Names of people charged in court should only be published if they are found guilty or are public figures, according to proposals made by the Labour Party's media ethics committee.

The committee was set up by Joseph Muscat in June, shortly after he was elected MLP leader, and tasked with drawing up a series of recommendations.

Its chairman Carmen Sammut said the committee's aim was to present a practical document which would lead to more professionalism.

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

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

Dr Sammut appealed for initiatives to enable journalists' organisations to have more power and resources to enable better monitoring and self-regulation.

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