For every PN comment, PBS broadcasts 13 PL comments, statistic shared by Opposition shows

PBS shows one comment from Nationalist Party speakers for every 13 Labour Party speakers, the Opposition has stated.

During a press conference on Monday, PN Secretary General Michael Piccinino presented statistics that the Broadcasting Authority requested from PBS regarding the number of comments by PN and PL speakers that featured on the news.

Piccinino stated that PBS’s news censors any view that criticises the government, and the statistic shown to the BA confirms this. According to the statistic, between April 2023 and February 2024, PBS showed 351 comments from PL speakers and 27 comments from PN speakers.

The statistic was shown during a press conference organised by the PN

PN shadow minister for public broadcasting Claudette Buttigieg said that the numbers are clear evidence that PBS is doing a disservice to the public it is meant to inform. “People don’t even know who our shadow ministers are,” Buttigieg noted.

As an example of PBS’s bias against the Opposition, Buttigieg said that when a news item related to the PN is broadcast, TVM uses footage of the PN headquarters during Christmas. “That’s how much they respect us,” she stated

Listing specific examples, Buttigieg mentioned a conference on social justice organised by PN MP Ivan Bartolo in February. She noted that the news item was broadcast close to the end of the 8:00pm news, and that Bartolo’s name was never mentioned by TVM.

Buttigieg also mentioned the fact that the speaker of the parliament had to order PBS to correct the title of a news report on Bernard Grech’s parliamentary speech on climate change.

“What goes on in PBS goes against the public’s interest,” Buttigieg concluded, as she said that the PN will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to make sure that the national broadcaster offers fair coverage.