Media houses have flourished in Malta, especially in the past 10 to 15 years; pluralism has increased and from time to time we learn of more houses being set up or attempting to do so. Some manage while others were short-lived.

Successive independent surveys have confirmed that the national station, TVM, remains the most popular among Maltese audiences while the two major political television stations, One TV and Net TV trail behind, with One TV proving to have higher ratings of viewers after TVM.

Certainly, there exists fierce competition among the local TV stations and they also face more competition from foreign TV stations, especially Italian TV stations.

Radio stations too have increased in number and remain popular with a wide segment of the population, with younger generations opting for stations focusing mainly on music.

From time to time the pertinence of the political media in Malta is questioned, with some arguing vociferously that political parties should retain their media and others insisting that the political media is too biased, and an insult to people’s intelligence.

Many argue that it is indeed obvious that the political media is not objective, but simply a mouth-piece to the political party that it represents and that the viewers are intelligent enough to decide and judge what is being offered by such media. Those arguing against political party media argue that more often than not One TV and Net TV focus too much on political commentary rather than reporting news value reports. The media of the political parties can in no way detach from politics or not show any kind of bias. This particular media has to focus on the interest of the organisation it belongs to since it has to follow a political agenda.

The Broadcasting Authority usually takes the flak for not properly controlling the content of the political media, especially news bulletins. The Broadcasting Authority’s attitude towards the party stations is that: The two balance each other.

The Maltese population has insatiable thirst for making sure that opinions are heard and that people have the right for information and the right to reply; and this has also been mirrored in the written context, especially by the two political parties. Unfortunately, newspapers are losing out to radio stations and television as preferred source of news.

The question however is whether in this day and age, political party stations are still relevant; whether they are offering a good service to their audience or whether they are an insult to people’s intelligence. Politicians from both sides of the political divide have argued that political parties should do away with their media and invest instead in policy units which are much needed in a political party.

Certainly, the political parties are running their media on a shoe-string budget, trying to sell their airtime to promoters in a highly competitive and limited market. It is a known fact that the party TV and radio stations and newspapers together with their websites are a huge financial burden for both political parties. Yet, the truth is that while exponents of both parties argue in favour of dismantling their media, none of the political parties would risk closing shop before its counterpart does so. Whether this will ever happen remains a big if!

However, it is an ideal time for a serious discussion on the relevance of the political media, whether these should be strengthened or regulated more effectively, or for a more radical approach to be taken and their total abolishment.

Sometimes it is convenient to postpone decisions but after more than a decade of political party media the time is now ripe for a proper and serious re-valuation of political media in Malta.

Ms Amy Borg is a second year communications student at the University Of Malta.