What, do you mean Super One and Maltastar have a code of ethics?

The code of ethics was announced in November 2008 after being put together by media experts appointed by Labour leader Joseph Muscat.

According to this code, the names of people arraigned in court are not to be published unless they have been found guilty or if they are public figures or notorious criminals.

Since this runs contrary to the general policy used by most of the Maltese media, the clause was immediately seen as somewhat controversial, even though it vaguely allows for some leeway because it says that in all circumstances the editors need to “evaluate with great responsibility the seriousness of the case”.

The names of those accused have been appearing in Labour’s media for several months even though this recommendation was never removed from the code of ethics.

The code still appears on the PL’s official website as the first policy drawn up by Dr Muscat’s team.

When asked whether this recommendation had been removed from the code or changed in light of several reports where private persons were arraigned, a Labour spokesman began by saying: “While we are committed to fair and ethical reporting, we are even more concerned about how certain sectors of the media are breaking broadcasting laws without anyone regulating them.”

Eventually, the spokesman responded to the questions regarding Labour’s code of ethics: “While we endeavour to make sure we are correct in our media reports and ensure we abide by our code of ethics, there are cases which will remain at the discretion of the editor.”

Referring to the latest court reports mentioning Allan Galea, the man accused of killing Anthony Borg (also known as il-Bona), the spokesman said that in this case the accused had given himself up to the police.

The spokesman added that his name was published on all media reports so the editor felt it was “no use” keeping his identity hidden because it was already in the public domain.