Editorial: Is PBS a public service, or a political one?

It was January 4, 2020. Robert Abela was days away from becoming Malta’s prime minister. In the final minutes of a Xarabank interview, Abela made his priorities clear.

“You haven’t asked me if I will reform PBS,” Abela told his interviewer. “I believe that is needed.”

Five years into Abela’s term as head of the government and we have a clearer idea of what sort of reform he had in mind.

Practically every talk show that will air on the national broadcaster in the coming months will be led by a Labour insider, apologist or cheerleader.

It includes the executive chairperson of a national entity, a former Labour mayor, a former ONE TV presenter and a podcaster better known for his colourful language and chummy chats with ministers than political or journalistic insights.

All these presenters have talent. None should be penalised because of their political leanings.

But even if they do their utmost to present impartial, entertaining shows, the PBS decision to give its broadcasting schedule a deep red hue gives the wrong impression of the government and its priorities.

According to Broadcasting Authority statistics, 85% of locals are TV viewers, and TVM is the country’s most followed TV station.

Even in this age of social media, what they are shown – or not shown – on the small screen will have an undoubted impact.

As the country chugs towards the next general election, and with a new opposition leader to battle, it appears the incumbent government wants to leave nothing to chance.

Labour supporters will argue that what goes around, comes around. PBS was clearly biased towards the Nationalist Party when they were in power, they say. So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

They are half right. State capture of the national broadcaster did not begin when Abela assumed power, nor is it something only the Labour Party has indulged in. Ruling parties have, for decades, treated PBS like their own personal mouthpiece.

But there are some glaring problems with this defence of the PBS status quo. Labour has been in power for more than 13 years, and its current leader vowed to reform PBS. Instead, we get more of the same, even as the rest of Europe progresses.

Just a few months ago, the EU celebrated the introduction of the European Media Freedom Act – a new law that should, at least on paper, make it harder for national governments to manipulate public broadcasters.

The EMFA states that member states shall ensure that public broadcasters are “editorially and functionally” independent and impartial, with editors and boards that are appointed in a transparent manner.

The government has said it backs the new EU law, even though it has, for years, managed PBS in the opposite manner. So much for consistency. Of course, the Nationalists in the past profited from the state capture of the national broadcaster. Now it is bearing the brunt of this disastrous system.

Instead of howling in protest, the PN should be proposing how, exactly, it would change it if elected, and making a concerted call to wrestle control of the Broadcasting Authority away from the PLPN nexus of power.

A regulator controlled entirely by politicians will always serve them first. As is almost always the case, the rot starts right from the top.

While this political game of control plays out in the halls of power, the rest of us – the viewers – are left to contend with a national broadcaster that prioritises party loyalty over critical political and social discourse.