During the divorce referendum campaign, I publicly declared that I was going to vote in favour. I did it not only in The Times but on Bondiplus.
Indeed, when Joseph Muscat came on the programme he invited me to lock arms and campaign with him on the streets.
At the time, the Broadcasting Authority did not find a problem with my views on divorce either. And remember, we were in the thick of a deeply divisive referendum campaign.
But that was about divorce, on which Joseph Muscat and I saw eye to eye. Now he is finding a problem with me expressing any opinion which is not his. As a PBS broadcaster, he's saying, I have no right to express such an opinion either on Bondiplus or - and this chilling - on this blog.
Can Joseph Muscat explain why my right to express myself is conditional on whether I agree with him or not?
Do I only have a right to his opinion?
16 comments:
Well said Lou. PL's democratic credentials are at their lowest... If you see foreign stations' current affairs discussions, presenters don't shy away from expressing their political opinions, or even their party allegiances. It is usually tolerated (with the exception of Berlusconi). I might not agree with you on everything, but at least I know where you stand and who I'm dealing with. I cannot say the same for PL, which I still am unclear where they stand on the political spectrum.
Victor Fiorini
Very valid point Lou.
The reason is very simple, my dear Lou - free speech, free thought and many other values we have fought tooth and nail for for many years are simply AGAINST the principles of the PL. Yes, that's right, it's becoming increasingly clear to all who want to see that the PL now - maybe more than ever - stands for all that is anti-democratic and anti-liberal. The problem is that many DON'T want to see...
Ir-referendum tad-divorzju ma kienx fuq livel ta partiti u ir-rizultat wera dan. Kien fuq livel ta opinjoni personali. Int, Nazzjonalist konvint kont favur u kien hemm Laburisti li kienu kontra. Int, li ma kellekx hu l-kuragg li tohrog fil berah minhabba il-posizzjoni li ha il PN u l-prim ministru. Il-ligi ma tghidlikx li ma tassoccjax f'kampanja ta opnjoni personali bhal tad-divorzju izda fuq bazi politika partiggjana. Ma tistax tipprezenta programm fuq PBS, kemm int u kemm Peppi ghax ma inthomx imparzjali. Jekk tmorru fuq xi stazzjon privat, ninzghalkom il-kappell ghax tafu taghmlu programmi tajba. Jien xorta insegwik ghalkemm ma naqbilx mieghek fuq hafna affarijiet. Imma nahseb li qbizztu il-linja tad-dicenza u ghandkom tirrizenjaw mil-PBS.
Lou this is not about your rights, but about the extent to which your TVM programs can be perceived as unbiased (by the viewers). Perhaps we should see what it takes to survey the Maltese about your objectivity?
I think that the options are:
A) Change the nature of this blog.
and/or
B) Move Bondi+ to NET TV.
and/or
C) Employ more people to implement all of your ideas. You can't be two or more people at the same time. Not in your business. So maybe it's time for you to move a step up and delegate things to others (governance).
Now, you can argue all you want about this. Dr Muscat is simply right. Needless to say, the more you argue, the more damage to your reputation as an objective journalist. So this is perhaps time for us all to tell you that YOUR OPINION DOESN'T MATTER. Not out of disrespect but because things are what they are.
This will be my only comment on this article.
@Alan - political opinion, and the right to express that opinion, is not the preserve of political parties, despite the best efforts of the PL to persuade us otherwise.
@Alan, tghid hekk ghax mid-dehra ma kontx tisma il-propaganda kontinwa fuq il-ONE media li kienet tabbina l antiklerikalizmu instituzzjonalizzat tal-Labour mal IVA tad-divorzju waqt li honqot kull min fil-labour kien kontra l introduzzjoni tad-divorzju. Mela insejtu kif trattajtu ta' paljazza lil Dr Adrian Vassallo?
@ Alan:
Bniedem li jghid li hu imparzjali hu giddieb jew idjota.
Jekk inhallu x-xandir ghal nies "imparzjali" biss, ikollna jew nghalqu x-xandir, jew nimluh bl-idjoti.
@ C:
Spoken like a real pseudo-liberal (look it up).
Alan, the rule quoted by the Pl does not refer only to political parties but to any public controversy or debate.
I suggest you actually read what the law states. Don't accept the PL's statement blindly - go and check the information personally.
C, fortunately not everyone is as submissive and ready to cave in under pressure as you seem to be.
Lou Bondi will do nothing of what you suggested but will stand up to the brutal bullying.
And so should all of us.
Lou, ha naghtik parir prattiku. Jekk trid ghaddieh lil Peppi wkoll. Minn issa sa l-elezzjoni ghamlu uturn (joseph Muscat ghamel hafna fil-karriera politika qasira tieghu)u ibdew ghejdu li se tivvitaw Labour u tara kif il-Labour jaghmel uturn ohra u ma jibqax jattakkakom, anzi jibda jinqeda bikom biex jattakka lil Lawrence Gonzi u lill-Partit Nazzjonalista. Bil-Malti jinqdew bikom kif qed jaghmlu b'Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. X'tahseb Lou?
It is disengeneous of you and an insult to one's intelligence for you to accuse the PL (you always have to personalise it against Muscat like the PN do - don't you?)of trying to gag you from expressing your opinion when it is obvious that the PL is objecting to your privaleges hours and hours of prime time on national tv to spread the PN word.
Antoine Vella, what pressure? I'm sitting back, sipping green tea :-) It's you who seem to be under pressure given that you're defending Lou :-)
I hope (and am sure) that Lou (and yourself) will soon be fine. We all think that he has the ability to present really good programs.
No one should expect perfectly unbiased programs since that is humanly impossible, but I think that everyone should expect Lou to at least try. His blogging makes it clear that it is his intention to present PN's agenda on TVM. Many do suspect that Lou has used and will keep using Bondi+ for this [1].
Please increase the pressure. Just getting warmed up here ;)
-----
[1] This reference is currently "unavailable". But if you insist we could perform a mini study to prove the point... Nowadays it's particularly easy to do this, on the Internet.
Oh, and the mini study should also prove to Lou that nothing else matters more than the people's opinion... :-)
Enjoy!
@ C - You seem to have a difficulty understanding the rule of law notion. In a democracy, it is the law which regulates broadcasting not the "many" according to what they "suspect". What you are advocating is mob rule, not regulation. What you want is the right to an opinion based on prejudice rather than facts, the right to chop heads rather than examine them. What you really want is to be Madame Defarge.
@C
You haven't answered Lou's question.
If labour were clear to their stand, and confident with it, we wouldn't have to waste our time with their bickering.
Instead here we are discussing their ambiguity, and how they bounce it off others.
When is it ok to express one's opinion?
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