Populist or not in his presentation style, Joe Azzopardi – now self-styled as Peppi – has undoubtedly strong communication skills\
Where he fails to convince is when he tries to play The Good Samaritan by trying to induce us into believing that in helping JPO during the last election campaign (for which read the PN itself) there was no political bias in what he did.
In his own words, he had no problem to spend ‘less than an hour’ with JPO on the techniques of TV communication because he genuinely believed that JPO was being unjustly persecuted and he (i.e. Peppi) thus chose to pledge him his support.
Was he asked to do so by JPO himself or was this a directive by the PN spin masters involved? Surprise, surprise – according to Peppi himself he does not remember who had set things up with Dr Pullicino Orlando! Give us a break, Peppi.
What was the role that his current CEO at PBS Anton Attard might have played in this saga, in his then key and pivotal position of one of the PN’s major electoral strategists?
To equate his contribution to an Ethics Commission that Joseph Muscat set up some time back – something that had been publicly announced and which had a specific task and ad hoc brief – with Peppi’s own involvement in a stunt that was pivotal to an election campaign that was ‘won’ by the PN by less than half an electoral quota, is rich indeed and unbecoming of someone of Peppi’s undoubted abilities.
In the past his commitment to certain causes was often convincing.
Today the same person who never thought twice in the past of publicly chaining himself against and resisting the excesses of the government of the day has now by design and or default ended up coming across sounding and looking like an extended arm of the same state whose ‘reverence’ he never balked at standing up to courageously a couple of decades ago.
Peppi went on record declaring repeatedly that he assisted JPO because he believed that Jeffrey was the victim of political mudslinging.
He even ‘reassured’ us that whenever he feels that an injustice is committed against a public person, including politicians, he instinctively wants to help so that the injustice is rectified.
Using such warm words as a yardstick, can Peppi single out the occasions when he stood up against and condemned the vicious attacks that were, are and most likely will continue to be made against the PL leadership and its senior officials? Did he ever take on any bloggers he knew well who often launched hate campaigns against eminent PL personalities?
Is it true or not that his role in the Joseph Muscat appointed Ethics Commission alongside many other well-known serving and retired broadcasters had been publicly announced while on the other hand his assistance to JPO merely surfaced now as the direct consequence of Jeffrey’s own testimony in Court?
He has been challenged by many Facebook friends – yours truly included – to declare whether there have been any other instances when he might have extended tactical and or strategic advice to Joe Saliba, in his capacity of PN Secretary General. If in the affirmative, can he list and single out these occasions? Did such talks also involve coaching other PN stalwarts once he has just denied having ever coached Gonzi himself?
How does he feel when the mudslinging against the PL is not only so intense, but often comes from his own stable mates in WE, in the printed media as well as in TV programmes and blogs.
So far he has failed to react to the repeated accusations that have often rightly or wrongly been made in the local media that a number of his programmes tend to give the impression that they are dovetailed or in sync with the editorial spin emanating from the PN as well as from the OPM Secretariat and Communications arm.
Can he kindly put the record straight on this issue?
Doesn’t he agree that the weak excuse that criticism against him and his company is a mere battle for TV audiences is feeble to say the least and fails to convince any discerning viewers and or readers?
While no one has the right to deny any of the WE directors from the right of holding and or sticking to their political views, doesn’t he as an experienced broadcaster see a major difference between holding such views and airing them publicly on state broadcasting as Lou did recently, when the mainstay of their programmes are chat shows with strong current affairs and political content or else topical news value?
There is little consolation in having the defenders of Peppi Azzopardi and his coterie recalling the unjustified and erroneous policies adopted in the past. If such past actions deserve our full condemnation, the same applies to the excesses currently under way at PBS’ end, almost invariably in a most discriminatory manner against the PL and its leadership.
Peppi continues to add insult to injury when he alleges that it seems that for the PL to be independent means you have to agree with Labour. By the same criteria, how neutral can he be considered when he so often backs government policies on many an issue?
Arguable justification for such a bias is provided by none other than Peppi himself when he told a local newspaper last Thursday that no journalist can be neutral, and rather than being stopped from expressing their opinion, they should be obliged to do so in order not to take readers and audiences for a ride.
Meanwhile the PBS editorial board chairman has just admitted that the law asked PBS to regulate itself. He added that if there is an issue that can impinge on the impartiality of one of our members, we take steps. Can Prof. Pirotta cite the various instances when he took direct action against Peppi and or any other members of WE?
It would be interesting for Peppi to let us know what is holding his company back from urging the minister concerned to publish the contract between WE and PBS, full details included. By merely citing the ‘fact’ that commercial considerations preclude one from one doing so, impresses no one.
There were times when Peppi courageously stood up to the excesses of the State. Nowadays through his programmes he tends to come across as the defender of the excesses of the same State.
Peppi tries to reassure us that in its 14 years on air, Xarabank was never, ever, found guilty of imbalance or partiality. Lou Bondi used to say the same until recently, that is until the PL took him to the cleaners, by nailing him at least thrice in succession, in front of the Broadcasting Authority.
Once Peppi seems to argue that he does not think that technical help for a party or politician to arrive at the truth constitutes a breach of ethics or conflict of interest, it would be appreciated were he to publicly list all those occasions when he acted this way in support of much-maligned PL stalwarts.
Does Peppi really believe that in helping the PN in an election campaign that it won by less than half a quota in 2008, he was being consistent with his self-professed mission of trying to raise the standards of public debate through broadcasting as he often claims to set out to do?
If Peppi feels comfortable sitting alongside the same WE directors who specifically breached the Broadcasting Act by declaring their voting intentions in public, when they happen to be responsible for so many prime time current affairs programmes on state broadcasting, then one need not add more.
If Peppi is not even prepared to admit that he overstepped the remit to which his role as a public service broadcaster is limited by the Broadcasting Act, then no one can blame us for concluding that although he might be an experienced broadcaster he tends to invariably come across as a very poor and unconvincing Good Samaritan.
The hysterical reaction by the PN media to the PL’s justified criticism of Peppi’s role in the JPO saga implied that we are hell-bent on gagging Peppi and that the PL is nothing but an intolerant lot.
That the PN felt compelled to come to the WE directors editorially might imply that it too is doing so altruistically, since the Nationalist Party might have followed in Peppi’s footsteps… by becoming Good Samaritans too!
[email protected]
www.leobrincat.com
Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change