You WILL Give Us A Platform: ADPD Plans To Force ONE And NET To Report On Them After Landmark TV Ruling
After a landmark Broadcasting Authority decision saw ONE TV essentially forced to report on ADPD, the small green party has warned the country’s major political forces that this is only the beginning.
“In an ideal world, political parties will close their TV stations as soon as possible but it’s obvious that this isn’t going to happen, at least not yet,” ADPD leader Carmel Cacopardo wrote in his blog.
“Unfortunately they keep acting as though they’re above the law. They aren’t news sources but machines of political propaganda. They act as though they have the capacity of exercising editorial discretion, when in reality both of them are continuously practicing political censorship, sometimes obviously and other times more in a more subtle manner.”
Last week, the Broadcasting Authority ordered ONE TV to report on a press conference that ADPD had given about the Steward hospital contract on 11th March. BA chairman Frank Farrugia wrote that while newsrooms have a right to editorial discretion, the authority finds it hard to believe that ONE TV found nothing newsworthy in ADPD’s statements since November 2022, the last time they reported on the small party.
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ONE subsequently reported ADPD’s statement, although its presenter added further commentary that developments since the party’s press conference rendered a lot of what they had to say as “irrelevant”.
Cacopardo said that before ADPD filed a complaint, it sent reminders to ONE and NET to report on its press conference.
“ONE ignored us. NET spoke to us and brought up a load of excuses, but immediately starting moving, probably because they realised what was coming, and started reporting a bit. This was a small step forward that could, and which still can, lead to a solution.”
He said that while he would rather ONE and NET start reporting on ADPD without being forced to, the party is ready to “ramp up the battle” if they don’t. Contacted by Lovin Malta, he confirmed that this statement does indeed mean ADPD will file more warnings with the BA as soon as grounds for more complaints arise.
The BA’s ruling was noteworthy because it has traditionally only ever regulated TVM over issues of political balance and impartiality, due to a proviso in the Broadcasting Law which allows impartiality among private TV stations to be monitored “as a whole”.
However, in a recent judgement, three judges ruled that a constitutional obligation for TV stations to provide “due impartiality” when reporting matters of political controversy applies to all TV stations, not just TVM.
In 2021, Lovin Malta and former CEO Chris Peregin filed a constitutional case challenging the constitutionality of this proviso.
A website, Kaxxaturi.com, has been set up to explain the details of the case and why Lovin Malta decided to open it in the first place.
The case is still ongoing.
Do you think party-owned media should be regulated for impartiality?
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