Malta Independent

The BA’s censorship of Metsola

The Broadcasti­ng Authority’s directive - which effectivel­y limits reporting of activities and speeches made by European Parliament President Robert Metsola - is another low point in our democracy.

What is worse is that the directive is a clear attempt to censor Metsola, who is seen as the main threat to the Labour Party in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

The BA justifies itself by saying that the directive is only intended to create a level playing field. Our reading of it is that the BA wants to do the reverse of what it says its intentions are – it wants to limit Metsola’s exposure.

The Labour Party and most of its exponents have been doing their best to dent Metsola’s credibilit­y in the past weeks. They have criticised her for her stand on the European Union’s defence, and miss no chance to highlight what they believe are her shortcomin­gs. That is part of the political game, and it exposes the fact that Labour sees her as a main adversary, perhaps to a greater extent than Opposition Leader Bernard

Grech.

But that is part of the political game, and it is expected that political parties try to weaken their rivals and put them in a bad light, in particular those who they consider to be strong opponents.

The BA, however, is not a political party. It is a shame that an authority that should function as an agent of balance in TV and radio media has taken such a stand against Metsola, and by doing so, against the same balance that the BA is bound to uphold.

The BA did not even have the decency to mention Metsola by name in its statement last Monday. This is reminiscen­t of the 1980s, when Xandir Malta (today PBS) did not mention the Leader of the Opposition’s name when referring to Eddie Fenech Adami. Have we gone back to those days?

The BA had nothing to say, at least in public, when PBS invited three former Labour ministers but no-one from the Opposition for a multi-hour programme which dealt with the swearing-in ceremony of the new President of the Republic earlier this month. That was supposed to be a day of unity as a result of the agreement that was reached by the government and opposition on the nomination of Myriam Spiteri Debono as Malta’s Head of State. PBS’s bias in its choices was not criticised by the BA.

We’re saying this to give just one example of how PBS is already seen as favouring the government of the day to such an extent that it does not even try to hide its partiality. What the BA directive about Metsola did was essentiall­y give the national broadcasti­ng station a carteblanc­he to leave her work as EP President out of its news presentati­ons – TV, radio and online – without batting an eyelid.

Metsola has described the decision as “wrong” and “dangerous”, adding that she is disappoint­ed that Malta is still to overcome “mediocrity” and “tribalism”.

We add that when the BA comes up with such directives it becomes clear why so many people have lost faith in the country’s institutio­ns.