Four members of a Labour Party commission set up to draw up a code of ethics for its media in 2008 have denied a claim by TV presenter Peppi Azzopardi that he had trained Super One employees during two seminars.
Two seminars in which 39 employees took part were organised by the commission in August 2008.
Mr Azzopardi had organised a session to help participants get to know others better, but his role had nothing to do with ethics or politics, the four members said in a letter to Labour leader Joseph Muscat, released yesterday.
“This was in no way comparable to Mr Azzopardi’s hidden role with the Nationalist Party in the midst of the electoral campaign,” they said.
Mr Azzopardi confirmed he had coached Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando before his appearance at a crucial and controversial TV debate days before the 2008 election.
The members said the commission had been set up at a time when it appeared the two political parties realised partisanship was destroying the media and the democratic processes in Malta.
They said Mr Azzopardi had participated in an “optimistic environment” in the hope that matters could perhaps also change on state media.
Contrary to the impression being given, the commission members said the code was not drawn up by Mr Azzopardi and another person, but many meetings had been held in which all members of the commission took part.