism. Human kind can be super multifaceted if you think that Lou used to be a self-declared Marxist and Peppi wanted to play the part of the Maltese libertarian or the "Lech Walesa" of Malta. Fr. Joe Borg's and Natalino Fenech's comments quoted in The Times reportage were simply apologetic for the misdeeds of today's regime.