In the interest of balance, the Divorce Movement should give the Bondi Plus producers the interview requested, PBS editor and head of news Natalino Fenech said this afternoon.

He was replying to a complaint by the movement that the programme will not refect a balanced and adequate representation of all interested parties on the issue of divorce as it will only feature a one-to-one interview with Andre’ Camilleri, chairman of Zwieg Minghajr Divorzju.

Dr Fenech said in his letter to the Movement that it was at liberty to refuse to give the requested interview but then it should not complain there were no such clips when it would be invited to the programme.

He said the producers denied they informed the movement there would not be a one to one programme in future with the Moviment Iva Ghad-Divorzju.

“On the contrary, I am informed you were specifically told about Monday’s format and that as the issue is likely to keep being a current one in the foreseeable future, your movement will be invited to future programs, as you have already been on other programs aired on PBS after all.”

Dr Fenech said that the pro-divorce movement has had a lot of exposure in different shapes or form over the past years on the national station and there was nothing wrong with having the other side of the coin in a one to one interview on Monday.

“Indeed, the producers discussed having an extensive interview with you or an IVA representative to use them in the programme just as the converse would hold when the IVA movement representative would feature in the programme.

“Hence, in the interest of balance you are seeking, I encourage you to give the interview requested by the producers. If you do not wish to do that, of course you are at liberty to refuse. But don’t complain when there will be such clips when the IVA movement will be invited to the programme.”

Dr Fenech said that the Broadcasting Act was very clear about how current affairs programmes were organised and, apart from the fact that balance was not achieved in the way the movement interpreted it, the law stated that programmes had to be balanced over a whole series.

“If this were not so, there would not have been a prime player in the IVA movement alone in a TVM programme this same week,” he said.

See also:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110122/local/divorce-movement-complains-to-ba-about-mondays-bondi-plus