Broadcasting Authority has endorsed PBS’s myopic two-party vision - AD

Green party Alternattiva Demokratika has denounced the role of Malta's broadcasting regulator as a mouthpiece for the major parties, calling for a greater democratisation in the area of broadcasting.

"It is simply unacceptable that the Broadcasting Authority keeps acting as a mouthpiece for the Nationalist and Labour Parties. In parliament, AD will ensure that this is no longer the case," AD chairperson Michael Briguglio said today in a press conference outside the BA offices in Hamrun.

"Access to Broadcasting should not depend on representation in parliament but should be widened to all political parties and civil society organisations who respect the constitution and do not incite hatred against minorities or ethnic groups, cultures and identities."

Briguglio also said BA members should be appointed by a parliamentary committee after a public call for applications, and that the national broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) should be managed by a board of directors autonomous from the government, and appointed by a parliamentary committee following a public hearing.

"This should include civil society representatives as well as experts in communication and marketing," Briguglio said.

AD deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that during this electoral campaign AD's access to airtime on public broadcasting had been very limited.

"Both PN and PL are owners of TV and radio stations which they put through full use on a 24-hour basis. In addition to access to their own stations PN and PL are also practically in control of the PBS airwaves which they share between them with the tacit approval of the Broadcasting Authority."

"It does not make sense for PBS to keep ignoring AD's views when discussing the basic issues brought up in this electoral campaign," Cacopardo added.

"During the past week, for example, during its morning discussion programme TVAM, PBS invited PN and PL representatives to discuss the environment and land use policy issues. AD not only has valid alternative views on the matter, but has also been vociferous on the subject throughout the years was completely ignored."

Cacopardo said AD's requests for fair treatment to the BA had seen the authority endorse the PBS's own "myopic" perspective on broadcasting.

"Made up of PN and PL nominees, the Broadcasting Authority is repeatedly endorsing PBS's unfair behaviour and consequently is repeatedly defining itself as another defender of the two party system which throughout the past fifty years has ruined this country.  The Broadcasting Authority has to shoulder its responsibilities as an accomplice with PBS in its attempts to suffocate AD's voice on public broadcasting."