Public Broadcasting Services has stood by a memo sent to producers of current affairs programmes, requiring them to seek approval of their show topics 15 days in advance.

The broadcaster insisted that coordination was needed between the various productions.

The memo, revealed by Times of Malta on Tuesday, raised an outcry, with many saying on social media that programmes could not be current if notice about them had to be given two weeks in advance.

It also drew criticism from the minister responsible for broadcasting, Carmelo Abela, who said he believed the 15-day requirement was "exaggerated". 

In a statement on Wednesday, PBS rejected claims that it wanted to somehow hinder discussion on current affairs and argued that a reform that would see TVM 2 focus on such news shows reflected the importance and space it gave to current affairs and open, mature debate.

The memo sent out by PBS executive chairman Mark Sammut.

In defence of memo

PBS however stood by its requirements as stated in the memo, saying that the increase in programmes required coordination among the producers.

The station also had to respect its obligation to be impartial, as laid down in the constitution and EU directives.

It was natural, PBS said, that while the various scheduled programmes were coordinated, producers had flexibility to discuss the most current events which developed from day to day.

On Wednesday the Nationalist Party said it would be asking the Broadcasting Authority to halt the PBS directive requesting current affairs shows to submit topics "for pre-approval" 15 days ahead.

In a reaction, PBS said it would explain its position to the Authority.