The PN’s Secretary General Michael Piccinino and PN Shadow Minister for Broadcasting Claudette Buttigieg said Monday that it is unacceptable for the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) to continue to manipulate the public’s opinion in its reporting.

In a press conference, Piccinino said that the PN has long spoke about the imbalance and impartiality seen ‘every day’ on the national broadcaster, deeming it as a continuous discrimination against the PN, and all those who criticise Prime Minister Robert Abela’s government.

He said that last Thursday, during a hearing by the Broadcasting Authority, PBS was forced to issue statistics on the sound on tapes of PL members, as well as PN members.

The statistics he quoted were presented by PBS itself, which showed that in 2023, there were 351 sound on tapes of PL members, and only 27 sound on tapes of PN members.

“Each time one has heard the voice of a PN member on PBS, you have heard the voice of a PL member 13 times more,” Piccinino said.

He noted a particular month, that of November, which is an important political month for Malta due to the Budget. Piccinino said that for this month, there were 63 sound on tapes of PL members, and only one for the PN, which was Opposition Leader Bernard Grech’s speech responding to the Budget.

Piccinino showed the document, saying that there are entire pages showing clear discrimination against PN members.

“This is the continuous discrimination the PN faces, along with all the voices who had criticising comments towards Robert Abela and his government,” Piccinino said.

He continued that this is not acceptable, as in a democratic society, all voices are expected to be heard.

Piccinino said that the Budget allocates almost €7 million to PBS, and said that the public has the right to receive all information and news on the state’s broadcaster.

Buttigieg said that the document with statistics is clear evidence on the “great discrepancy” and “absolute imbalance” of PBS’ reporting.

She said that the PN closely follows and monitors PBS’ reporting, and while it knew of the imbalance, the statistics are a factual representation, making the PN’s argument more valid.

Buttigieg said that PBS is a public broadcaster, with the words “public” and “services” indicating that PBS is meant to provide a service to the people.

“With the document presented, we now see that PBS are being a disservice to the public,” Buttigieg said.

She said that many people do not even know the PN shadow ministers of various portfolios, as PBS never takes comments of PN members on their press releases of speeches.

Buttigieg also pointed out that when PBS does report on what the PN has said, it is broadcast at the end of the news bulletin, which reduces its importance.

PBS also show clips of the façade of the PN’s Headquarters in Christmas time, with Buttigieg saying that “this is the respect shown towards the Opposition and its position.” She added that PBS does not even include photos and names of PN spokespersons who have signed a press release.

“The people are not stupid, and they realise that this is an absolute disrespect. There are also legal obligations PBS needs to follow,” she said.

Buttigieg also said that during a national conference held in Parliament on social justice, PBS broadcast the news nearing the end of the news, and did not even refer to the MP who organised it, PN MP Ivan Bartolo.

She also noted that PBS misrepresented Grech’s speech on the Climate Change Authority bill, with the Opposition having to revert to the Speaker of the House to decide in Parliament what steps need to be taken.

Buttigieg reminded that the Speaker has obliged PBS to correct its reporting of Grech’s speech.

There is also more subtle reporting PBS engages in, by choosing which parts of a report or study show the government’s best side, while everything else is left out.

“What is happening at PBS goes against the public’s interest. The public pays for this service, and it should expect that it receives news which is true, factual, and entire information, rather than information which is tampered with and twisted to give a different picture than the truth,” Buttigieg said.

With only a few months away from the elections this year, Buttigieg said that the PN will not stop here, and cannot accept the route PBS continues to take.

She said that it is not acceptable that PBS continues to manipulate public opinion in a blatant way, and the PN will continue to deliver this message over and over again, using all tools and measures necessary so that PBS is truly a national broadcaster, and not ‘Super One 2’.