PN’s media coverage of Realtà issue ‘obviously biased’ – Vella Gera

Author Alex Vella Gera has rejected claims by the Nationalist Party's that its media coverage of the Realtà' controversy was 'objective' and 'factual': arguing that the entire treatment given to his trial by NET TV was replete with "an obvious bias".

Along with editor Mark Camilleri, Vella Gera was prosecuted on criminal charges over the 2009 publication of an "obscene" short story in campus magazine Ir-Realtà.

Entitled 'Li Tkisser Sewwi' ('Mend what you break'), the story took the form of a dramatic monologue detailing the private sexual fantasies of a 30-year-old Maltese man, and contained explicit adult language and graphic description of real or imaginary sexual activities, largely involving younger foreign language students.

The trial was given considerable prominence in local media, and attracted the vocal support of Labour MP Owen Bonnici - a fact which Vella Gera suggests may have prompted the aggressive media tactics used by the PN media to distort public perceptions of the case at the time.

"The news report of Net TV tried to link my story to paedophilia, claiming that it 'condoned the rape of minors'. They painted it as if it were a celebration of rape," Vella Gera recalls, adding that this was probably done to tarnish Bonnici's credibility and reputation.

However, a spokesman for the PN yesterday defended its media coverage of the issue when accused by Bonnici of having taken an 'extremist' position vis-à-vis the case.

The party issued a statement yesterday claiming that its TV station had "reported, factually, the content of the article in question", without bias.

Vella Gera however dismisses this view. "They certainly did not report the facts. On the contrary they coloured and twisted the facts to suit their political agenda."

Contacted separately, NET TV head of news Nathaniel Attard acknowledged having 'provided the information' that formed the basis of the PN's statement; but he declined to comment individually on the issue.

"The press statement was issued by the Nationalist Party. You should direct your questions to the PN's information office," he said.

This is not the first time that Vella Gera has complained about political bias in media coverage of his case.

In January 2011, the acclaimed author boycotted the National Book Awards (in which he won first prize for his novel Żewġ) in protest against the same biased coverage.

Net TV, he said on that occasion, "had described Mark Camilleri and me as promoters of paedophilia. Not only is it an unacceptable accusation and libellous slander, but an allegation that lacks any professional or human ethic".

Vella Gera also said the news reports by Net TV had led to his decision not to attend a prize-giving ceremony attended by "a prime minister who leads a party that dictates such an editorial policy".

Furthermore, he noted that government had substantially increased the penalties stipulated in Article 208 of the Criminal Code - the same law invoked to prosecute himself and Camilleri - while his trial was ongoing.

Although these changes would not be retroactively applicable to his own case, Vella Gera noted that the amendments were in themselves indicative of a hardening of government's position on censorship.

Vella Gera and Camilleri were acquitted by the Magistrates Court in March 2011. The verdict was upheld on appeal last week.