The Labour government has effectively taken over the public broadcaster and turned it into its own propaganda machine. Its political debates hosts are all its supporters and the content has never been as dumbed down as it is today.
Under the Nationalist administrations, we used to protest that the public broadcasting services was heavily biased towards the party-in-government, but back then and at least, PBS used to host actual journalistic shows such as Bondi+.
The Labour government is trying to replicate the biased structures and policy that were put in place by the Nationalist administrations but the propagandists it is choosing to do its bidding aren’t even journalists in the first place and lack the skill to conduct proper journalism or even some sort of investigation. For example, the Labour Party is trying to replicate Joe (Peppi) Azzopardi’s successful Xarabank programme, with its loyalist Quinton Scerri.
Lou Bondi has been replaced by Saviour Balzan who has recently backed the Labour government’s push of its wholesale takeover of the judiciary. Nowadays, even the University of Malta has its own propaganda outlet for the government and politicians.
The Labour government has squashed critical debate and high-quality content on the public broadcaster, enabling a prolonged process of dumbing down the national discourse
Currently, the best televised debates which are actually being held in a journalistic and critical context are the ones held by Il-Każin by Jon Mallia which is now being also aired in collaboration with Times of Malta. We often quote politicians making statements on Il-Każin because it is the only place where they are compelled to answer difficult questions.
Note, I’ve got no hate for the sex therapist who is always on television speaking about sex. He’s just being used as a prop to make my point about the infantile level to which the national discourse is falling. Bread and circuses and all.
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Historian and Publisher
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