TVM hints at Labour ‘attacks’ behind anonymous letter
National broadcaster makes free association with Labour after ‘anonymous letter’ warns staff they will lose their jobs.
National broadcaster Television Malta has claimed "its presenters" have been warned that they will lose their jobs if Labour is elected - ostensibly after receiving an anonymous letter.
In an unsigned news item carried on its website, TVM suggested that the letter was "not an isolated attack", because Labour organs KullHadd and maltastar.com, and General Workers Union organs l-orizzont and It-Torca had carried "over 120 articles attacking TVM management and journalists".
The station has not published the letter in question, instead carrying on its website a generic photo of letters with a British mail stamp.
TVM has not issued an official statement on the matter, although the national broadcaster's free association of the letter to the Labour and union media suggests that editorial policy inside the TVM's creative hub has loosened up a tad.
TVM, whose Head of News Natalino Fenech and chief executive Anton Attard have been publicly criticised by Labour MP Gino Cauchi, who has accused them of being politically biased against the Labour Party, have in the past responded with libel action.
Both the PL and the TVM management have been locked in several disputes at the Broadcasting Authority over the content of TVM news bulletins or the attitude of TVM presenters towards Labour representatives.