Ricky Caruana promoting Labour campaign in flagrant breach of PBS’s ethical guidelines

PBS current affairs presenter Ricky Caruana continues to enthusiastically promote the Labour Party’s candidates and electoral activities, in flagrant breach of the national broadcaster’s ethical guidelines.

Since Prime Minister Robert Abela called snap elections on 30 April, Caruana has dropped all pretence of neutrality, dedicating his Facebook page almost entirely to sycophantic posts about various Labour Party candidates on the campaign trail.

PBS’s legal obligations are explicit, covering not only how its staff members must conduct their programming but also how they must behave outside working hours and manage any perceived or real conflicts of interest.

“Those known to the public primarily as presenters of, or reporters on, news programmes or programmes about current affairs broadcast on the public service broadcaster must be seen to be impartial,” the broadcaster’s guidelines state.

“It is important that no off-air activity, including writing, the giving of interviews or the making of speeches, leads to any doubt about their objectivity on-air. If such presenters or reporters publicly express personal views off-air on controversial issues, then their on-air role may be severely compromised,” the same note continues.

Instead, Caruana has done the exact opposite, accompanying Labour Party candidates on the campaign trail, ingratiating himself with ministers during mass rallies, and regularly showering praise on his favourite candidates.

Caruana also appears to be particularly focused on amplifying clips of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s appearances on the Labour Party’s campaign trail, often to endorse familiar names such as Labour Party candidate Rosianne Cutajar.

PBS’s ethical guidelines are even more explicit in a sub-section focused solely on political relationships.

PBS staff are not allowed to publicly associate themselves with a political party, express any kind of public support for any political party, or even endorse specific political candidates.

The same guidelines forbid expressing any public opinion on political parties or their candidates.

“Staff should not behave in such a way that damages PBS’s reputation for strict neutrality in reporting on politics and government; in particular, no one may wear campaign buttons or display any other form of political partisanship while on the job,” the guidelines note.

Caruana, who hosts a show titled ‘Ricky Debates‘ on TVM, had refused to disclose details about how much he was being paid.

In November last year, the Malta Women’s Lobby issued a strong statement condemning Caruana’s addition to the national broadcaster’s roster, objecting to his openly misogynistic views and pointing out that public service media exists to inform, educate, and represent the diverse realities of the public they serve.

Though Caruana’s case is particularly egregious, he is not the only PBS host to completely disregard the ethical guidelines that are supposed to protect the public broadcaster’s impartiality.

On 21 May, The Shift reported how an events and logistics company linked with fellow PBS presenter and former Labour Party Mayor Quinton Scerri was awarded a €570,000 direct order, despite rules prohibiting participation in public procurement.

A member of the PBS board of directors, Jeremy Camilleri, addressed a mass meeting in support of Prime Minister Robert Abela, yet another flagrant breach of ethics from a senior figure within the national broadcaster.

Under the tenure of Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, PBS’s failure to adhere to its own code has become standard practice, with the national broadcaster refusing to disclose how it spends taxpayer money, and even turning a blind eye to ethical and criminal breaches committed by former executives – all while getting subsidised by taxpayers to the tune of €9 million a year.