The Labour Party head of news and pro-divorce lobbyist Evarist Bartolo is acting ethically, according to the Labour Party.
Mr Bartolo, who is also a Labour MP, was accused by fellow MP Adrian Vassallo of having a "conflict of interest" as a person who co-signed the divorce bill while being head of One News.
However, a Labour Party spokesman said Mr Vassallo commented "prudently" while Mr Bartolo acted ethically.
"We are positive that Mr Bartolo is respecting ethical rules. We also note that Mr Vassallo has a right to voice his opinion and did so in a prudent manner," the spokesman told The Times.
In an opinion piece that appeared last week on The Times, Mr Vassallo said: "I feel I must also remark that certain comments broadcast by One News seem to be biased, giving a push to the yes movement, when, according to the Labour Party, the party has taken no stand on the issue and expects all its supporters to be guided by its conscience.
"I find this strange when Evarist Bartolo, co-presenter of the divorce bill is at present head of One News. This is surely a conflict of interest and certainly deserves consideration by all the Maltese electorate."
In fact, Mr Bartolo, who co-signed the bill with Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is one of the main campaigners of the pro-divorce lobby and takes part in the group's daily press conferences.
When contacted for further comments, Mr Bartolo said he had nothing to add to the Labour Party's statement.
The party spokesman said One News did not receive any complaints from the Broadcasting Authority about biased reporting and pointed out that there was "an amicable arrangement" where the anti-divorce movement "can bring issues to the attention of news management about coverage".
"This arrangement has been used once, satisfactorily," the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that, in a separate instance, the anti-divorce movement had complained to the Broadcasting Authority about unfair coverage on a programme "that wasn't even discussing divorce" which appeared on One TV – not produced by the newsroom - and was partially upheld.
In fact, the broadcasting watchdog issued its ruling yesterday and ordered the station to have a three minute statement written by the No for Divorce movement read out yesterday evening before current affairs programme TX.
The statement would "act as a remedy" to an imbalance created during the discussion programme Affari Tagħna presented by John Bundy last Friday, the authority said.
It wrote to the movement saying it had considered its complaint and decided that the programme did include an element of imbalance, noting that people were mentioned but could not air their views since they were not present.
As a result, a three-minute statement, approved by the authority, would be read out without any accompanying visuals where the anti-divorce movement would give its views on points made during the programme.