The “coaching” session for Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando by Xarabank presenter Peppi Azzopardi during the 2008 election week was held at the Nationalist Party headquarters in Pieta’ it has been learnt.
Mr Azzopardi, who divulged the venue of the meeting, says he does not remember who had set things up with Dr Pullicino Orlando.
The meeting, Mr Azzopardi recalls, lasted about an hour, during which he prepped the Nationalist MP for his high-profile confrontation with former Labour leader Alfred Sant in an infamous televised debate where Dr Pullicino Orlando turned up holding a press card.
Mr Azzopardi has defended his actions, saying the coaching was a show of solidarity with Dr Pullicino Orlando who he “genuinely believed was being persecuted” by the Labour Party.
Mr Azzopardi denies ever giving media coaching to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, as the PL has suggested, but says he would “gladly give” his technical opinion if he was asked to, as he would to Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat. He says he has given advice to people from all three political parties.
Meanwhile, the Broadcasting Authority is looking into Labour’s allegations that Mr Azzopardi and his colleague, Lou Bondì, are in continuous and “flagrant” breach of broadcasting regulations on impartiality.
“The authority discussed this issue at length during Tuesday’s board meeting and is following up the matter with PBS,” a spokesman said. Sources said the BA was seeking clarifications from the station at this stage.
The articles of the law being referred to by Labour are criticised by experts and also by Mr Azzopardi and Mr Bondì.
The articles in the law that preclude PBS journalists and presenters from giving their opinion on politics or controversial issues are “not enforceable” by the BA but “may” be applied by PBS.
Kenneth Wain and Fr Joe Borg believe this is too ambiguous.
Fr Borg said the law should be clear and not stop at “exhorting” the public broadcaster to act in a certain way. If they were mere guidelines, they should have been internal regulations not written as part of the Broadcasting Act.
Prof. Wain said: “If it is a law it should be enforceable by the authorities... If there is this ambiguity in the law it needs to be revised and corrected.”
PBS editorial board chairman Joe Pirotta said the law asked PBS to regulate itself, which, he insisted, it did. “If there is an issue that can impinge on the impartiality of one of our members, we take steps,” he said.
Mr Azzopardi argues that no journalist can be neutral and, rather than being stopped from expressing their opinion, they should be obliged to do so in order not to take readers and audiences for a ride.
“When Malta’s EU membership or divorce was being discussed, I said I was in favour. But then I did everything humanly possible to be fair and balanced. In 14 years, Xarabank was never, ever, found guilty of imbalance.”
“It seems that for Labour, to be ‘independent’ means you have to agree with Labour. If you disagree with Labour, you’re no longer independent,” he said. The real conflict of interest, Mr Azzopardi argued, was the fact that Labour owned a station in direct competition with TVM, a race they were trying to win by applying heavy political pressure.
He said it was contradictory for Labour to attack him for giving Dr Pullicino Orlando “a few tips on communications” when the party itself had tapped into his skills to organise a two-day seminar for its own journalists.
Mr Bondì made a similar point on his blog, saying no one complained when he publicly declared himself in favour of divorce.
PBS, which has claimed the attacks were motivated by audience competition, yesterday denied Labour’s accusations that it did not reply to its letters sent two weeks ago highlighting this issue. Correspondence shown to The Times shows a letter of reply sent to deputy leader Toni Abela.
Labour has not yet responded to questions sent by The Times on the matter.