Adrian Delia makes case for modernisation of Nationalist Party media

Newly-elected Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has said that the if the party hoped to win the next general election, it needed to invest in new technology and to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

He said that this type of media no longer appealed to younger generations, insisting that these were the people the party needed to attract.

“Those who are 14-years-old today will be voting for the first time in the next election, and if the voting age goes down to 16, it will be today’s 12-year-olds,” he said, explaining that youth’s today where more likely to see the news through social media or other personalised channels.

Delia was addressing the employees of the Nationalist Party’s media wing during a political activity at the Floriana granaries where he was asked how he intended to lower the average age of the party’s paid-up members.

He said that the only way to involve youths was to give them the power to do things themselves.

“They must be allowed to take initiative themselves and to make mistakes themselves,” he insisted.

He said that the biggest challenge for any parent was to see their children going somewhere alone for the first time.

“Our party must have the courage to tell youths: here this is yours to do,” he said. “Our youths can change the country so we must first let them change our party.”

Turning back to the party’s media, Delia said that there needed to be more programs that people could participate and express their views in, as well as more open debates and political programs.

“It is unacceptable for there to be political developments involving the party, while our station airs programs that aren’t political, leaving us to follow them on other channels,” said Delia.

He said that while the party had succeeded in stabilising its finances, it still wasn’t totally out of the woods.

 “Our media, till today, is a burden on the party,” he said, insisting however that it was important to turn challenges into opportunities.

“I have only been in my new office for one day but we have already started looking at our financial situation and seeing how we can invest in our media to make it more modern,” he added.

In addition to investment in technology, the PN leader said there was also the need to continue improving on the party media’s human resources.  

“I would like for us to have more investigative journalism and for there to be more autonomy in the stories we create,” he said.  “I don’t want our media to rely on stories created by others.”

Above all, he said that the party needed to discuss with its employees in the media the way forward, rather than dictating to them what should be done.

He said it was important to maintain a focus on broadening the party’s message and to try to appeal to those who were still unconvinced.

Asked for his reaction to the Labour media’s reporting of the developments regarding the Panama Papers inquiry in court, he said he was happy that Labour was criticising him and that it was Labour that was now being “negative”.

He said that this morning had been another victory for the Nationalist Party, since the court had ruled that the Panama Papers inquiry should be open to the public.

Delia said he had gone to court this morning not only to show his support, but because he was also a part of Simon Busuttil’s legal team.

He also thanked MP Jason Azzopardi - a very vocal critic of Delia’s since the leadership race began – for “being there this morning and for spending the weekend preparing the best possible defence for Simon Busuttil”.

“When the leader of the Opposition is forced to personally take the case to the courts that means we are not living in a normal country,” he added.  

Despite his instance that the fight against corruption was continue, he said that the PN under his watch would also be fighting the politics of hatred.

“We need to have the politics of hope, a politics that is forward looking and one centred around people,” he said.