Editors claim they were not consulted on controversial media lobby

Times of Malta’s Herman Grech was the first editor-in-chief to reply to a set of questions sent by The Criticial Angle Project.

Grech said his newsroom has always operated independently from its commercial arm and “will not have any ‘direct association’ with political party propaganda outlets”. Read Grech’s answers in full

Allied Newspapers, MediaToday and Standard Publications announced in the last week of 2023 they had formed a ‘lobby group’ together with the PN and the governing Labour Party.

Update 11:45 | MaltaToday’s executive editor Kurt Sansone also sent his responses, saying there was no consultation with the editorial team.

He said he “trusts” that information about possible government funding for the association’s members will be made public “in the best interest of transparency”. Read Sansone’s answers in full

However, the media owners association and its members have already failed in answering questions on which persons form their executive committee.

Kurt Sansone is also secretary general of the Institute of Maltese Journalists, which has so far failed to comment on the controversial lobby despite repeated requests.

Update 19:40 | Several industry insiders told NEWZ.mt that editors’ claims they were completely disconnected from the commercial arms of their media houses were “absolutely misleading”.

Claiming they had not been informed about the involvement of political parties in the new media owners’ lobby beforehand was “complete b*llsh*t”, one of the insiders said.