politics
PN Wins Urgent Hearing in National Broadcaster Bias Case
A Maltese court has agreed to hear urgently a constitutional case filed by the Nationalist Party against Public Broadcasting Services and the Broadcasting Authority, over allegations of political imbalance in public broadcasting.
The case centres on figures cited by the PN showing that between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2026, PBS news bulletins featured 532 sound-on-tape clips of government members compared to just 66 featuring Opposition members. The party argues this disparity reflects a failure to provide due political balance in publicly funded news coverage.
PBS has rejected the allegation. The broadcaster says the majority of government appearances relate to ministers carrying out official duties, such as announcing policies, services and schemes, and maintains that balance cannot be measured solely by the number of appearances. It says Opposition positions and criticism are regularly covered.
The PN is also contesting what it describes as failures by the Broadcasting Authority to enforce impartiality rules applying to news and current affairs presenters.
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