PN says TVM has become ‘Super One 2’

The Nationalist Party accused Labour of reducing TVM to “yet another propaganda tool” for the government, condemning what it described as the “shameful state” of Malta’s media landscape.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the PN said public broadcasting is supposed to serve the people. Instead, it claimed, TVM has become an extension of the government’s communications machine.

The party insisted that PBS must be freed from the government’s political grip and restored as the broadcaster of the people, rather than of the Cabinet.

According to the PN, Prime Minister Robert Abela’s government has failed to strengthen media freedom and has instead continued to entrench a culture in which independent media is muzzled and public information is kept hidden.

The party said this is reflected in Malta’s international standing, noting that the country has continued to fall behind in media freedom reports.

“Instead of informing, it selects. Instead of balancing, it conceals. Instead of giving the full picture, it paints only one reality: the one that suits the PL,” the statement read.

The PN also pointed to the Broadcasting Authority’s intervention over what it described as TVM’s unbalanced treatment of the government and the opposition in news bulletins, particularly through the use of Sound on Tape clips.

In response to a parliamentary question tabled by PN MP Michael Piccinino, it emerged that over the past year TVM broadcast 532 Sound on Tape clips featuring the prime minister and other government representatives.

By contrast, during the same period, TVM broadcast only 66 Sound on Tape clips featuring the PN leader, opposition MPs, or party representatives.

According to the PN, this imbalance shows that TVM has been “entirely manipulated” by the government and reduced to “nothing more” than its own noticeboard.

The party described this as a serious abuse of state institutions and public funds, as well as an insult to taxpayers who fund what is supposed to be an impartial public broadcaster. Instead, the PN said, the public is being given "Super One 2."

“This is not journalism. This is not information. This is not public service,” the PN said. “This is propaganda paid for by taxpayers.”

The PN concluded by pledging to continue using every tool at its disposal to defend media freedom, the public’s right to be fully informed, and the need for institutions that serve Maltese citizens rather than the Labour government.

‘If the PN cannot play the game, it seeks to spoil it,’ Labour Party says

In response, the Labour Party said the PBS has a duty to report on the functions of the government, which it says are entirely distinct from the work of political parties.

"If the PN cannot play the game, it seeks to spoil it," the PL said about the accusations surrounding media freedom.

The PL added that it must also report on the reactions, criticisms, and proposals of political parties, which it said are "naturally" fewer in number.

The party referred to data from 2012, the final year of the last Nationalist administration, which shows that 121 comments from the then-prime minister and government ministers were broadcasted during an eight-month period, compared to 28 from the Labour Party.

The PL added that during the first five months of 1999, there were a total of 106 comments featured on PBS, in which 96 came from the Nationalist government.

The party proceeded to accuse the PN of taking issue with the fact that PBS staff carry out their work with the utmost professionalism and seriousness.

"It is clear that the new style of politics promised by Alex Borg is collapsing piece by piece," the PL concluded.