The Nationalist Party is accusing Public Broadcasting Services of acting as the government's gatekeeper, protesting at the way yesterday evening's edition of TVM's news bulletin reported the death of a patient in a bed in a corridor at Mater Dei Hospital.
The event had been confirmed by Health Minister Konrad Mizzi in Parliament yesterday evening, leading to a heated argument involving MPs on both sides of the house.
But the PN said that TVM's news bulletin incorrectly reported that the patient's death occurred in a "ward extension," rather than a corridor, stating that this was done to serve the interest of the government by minimising the incident. It said that its intervention in parliament had aimed to highlight the undignified manner in which patients were being treated.
The party also objected to the way TVM reported that there had been "many interruptions" during the parliamentary sitting, pointing out that it was government ministers who were shouting, insulting opposition MPs and preventing them from speaking.
It declared such behaviour to be unacceptable, and sent a letter of complaint to PBS head of news Reno Bugeja, in which it insisted that TVM should report the event once more and state what really happened.