Irate PN lambasts ‘big brother’ Broadcasting Authority
PN accuses BA of ‘throwing country 30 years behind’ over decision not to have PBS dictate which party representatives can appear on current affairs shows.
3 October 2012, 12:00am
Jurgen Balzan
Jurgen Balzan
2 min read
Bondiplus featured Tonio Fenech and Karmenu Vella speaking on minimum wage on Tuesday evening.
Updated with Labour statement at 7:56pm
The Nationalist Party has hit out at the Broadcasting Authority (BA) in a strongly-worded press statement, for its ruling to have PBS retain its previous system that allows parties choose their own representatives when they are invited on the national broadcaster's current affairs programmes.
The Public Broadcasting Services referred its recently-enacted policy to have sole discretion on who political parties send as guests on current affairs programmes, to the discretion of the BA, which on its part, agreed that the previous system should have been retained.
The matter was referred to the BA because the Labour party protested PBS's insistence that it should be Charles Mangion to be invited to face Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on Bondiplus, when the PL wanted another of its finance spokespersons Karmenu Vella to represent the party.
PBS accepted the BA decision with Vella representing Labour on Bondiplus on Tuesday evening.
"The Broadcasting Authority should be ashamed of itself," the PN said in a statement which accused the authority of throwing the country 30 years behind.
The PN's communications director Frank Psaila said the Broadcasting Authority's decision had "propped up the MLP (sic) which wants to dictate things and always have its way."
Ironically, the composition of the authority is decided by the two parties in Parliament, each having two representatives on the board and the party in government having the right to choose the chairperson.
The statement added that the authority aided Muscat in his attempts to "censor his own deputies and favour his own clique."
"The Broadcasting Authority acted as a big brother, interfering in everything and aiding the MLP (sic) that wants to gag the freedom of expression."
The PN also said that the authority was allowing Labour to abuse the system and play the victim by claiming that it was being treated unfairly by PBS, whose chief executive Anton Attard was formerly Lawrence Gonzi's campaign manager in 2008.
In reaction to the PN statement, Labour said the "hysterical" statement shows that the PN's plan to use PBS to its advantage has failed.
The Opposition, said: "If anyone should be ashamed in this matter, it is GonziPN."
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Labour said: "GonziPN's harsh criticism of the Broadcasting Authority and Labour to defend the PBS management and its editor Natalino Fenech is shameful."
Labour pointed out that the Nationalist Party intends to use the national broadcaster for its own political gain and said that the PN intends to do so by placing persons from Gonzi's clique at the helm of PBS.
Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.
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I'm sure Tonio Fenech could have handled both Karmenu Vella and Charles Mangion at the same time.
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The usual faked and conjured outrage by the PN. If the program was being run by a truly professional independent presenter such as Joe Dimech than one could perhaps understand media prerogatives of choice of guests. But a show run by L.Bondi whose trademmark is to try to solely entrap and trip PL guests would be equivalent to telling the PL that rabid PN personalities should run the election campaign of the PL. Hallina kemm jahsbu in-nies cwiec jew bciecen.
Priscilla Darmenia •
It is incredible how the PN is stooping lower and lower. /
So the PN wants that the PBS can pick and choose who represents both the PN and the PL. /
Well, let us take an example that the PBS will organize a program on the financial situation in Malta and he invites Minister of Finance Tonio Fenech to represent the PN and an unknown back bencher who knows little or nothing on finance to represent the PL. / Veru arroganti u ma jafux jisthu.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
"The Broadcasting Authority acted as a big brother, interfering in everything and aiding the MLP (sic) that wants to gag the freedom of expression."
Who is really trying to restrain the Labour Party from being free to choose its spokesperson? It's the BPS who wants to dictate who is to represent the Labour Party.
And how gullible does Mr Psaila think that people are stating that the BA "propped up the MLP (sic) which wants to dictate things and always have its way." when everyone knows that the BA is made up of two members nominated by each party and a chairman nominated by the Nationalist Government.
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Kellu ragun Franco Debono meta qal li bhalissa fix xandir qed issir il-hnizrijiet tas snin tmenin !!!!
GonziPN "YOU HAVE LOST IT"
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GonziPN sar partit iddisprat.
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HOW DARE the BA prevent PN from using PBS as an extension of Net TV? :)
Mark Anthony Enriquez •
dawn bis serjeta???? nispera li nazzjonalisti ta vera
jiktbu lil dan psaila biex ma jitkelliemx f'isimhom ghax qed igalhom jisthu. x'ipokresija....tal biki
skuzi, imma dawn il hnizrijiet possibli bil barka ta l'onor prim ministru, ma nemminx li hekk, ghax ghallura vera wasalna fil qih
Joseph Sant •
From what I have gleaned from reports in the press it seems the BA was asked for its opinion by PBS regarding this new policy. The BA's opinion was simply that it saw no need to change a policy that had worked very well over the past years. Nowhere did I read that the PL complained to the BA so the "opinion" is not relative only to the Labour Party but to ALL the parties including the PN. One therefore fails to understand this hysteria. If there is hysteria and the PN is interpreting the BA's opinion as aiding the PL than the only conclusion one can draw is that PBS and PN have identical agendas and are working in tandem. There is no other explanation.
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Ara veru ma jafux x'inhi misthija dawn tal PN. Wara li hatfu l-airtime kollu fuq TVM WE, qed jighlabuha tal-martri u bl-arroganza kollha hargu jattakkaw lil BA ghax ma baxxietx rasha ghal manunvri tal PN-PBS-WE.
Luke Camilleri •
Kemm UCUH! Kemm MASKRI! Kemm IPPOKREZIJI!
Irridu veru jkunu DEMOKRISTJANI IDDISPRATI , jmexxghu PAJJIZ bhala REGIM bla MAGGORANZA PARLAMENTARI u Stazzjon Nazzjonali bhala l-VUCI TAR-REGIM, kif gabu il-PBS, ikkontrollat mill MAGHZULIN ta' Gonzi mill ex-Coach & CO!
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Jider li ma tantx mar tajjeb Mr Tonio il birah ghax il hin kollu jidefendi baqa.U hekk ha jibqa jaghmel ghax hlief kritika konta l-PL mhux issir,iridu jisimaw tal PL u kif ha jkampa u minfejn gejjin il flus u tahhom ma tisma xejn hlif friza u strategijji tal gideb.Mr Tonio meta ha tilghab loghbba int ma tkunx taf xse ssib ghalekk ghandek tkun preparat sewwa mhux tinproviza bhal ma ghailt il bierah.GRAZZI.moderat
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Why is it that the PN is so irate at a decision taken against PBS? Perhaps was it on the instructions from OPM that PBS had taken their decision? It is surprising that PBS-PN do not realise that it was their dictatorial decision that had thrown the country back to the 1950s/1960s, when the MLP had been deprived the opportunity to have its voice heard on Rediffusion.
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Frank Psaila, imsah xuftejk ghax e......
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Imma kif ma jisthux dawn in-nies ! iridu li min kien segretarju propaganda tal-PN fil-passat, jaghzel HU min il-PL ghandu jibghat jirrapprezentah fil-programmi li jtella dan l-istess ex-segretarju propaganda tal-PN, Lou Bondi !
U dan meta c-Chairman tal-BA kien innominat mill-istess GonziPN ! Ara kemm vera l-PBS, immexxi minn nazzjonalisti maghrufa, m'ghandux ragun !
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Mhux bil-fors joqomsu ta Gonzipn u bella kumpanija tieghu meta l-PBS hija oligarkija ohra ta Gonzipn fejn dan ix-xandir huwa monopolat mil-klikka ta Gonzipn. Jien ma narax programmi fuq il-PBS ghax iqallali l-istonku tieghi bil-propoganda favur Gonzipn. Dan mhux stazzjon tal-poplu Malti imma stazzjon imexxi min klikka ta Gonzipn. Qazziztuna.
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They are so used to having it all their own way that they cannot accept that one of theirs defied them. And they have the gall to even mention Dardir Malta and the rest of that crap. The GonziPN clique have become far more dangerous than Lorry Sant ever was. Lorry was a saint compared to this evil lot.
Mark Fenech •
Il-GonziPN kif jidħlu fiha din, mela kienet miftiehma minn qabel mal-PBS? Ħalluna għax il-ħobż minn ħalqna nikluh.
Daż żgur li tinkeddu tliftu c-ċans li tagħmlu aktar milli diġa qiegħdin tagħmlu bi flus il-poplu.
Peress li minn jippreżenta l-programmi kollha verġni u martri tista' tafdakhom. Ara x'qal Franco Debono li sejjer jivvota kontra l-budget ma għoġbitux lill Natalino Fenech, għax ħalliha barra mill-aħbarijiet. Dik newtralita!!!!!!!!
Stefan Mifsud •
Anybody out there still believe GonziPN and PBS are not one and the same thing?
I strongly suggest that for the sake of clarity, transparency, openness and ultimately honesty we should change the name of PBS and start calling it by its real name PBSGonzi.
