The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has officially endorsed Lovin Malta’s court case to determine whether propaganda on political party TV stations should be declared unconstitutional.

“The Constitutional obligation for broadcasters to be impartial in matters of political or industrial controversy, or issues relating to current public policy, should apply across the broadcast spectrum with no exceptions,” the foundation wrote in a statement.

“We support Lovin Malta’s action in the Constitutional Court, aimed at ensuring all broadcast media in Malta are subject to the same regulations on objectivity and balanced reporting.”

Lovin Malta’s court case argues that a law approved by Parliament in 1991 to permit party-owned stations One and Net to broadcast propaganda went completely contrary to the demands of the Constitution, which states that broadcasting must be impartial.

The foundation warned that this proviso, exempting party-owned media from the constitutional obligation of impartiality, denies Malta the opportunity to mature as a democracy.

“Challenging its constitutional validity is a step towards the democracy the country deserves,” the non-profit continued.

The court case was filed yesterday by lawyers Eve Borg Costanzi and Matthew Cutajar. The case will be heard in front of the Civil Courts.

It’s been more than a decade since Media.Link – which looks after the PN’s Net TV – and One Productions published their accounts.

Media.Link had reported a loss of €341,840 and total debt of €8.4 million when it last filed accounts in 2003. Meanwhile, One Productions reported a loss of €507,479 when it last published its accounts in 2010. Total debt stood at €2,704,029.

Lovin Malta is arguing that these financial difficulties leave political parties vulnerable to corruption since they are dependent on big business donations. Both parties have regularly been asked to explain why the accounts have yet to be published and have both pledged to publish them.

A number of high-profile Maltese politicians have criticised the existence of party media in the past, including former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, who said they’ll eventually be made redundant; former President George Abela; and former Finance Minister Lino Spiteri. Former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici even predicted that the law would be challenged in court.

You can read all about the case on www.kaxxaturi.com.

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