Mediatoday's 10-minute TV programme receives €88k in one year from public fund

Mediatoday's 10-minute weekday TV programme Reporter received €88,000 from the government's Public Service Obligation (PSO) fund in just one financial year, The Sunday Times has learnt.

The programme, aired on PBS five days a week, is presented by Mediatoday co-owner and Malta Today editor Saviour Balzan.

According to a report covering October 2007 to September 2008, Reporter was handed 68 per cent of PBS's €130,000 PSO allocation for current affairs and discussion programmes.

The Culture Ministry decides which programmes should qualify for the contribution, following a list submitted by PBS.

According to sources, the Reporter programmes for a given week are filmed together in one session and weekly production costs, described as "low level and studio-based", do not exceed €800.

Reporter has continued to be aired and, although the accounts for the 2008 to 2009 financial year are not yet available, it is understood that the programme still receives substantial funding derived from the PSO.

Mediatoday has also applied to air Reporter on next season's PBS television schedule as well as applying for an additional weekly programme.

The PSO fund, which totals €1.1 million, is provided by the government to ensure that programmes with a cultural, educational or social orientation are broadcast even though they do not necessarily justify their cost through advertising revenue. For the 2007-2008 season, the education programme Tikka fuq Kollox followed Reporter with nearly €80,000 from the PSO, while children's programme Tini5, which receives some €78,000, was the third highest recipient of funds.

Tgħanniqa received over €59,000 and Eileen Montesin's Dejjem Tiegħek Becky received over €26,000. Where's Everybody's Bondiplus received €22,000.

Nearly €300,000 is allocated to children's programmes and over €318,000 to educational and cultural programmes. There are also a number of programmes which receive direct funding from PBS.

Last February, the European Commission and Birdlife Malta had confirmed to The Sunday Times that Mr Balzan is also an associate beneficiary of more than €157,000 in funds granted by the EU for the EU Life and Information Project on Bird Migration and Trapping.

The hunters' federation had accused Mr Balzan of being the man who dealt with the EU on its behalf before membership and was now campaigning against it, while pocketing EU funds.