The Public Broadcasting Service is no longer a public entity but has become a natural extension of the Labour Party, the Nationalist Party said Friday.

It said that there were no transparent public calls by PBS to recruit three new journalists and two camerapersons.

“Some of these recruits have no journalistic experience. Others have their own experience, but similarly, many other individuals have the same or better skills and experience, including the more than 100 graduates a year in courses organized by the University and MCAST,” the PN said.

“However, under the cry for meritocracy, none of these individuals had the opportunity to apply and be considered for a publicly funded career in public broadcasting. Under a Labour government, a career in public broadcasting is only the prerogative of persons at Castille, which directly choose who can and who cannot join PBS. Thus, the Labor Party is securing its grasp on all the information issued by the PBS newsroom. This is a clear abuse of power that exceeds all the limits of decency and insults the public's intelligence,” the party said.

“After turning into another version of ONE TV, the public has realized that the Public Broadcasting Services cannot be trusted any longer. Their only common goal is to follow the Labour Party's agenda.”

PBS Reaction

PBS said in a statement that the engagement process for new journalists, cameramen and other roles are done according to procedures established for government entities, and that the call for employment in question was done according to Jobsplus protocols.

The three journalists engaged, they said, had no ties to any political stations in the past, they said, adding that some had experience with current affairs programmes on TVM itself.

The four cameramen, they said, have vast experience in the sector and some have been giving service to the national broadcaster for a number of years.