Evarist Bartolo to run One News in drastic effort to reinforce Labour media

Shadow education minister and former editor to coordinate One News and maltastar.com

1 December 2010, 12:00am
by Matthew Vella

1 min read

Labour MP Evarist Bartolo is to be deployed to coordinate the Labour broadcast media machine in a bid to shore up its waning effect on audiences, and intensify its political effort.

Bartolo, formerly an education minister and also a university lecturer at the Centre for Communication Technology, had been the first to coordinate the Super One newsroom when the TV station was launched in 1992.

Adding to his current role as shadow education minister, he will return to manage One News and maltastar.com, Labour’s English-language news website.

One TV is headed by journalist Glenn Bedingfield, but the PL will tonight announce Bartolo’s return to the newsroom in the role of coordinator. Bedingfield, who had recently left One News to pursue a career as a restaurateur, will be editor at maltastar.com.

MaltaToday was told that mounting internal criticism on the quality of One News, and the worsening quality of maltastar.com’s reporting, led to this decision. “Bartolo’s media-savviness is expected to bring back some of the ‘oomph’ we lost in recent months,” a party source told this newspaper.

Bartolo is the former editor for the party’s defunct organ ll-Helsien. As an MP he was close to former party leader Alfred Sant, and has been returned on two electoral districts – the predominantly Nationalist tenth and twelfth (Sliema and Mellieha) districts – since 1992.

Bartolo was education minister in 1996, and today lectures at the University of Malta in journalism and communications. Following the resignation of Alfred Sant in 2008, Evarist Bartolo ran for the post of party leader but was eliminated in the first round of voting.

Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...

Brandon Johnson •

This is definitely the best move for ONE News. Varist has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the media, and I'm sure that there will be a lot of improvements. It comes as no surprise that he is the man to command such a position.

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@alexander borg Get a life man

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Should be interesting. I do hope he raises the general level of programming on this station. Incidentally, just a suggestion: In the mornings, transmit the news exactly on the hour and half hour. That's the time when half of Malta is preparing to go to work and don't have time to watch a full program of any kind, but want to catch up on the latest news.

Luke Camilleri •

Prosit hafna hafna Sur Alexander Borg ! Dahhaqtna, veru dahhaqtna! zgur ghandhu parti f’xi wahda mill pantomini tal-Milied : ) : ) : ) Evarist Bartolo Skadut qal – Skadut tajjeb 1 Nahseb lid an Borg huwa wiehed minn dawk li jkollu fliexkun inbid “Vintage” u jghid li mhux tajjeb ghax skadut! : ) : ) : ) Ghidilna aktar ghax ghandna bzonn nidhku f’dan il-pajjiz .... …sa kemm ma jqumx xi darba il-Kaxxier tal-Gonz Tonio u jintaxxa id-dahq ukoLL!!!!!! : ( : ( : (

Mark Fenech •

Alexander Borg, tghid ma tmejjilhux il-kappell lill Onor. Varist Bartolo. Il-bniedem ma jsirx antik biż-żmien, imma meta jispiċċawhu l-ideat ġodda, u l-Onor Varist Bartolo, żgur huwa wieħed milli jipproduċi ideat ġodda l-ħin kollu. Ħallina.

Alfred Galea •

An exercise in futility....will not win any new voters.....would've been better if Muscat went to the Uni and told those freeloading floaters that he'll raise their stipends 100% if elected PM.

Jeff Cassar •

Very good move

Grzegorz Tomski •

Well done PL! Mr Bartolo used to be my media lecturer at University, I'm sure he will do a very good job. Maltastar needs a good revamp.

duncan abela •

A very good move by the PL. The quality of Malta Star has been going downhill and leaning towards the pathetic in the past few months . One felt that some of the contributors lacked a basic command of the English language let alone justifying the designation of journalist. Varist is not only a professional journalist but has that keen investigative and discerning eye that understands well what makes good effective political news and what is just petty chitchat which just irritates unecessarily. I trust the Joseph Muscat will realise there are many other areas in his political organisation which need strengthening if he is to have a sporting chance of winning over the majority.

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Finally somebody realised that all those incompetent undergraduates were destroying the party's media. What a waste of the membership donations to keep these wannabees entertained. The next step should be to throw that media midget Kurt Farrugia aside. He has destroyed Maltastar and his communications skills at Mile End are as effective as a theatre without a roof, in this case a communication head without a brain. Joseph Muscat should be aware of the difference in Maltastar between the times when he used it to get elected for MEP and now when he is trying to get himself elected as Malta's next PM.

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U vera a step in the right direction.... imma ghall gol hajt!!! Prosit PL... komplu sejrin hekk.... flok nies godda.... nies li huma skaduti ! Prosit hafna hafna

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A step in the right direction