Broadcasting Authority replies to PN judicial protest

The Broadcasting Authority yesterday denied allegations that it created an imbalance in broadcasting.

The BA replied to a judicial protest filed by the Nationalist Party in the Civil Court over the broadcast of information spots on the European Union.

The PN is claiming the Labour Party had complained about the information spots broadcast by the Malta-EU Information Centre and the fact that the authority had authorised the MLP to broadcast spots on the public broadcasting media by using one-third of the time originally allocated to MIC.

The PN declared that MIC was a public entity and not a political party, and that, as a result, there was no balance between the political parties if the PN was not accorded the same broadcasting time and facilities as the MLP.

But the authority pointed out that the Nationalist Party, unlike the MLP, had never filed a complaint regarding the factual correctness of the spots aired by MIC on TVM.

The authority had still taken steps to safeguard any of the PN and AD's rights by declaring it would still decide on any complaint raised by the other two political parties.

The BA said the MLP's complaint was based on fact, not opinion, and its remedy was limited to the complaint.

The MLP had taken judicial action over the authority's decision and the authority pointed out that an eventual judicial announcement on the issue could be relevant to the PN's claim.

Professor Ian Refalo signed the writ