Former Labour CEO Randolph Debattista has been hired as the editor for the party’s recently unveiled English-language news portal, thejournal.mt.

The news that Debattista will be joining as editor was announced this morning, less than one week after Labour president Ramona Attard revealed the new media platform.

Randolph Debattista held the position of CEO of the Labour Party from 2017 up until he was sacked by Prime Minister Robert Abela in February 2020.

Debattista also worked at Malta’s permanent representation office in Brussels and was previously employed in the party’s communications department.

Labour’s unveiling of an English-languge news portal comes at a time when the concept of party-owned TV propaganda media is being challenged in court, in a crowdfunded case filed by Lovin Malta. It is also happening months before an imminent election that is increasingly expected to take place after summer.

It is not yet known whether thejournal.mt will be owned by One Productions which is currently run by controversial chairman Jason Micallef or whether this would be run separately from One.com.mt.

It is also unclear whether thejournal.mt will be mostly funded by government advertising, which is under more scrutiny than ever, with ministers being cautioned against using taxpayer money for personal promotion and of buying advertising in a discriminatory way to use it as a carrot and a stick.

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