PN at war with PBS in constitutional case over ‘Labour propaganda’

The Nationalist Party filed a constitutional case over what it described as political bias and propaganda on the state broadcaster PBS.

PN deputy leader David Agius said the party was taking legal action against the Broadcasting Authority, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Minister Carmelo Abela, who is responsible for state broadcasting, and the office of the State Advocate. 

Agius said the PN had suffered months of political imbalance, particularly in news coverage on PBS.

Agius claimed the state broadcaster had been “completely infiltrated” by Labour propaganda and no longer offered balanced views on issues national importance.

“People are being bombarded with propaganda from the Labour administration, with the Opposition’s message either completely disregarded or else hidden away at the end of news bulletins,” Agius said.

The application was signed by PN secretary-general Michael Piccinino as well as lawyers Paul Borg Olivier and Francis Zammit Dimech, both of whom previously served as PN general secretaries.  

Agius also said news coverage during the 8pm prime-time slot was taken up with up to 50% Labour messaging, with some news bulletins not dedicating a single second of airtime to the Opposition.

The Broadcasting Authority is appointed by the Constitution and is tasked with ensuring “due impartiality” and apportion airtime fairly for different political parties.

After appealing to the BA, the PN was given daily one-minute slots for 15 days, but Agius says PBS circumvented this decision by “sandwiching” the slots with government adverts that promoted the Budget before and after each segment.