After PN MPs denied TV time by party, F Living pundit replaces them with photos

Clarification: The hearing of this alleged breach is still ongoing, and no fine has been yet issued as incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this report.

F Living Channel will be contesting a Broadcasting Authority notice of breach of the TV code, after a presenter ‘replaced’ the seats for Nationalist MPs invited to his chat-show with their photographs, in a sign of defiance at the party’s refusal to have them participate.

Presenter Simon Debono, a conservative right-wing pundit and real estate owner who presents ‘Propjetà Minn Wara l-Kwinti’, featured the photos of Nationalist MPs Alex Borg and Ivan Bartolo on several episodes after the PN refused to grant them permission to feature on his chat-show.

Debono said the photos would replace their seats “after they were prohibited by the PN from coming here and speak about why they voted on the issue of freezing embryos after conception.”

The images of Borg, a popular Gozo MP elected for the first time in 2022, and of Mosta MP Ivan Bartolo, featured constantly on the episodes of 13, 14, 18, 19 and 21 July.

But the BA said Debono’s stunt had been a breach of the BA’s rules on standards and practice for current affairs programmes.

The clause cited was that when proposed interviewees are unable or unwilling to accept an invitation to participate in a programme, reference to their absence “should be referred in as detached and factual a manner as possible and the presenter should as far as practicable make known the absent interviewee’s or his or her organisation’s views on the subject under discussion, where known.”

F Living is contesting the decision.

Debono’s property show regularly features conservative voices debating political issues, with Debono recently attending an event hosted by former Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo following the legalisation of preimplantation genetic testing during IVF.

Earlier this week, Debono led a delegation of “pro life” activists to meet President George Vella, which included Nationalist candidate Hermann Farrugia and Jean-Karl Soler, a doctor embraced by Malta’s anti-vax community.