A code of ethics for the Labour Party’s media has been presented to Opposition leader Joseph Muscat.

The Labour leader said he believed people did not like to be presented with matters as being all black or all white and although a change required time, the first step had to be taken by politicians.

The code was drawn up by a purposely set up commission headed by Carmen Sammut. She said that the aim of the commission was to present a practical document leading to more professionalism.

The commission studied the code of ethics published by the Institute of Journalists, legislation and Broadcasting Authority recommendations.

Contact was also made with individuals from media organisations to see what kind of code they followed. Unfortunately, none were in a position to make this public.

Ms Sammut appealed for initiatives so that journalists’ organisations would have enough power and resources to monitor and self-regulate.

Dr Muscat said that the code was recommended in a report analysing the party’s electoral defeat. The code would be given to the party’s broadcasters and would be made public so that people who followed Labour’s media would know what rules were being followed.

A proposal that was being made and which could be controversial was that unless a person being arraigned in Court was a public figure, the person’s name would not be published unless found guilty.

The Labour leader appealed to the Broadcasting Authority to organise a national conference on media ethics in collaboration with the Institute of Journalists and the Journalists’ Committee.