Broadcasting Authority finds PBS guilty of bias in traffic measures bulletin

The Broadcasting Authority has found the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) guilty of being unbalanced and partial in its reporting of government traffic measures, following a complaint filed by the Nationalist Party.

“Robert Abela, because he is weak and under pressure, has grown accustomed to using what is meant to be the public broadcaster as a tool to censor anyone who disagrees with him,” the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

The Broadcasting Authority (BA) issued its decision today, stating that PBS failed to fulfil its duty as a national broadcaster.

The case was brought forward by the Nationalist Party, which was represented by lawyer Michael Piccinino.

The report was filed by the PN after the 8:00pm news bulletin on 29 March included an eight-minute report on the newly announced traffic measures but wasn't followed up by the PN's reaction, which was moved to a much later time slot in the news.

The complaint focused on PBS’s coverage of new traffic measures introduced by the government, which the Nationalist Party claimed failed to include its reaction and concerns. The BA agreed that the coverage attempted to censor the opposition’s response to an issue of public concern.

The BA noted that it should not focus on the duration or number of recordings broadcast, but on the timing of political themes or current events. In this case, the opposition's response was broadcast separately without follow-up or contrast to the Prime Minister’s statements, isolating the reaction from the government's position.

The BA stressed that the inclusion of an opposition reaction following a government statement is standard practice for the national broadcaster. The delay in airing the opposition's response led to an imbalance, weakening the opposition’s position and ultimately undermining the principle of balance in reporting.

As a conclusion, the BA ordered PBS to read a summary on the case in the first part of the news bulletin within two days of the decision.

The Nationalist Party criticised the broadcaster’s actions and said it would continue to take “all necessary steps” to ensure PBS stops acting like “Super One 2” and starts functioning as a true public service broadcaster.