Monday, 23rd June 2008

A first brave step

Joseph Muscat

The fact that the two main political parties in Malta do not only have their own newspaper and internet portals but also have direct control over a television and radio station makes up for quite a unique situation.

There are divergent points of view on such a situation, all of which beg a thorough discussion that goes beyond the scope of this column.

Liberalisation and the proliferation of various stations, including the party-owned media, have offered a window of opportunity to talent - both young and not-so-young - in our country.

Competition led to new and fresh ideas on one side but also to trash products on the other. One could not have expected otherwise.

Party-owned media contributed heavily in tapping into previously underutilised or even unused resources, be it human, infrastructural and financial. They came up with winning products and cutting-edge productions.

At the same time, there is a public feeling that the media organisations of both parties have gone a step too far in certain aspects, thus increasing the polarisation of this country. I have huge respect for all those who work in the political media.

I know their job is not easy and that many times they find their career prospects narrowing down, given their association with a particular party.

This is particularly true if their employer happens to be in opposition.

Having said that, I think it is high time to take action and see that party media better understand their relevance in society and, thus, fulfil better their role. My vision for party media is one whereby the editorial policy is clear and transparent but at the same time is open to divergent views and ready to engage in intelligent debate. The media's duty is first to inform, then to comment.

During my campaign as party leader, I proposed the setting up of a commission responsible for drawing a code of ethics for journalists and broadcasters in the Labour-owned media. The general feeling within the party was that this would be a welcome development. Nevertheless, there were some who expressed reservations.

Their main argument was that, while the Labour-owned media would unilaterally adhere to stricter rules, its competitors would be allowed to carry on with the same attitude.

I do understand their point but this is where the concept of a "new political season" comes in. I am into politics because I believe that things can be done differently and better.

Thousands of citizens, especially people my age, are fed up of the usual way of doing politics and want a clear break with the past.

That is why I commissioned a panel of professional people who are well-versed in journalism and broadcasting to draw up the code of ethics which I pledged. The commission will be chaired by Carmen Sammut, a broadcaster, researcher and lecturer in media studies. Carmen is also a member of the Press Ethics Commission. The other members are Xarabank's Joe "Peppi" Azzopardi, freelance journalist Charles Flores, a former senior deputy editor of The Times, Roger Mifsud and former It-Torċa editor Joe A. Vella.

During the next four months, this commission will work on guidelines that will help the Labour-owned media contribute better to our society.

The difficult part will start in the implementation phase but I am sure that there is willingness from everyone to do our best. This is a brave step. I hope that we will be setting the ball rolling for the other players in the media to follow suit.

This would give way to a healthier and more proactive public debate.

It goes without saying that there are other impending issues that need to be addressed with a matter of urgency. One of them is the state-owned media.

There needs to be a wide discussion on the way in which Public Broadcasting Services should develop. All citizens in our country must feel that PBS is "their" station.

Dr Muscat is leader of the Malta Labour Party and a member of the European Parliament.

www.josephmuscat.com

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 8, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

B Agius (on 25/6/08)

Oh - and something else Ms Caruana Galizia. I maintain that any population living in any democracy in the world have the same propensity for having a very short memory where politicians are concerned - they take a while to cotton on and punish a political party for past deeds. I wouldn't put this in the basket of being a specifically Maltese phenomenon and I certainly would not charge the whole population of any group let alone a whole country -even one as small as Malta- with "poor education......" etc etc. I think this statement, sadly, says more about you and how you feel about yourself than it does about the Maltese in general. Thus the calibre of what generally appears in Maltese newspapers comes from such warped views - political or otherwise. Funny enough the superior sounding humbug of what you write sometimes remind me of what you rightly accused Joseph Muscat of - ie his own silly "A First Brave Step" - on the other hand I hope that wasn't the work of some sub editor at "The Times".

B Agius (on 25/6/08)

@Daphne Caruana Galizia: I agree that writing about politics doesn't make a columnist somebody who works for the political media. However if one writes opinion in other media and it is always of a certain political nature and one sided, that columnist might just as well be working for the political media. I am used to commentators who are capable of robustly expressing an opinion on policy and other matters and are capable of agreeing with a party they clearly do not support - sometimes. Failing this and always presenting one sided arguments makes one 'political' - irrespective of who one is employed by.

B Agius (on 25/6/08)

Caruana Galizia's argument seems to be that if a person had a view or behaved in a certain way, they can't change. One might think that as she is an adult living in Malta she belongs to the club she herself described as people having " near-total absence of critical faculties...."! I don't know Muscat from a bar of soap but what she says he did when he was younger working for Super One does not surprise me one bit. If one is trying to break into some line of work in Malta and that happens to be a political party affiliated concern, then you have to toe the line. They do it on both sides - if they don't they won't survive. Perhaps that's what he's trying to solve or change. I will give him a chance than hold him accountable for it later. Another thing: I agree with Caruana Galizia that MOST people dislike the political media - or they should. If that were the case though, how come it survives? Good point made by Paul Kelly: he should push for the abolition of the law that permits such media. And Gonzi should back him.

Daphne Caruana Galizia (on 24/6/08)

John Ellul, I have never worked for the political media. Writing about politics does not make a columnist somebody who works for the political media. The political media are owned by the political parties. And 'poinoined', or perhaps you meant to write 'opinioned', is not a verb. If you read more non-political media, you might have picked up this little fact. Go ahead and revel in the reign of the headless chickens. You're welcome to it.

John Ellul (on 24/6/08)

To Daphne Caruana Galizia
Yes I hate political media especially when poinoned by people like you!

Daphne Caruana Galizia (on 24/6/08)

Oh, and something else, Dr Muscat - it's never a good idea to describe your own policy as 'a brave first step'. You should leave the compliments to others, and not compliment yourself on your own first steps, brave or otherwise.

Paul Kelly (on 23/6/08)

Dr Muscat is to be congratulated on raising this issue. But he does not go nearly far enough. The media and those who control it, is both a cultural and a political issue. Recent election and referenda results show that Maltese politics and Maltese society is highly polarised leaving little room for neutral debate in the middle ground. Esteemed Academics like Jurgen Habermas have argued that democracy relies on a neutral public sphere in which debate can happen without political leaning or interference. Broadcasting and the media are a key part of such a neutral public sphere. The BBC is an admirable example, as many in Malta will know. In my 2003 Dissertation on Cultural Policy in Malta I argued that the politicisation of Malta’s media was disastrous for its political and cultural development. Dr Muscat needs to go much further and propose a law that bans the ownership of media organisations by political organisations. The messages that he and other politicians wish to preach will be far stronger if reported by a properly independent media than if promulgated by party-owned media organisations. And in time the Maltese people will welcome the more diverse and intelligent debate that this creates.

Daphne Caruana Galizia (on 23/6/08)

I salute you, Dr Muscat, for cottoning on so quickly to the fact that the public's memory is very short and that in Malta it is easy to reinvent yourself because poor education has resulted in a near-total absence of critical faculties in the adult population. You had ample time to practise what you are suddenly preaching now, during your stint of several years at Super One. But did you? No, you didn't. You may have been born again on the question of EU membership, but you are going to find it difficultto convince anyone who knew you at Super One that you are born again on this one. You are either being hypocritical now, or you were being hypocritical then. People don't undergo a personality change between the age of 30 and the age of 34. And please, stop talking about 'people my age'. You're far closer in age to me than you are to my adult sons, who all have a vote, and who think of you as belonging to their mother's generation, in which they are correct. MOST people dislike the political media, regardless of age.

victor caruana (on 23/6/08)

The major problem with the Labour media is the content of its messages. Labour should stop useless debating or philosophizing about a political point or issue as it ends up sounding to be apologetic on the stand being taken. Its messages or postions taken should be positive, clear, crisp, firm and to the point. And for godness sake, avoid slots on One News which are so long winded that they end up incomprehensible.

liam kelly (on 23/6/08)

Surely the duty of the media, and in particular journalists, is to report news impartially and fairly. It is blatently obvious that these television stations and indeed other forms of media, such as newspapers, have their own agenda and are failing in this basic and fundamental principle of journalism.

I take your point that this is what you are trying to address, but surely this is futile since one of the main reasons they were set up in the first place was to feed the die hards nonsence to keep them happy, not to mention the fact that many of these organisations contain extreamly poor journalists who would have absolutly no intention of giving a balanced argument.

Therefore, you could say that its all very well giving these forms of media a make over and face lift, but you have to appreciate the whole reason for them being, and the agenda of those who are in control of these organisations are simply never going to change.

Personally, i would take the environmental highground and disband the whole lot of them, save the paper they were printed on, the rubbish they produce and the hot air they spout.

B Agius (on 23/6/08)

Congratulations to Joseph Muscat to even be able to push such a concept. He may not succeed, but to the extent he does, he will be giving the MLP the upperhand which the rest of the Media will need to respond to one way or the other. Speaking personally, I would rather see the abolition of all political media as it exists as it certainly increased political polarisation on an island that has a propensity for polarisation on any subject. But you can only get rid of it if society is assured of some divergence in opinion through a number of media outlets that can comment and report the facts in some form of professional journalistic way - something that is a rarity in most of the existing Media in Malta.

A first brave step

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