The government has appointed a new Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) board.

This was announced during the annual general meeting on 2 September. The Board is composed of a chairperson and eight board members with different skills and competences.

Carmelo Abela, the minister responsible for PBS, said that the board will enact a reform for the station to continue improving its quality of service to the public.

The Board will be composed of:

Chairperson – Profs Carmen Sammut

Directors – Dr Maria Brown, Ray Calleja, Jeremy Camilleri, Engelbert Grech, Albert Marshall, Marthese Portelli, Oliver Scicluna u Adriana Zarb Adami.

Sammut is Pro Rector for Student & Staff Affairs and Outreach. She lectures in the Department of International Relations (Faculty of Arts) where she also served as Head of Department. She holds a PhD in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Sammut said on her personal Facebook page that the role of the public broadcaster has become more vital than ever.

She noted that public broadcasting is obliged to safeguard the various interests of people in society,  and the interests of people across the board, and not just look at things from a commercial aspect.

She said that it has to be broadcasting which is more inclusive and which reflects the diversity in society, along with serving to educate, entertain, and inform people in a world where the truth is becoming all the more scarce.

She added that it must also serve as an oasis for dialogue in a world where the language of hate and separation frequently emerges victorious, and that above all else, it must be a pillar of ethics and credibility. 

Maria Brown is a sociologist, Ray Calleja is a well-known actor and director, Jeremy Camilleri is a former General Workers Union official, Engelbert Grech is a former Film Commissioner, Albert Marshall is on the Malta Arts Council, and Marthese Portelli is a former PN MP.

Abela thanked the previous chairman Tonio Portughese for his service and all past directors.

In a brief tweet issued following the news, PN leader Adrian Delia criticised the appointments, saying that the PBS reform is taking shape in the form of "a Labour Party takeover."