Are Malta Today and the Labour Party sharing resources?

Published: November 2, 2010 at 10:49am

From maltastar.com

From maltastar.com

From maltatoday.com.mt

From maltatoday.com.mt

Somebody needs to explain why maltatoday.com.mt and the Labour Party’s news site maltastar.com are running the exact same picture on their main story right now.

Hmmm. The new hbieb tal-hbieb.




59 Comments Comment

  1. kev says:

    Ooooo, conspiracy theory… You’ve been ‘saving as’ pics too. What does that make Running Commentary? Hbieb ta’ kulhadd?

    [Daphne – Sorry, kev, I don’t get you. This is a single photograph taken at a press conference last night and given by one photographer to two newsrooms. I can’t see a photographer from The Malta Independent giving a photograph to the newsroom at The Times to save them the hassle of taking one themselves (or vice versa). So why are Malta Today and the Labour Party sharing a photographer here? It’s not a conspiracy theory, but a sarcastic question.]

    • Malcolm Bonnici says:

      I think that what he means is that one of the news portal published the photo and the other portal used the “save as” feature on their browser, saved the image and used it on their website.

      Plausible explanation, but Daphne’s point goes beyond if that is true or not.

      [Daphne – Most unlikely. News organisations cannot take pictures from each other like that unless it is by agreement. And both pictures were up at the same time last night immediately after the press conference.]

      • kev says:

        Malcolm, clearly Maltastar copied the pic from Malta Today’s website, removed the menacing mic, cropped it and changed its colour tones. Must be a scoop of some sort.

        [Daphne – It’s the other way round, Kevin – use that brain. Why would the Labou Party need to borrow a picture of its own press conference?]

      • Malcolm Bonnici says:

        Well, knowing the way the Labour Party goes about doing their thing, Kev might be right after all.

        “iii ara r-ritrat tal-Malta Today ahjar minn dak li ghandna ahna. U iva, issejvja u itfghu fl-artiklu taghna, min ha jinduna”

    • kev says:

      So we’ll call it a scoop, then.

    • Vally says:

      Kev, there was a lonesome chincilla for sale at 150 Euros (cage included) at a kiosk in St. John’s Square, Valletta, today. Maybe you’d care to buy it to keep you occupied.

  2. Alan says:

    They are not the same. He has a sun-tan in the top one. It was taken soon after he descended the gangplank on crutches.

    [Daphne – Given that others might take you literally, I’ll just point out that it is the exact same photograph saved in two different resolutations.]

    • Pat says:

      Yes and no. Same original photo, but top one slightly retouched. Mic removed and colours adjusted.

      [Daphne – It’s the exact same photograph, Pat. The process you describe takes place at the design and lay-out stage, in the studio. Maltastar obviously felt the need to remove that mike because Muscat looks as though he’s about to do something pornographic with it, and they were right to warm up his complexion because he’s the unhealthy colour of a dead fish in the original version displayed on maltatoday. Must be that bothersome leg again.]

      • Pat says:

        Uhm, yes. Wasn’t that what I said? Same photo, retouched.

        Very true about his complexion. Daringly I say that with my own complexion resembling that of Milne’s Piglet.

  3. Fairy Liquid says:

    Let’s put it this way: both Maltastar and Malta Today have the exact same aim of seeing Lawrence Gonzi destroyed and the Nationalists voted out of government, and both are seriously strapped for money and surviving on cash injections if their revenue from ads is anything to go by. So they majtezwel pool their resources and have done with it. It’s called streamlining.

  4. Only Labour says:

    Kemm hawn kritika kontra tmexxija laburista!!!! jin vra tiskantawni ee, dik tfisser li qed tibzaw mil-leader kbir u bravu li adna :))

    haga ohra min qd jajjar lil joseph bhala chicken nugget ahjar ihares wiccu fil-mera l-ewwel ax tiskanta kem johrogu diffetti minna.. xi kultant tiskanta ukol b li tara :P

    kurag jospeh muscat ibqa ahdem al haddiem ha nehhu lil dan l-speci ta gvern(korrot) li adna

    • Malcolm Bonnici says:

      Taf li ghandek ragun. Nitkellem ghalija biss, jien nibza mill-leader li ghandkom. Nibza li fi ftit snin ohra jkun l-aktar Prim Ministru imkompetenti li qatt kellu pajjizna.

      U qed nghid dan bl-ebda sens ta partigjanizmu ghax Nazzjonalist m’inhix.

      Imma meta thares lejn l-affarijiet li qed jaghmel u jghid b’mod oggettiv tinduna li r-ragel mhux kompetenti bizzejjed biex imexxi l-partit tieghu ahseb u ara l-pajjiz.

      Ehhh jahasra kieku ghamiltu lil George Abela leader, kemm inkunu nistghu nivvutaw Labour b’mohna mistrieh li t-tmexxija ta’ pajjizna xorta tkun fis-sod.

      • kontra pn says:

        Kif kienet din mintix nazzjonalist ?? igifieri pajjizna b dan il-gvern qedin fis-sod???

        jidispjacini nejdlek ta jek qed tejd li joseph mux kompetenti meta inti tigi tejd li bhalisa pajjizna mixi fis-sod

    • A.Charles says:

      Only Labour qed jiccajta jew qed juza ironija.

    • Bob Gauci says:

      Jiena nibza iva mil-Labour, ghax hlif hsara qatt ma rajt minnhom. Nibda’ minn min hu injorant u jaghmel affarijiet bla ma jqishom u bla hsieb.

      • kontra pn says:

        ibda semmi hsarat li amel labour u wara nsemilek hsarat ta nazzjonalisti u nqablu fuq li nejdu e mela…

        Anzi ha nejdlek il-labour ikun jaf x qd jejd u bil-hsieb… ez zghir. fl-1 konfront li amlu joseph muscat u gonzi fuq xarabank gonzi ftahar hafna ez li l-gass mhux ha jgholih ax muscat qal li l-gvern ha jollih… Gholih il-gas jew??? dazgur li gholih…. dik wahda mil-affarijiet zghar

        [Daphne – Ghall-kurzita, kemm juzaw gass il-Laburisti? X’jaghmlu bih il-gass ezatt? Ghaliex jien, meta kont insajjar darbtejn kulljum ghal-hamsa jew erba min-nies, bilkemm kont nuza cilindru wiehed kull tmien gimghat.]

      • kontra pn says:

        daphne jien emmini lanqas biss jinteresani x taghmel int bil-gass… jek fimt il-punt alix semmejt l-gass huwa li gonzi giddeb f haga bhal ma jamel b hafna ohrajn li l-ewwel jejd mod umbad jamel ihor

        [Daphne – U il-punt tieghi kien: x’tip ta’ nies jaghmlu plejtu minhabba ftit centezmi kull xahar u jinsew il-kumplament? Taf xi trid taghmel mara tal-Labour li ma tistax tlahhaq mal-hajja? Tahdem, bhal kullhadd, minnflok toqghod id-dar tiffissa fit-tindif u tgerger.]

      • kontra pn says:

        ee igifieri l-gass ghola bi ftit centezmi alik ???

        u x qed tahsibom nisa laburisti li ma jahdmux?? fil-hajja tal-lum bilfors trid tohrog tahdem il-mara..

        vra ukol li hawn nisa laburisti ma jahdmux ima bhal laburisti awn nazzjonalisti ukol ta

        [Daphne – 35% BISS tan-nisa Maltin jahdmu. Semmejt lin-nisa Laburisti ghax dawk mohhhom biex jeqirdu dwar l-gholi tal-hajja u gONziPN. U n-nisa tal-klassi socjo-ekonomiku DE huma l-bicca l-kbira Laburisti. ]

      • Joseph Micallef says:

        Daphne ghalfejn qieghda tipprova tirraguna ma dan il proxxmu! Mil-laqam li juza fuq dan il blog jidher car li huwa kontra il-PN indipendentement mir-raguni. Ir raguni lussu f’dan il-kaz.

      • Bob Gauci says:

        Ma fhimtekx habib, l-ittri li uzajt biex jiffurmaw kliem ma waslux messagg li jiftihem min-nies.

        Dwar il-gass, jiena bej tlieta nahlu cilindru kull 5/6 gimghat u naghmlu kafe darbtejn filghodu, te ghal xi l-10 u 15h00 u ikla filghaxija. Is-sibt u l-hadd hemm cans li nuzaw l-forn wkoll. Gieli serva tmien gimghat, dak meta naghmlu kapricc u mmorru nieklu bicca steak barra.

    • Rover says:

      Sa fejn naf jien dan Joseph Muscat ghadu ma mexxa xejn hlief qabbad lil xi hadd jaghmillu emblema gdida. Leader kbir u bravu kemm trid, imma qabel jghid minn fejn se jakkwista Eur 500,000,000 biex ihallas ghal weghdiet li qed jaghmel, ma ghandux cans ghal vot tieghi u tal-familja.

      • ciccio2010 says:

        Qal li se jaghmel li jista’ biex ikollna arja nadifa. Qal ukoll li ser jintaxxa il-pollution. Xi forma ta’ carbon tax, nassumi.
        Allura nahseb li ser jaghmel taxxa fuq in-nifs – ma kull nifs narmu ma nafx kemm milligrammi ta’ carbon dioxide. Malajr jigborhom.

    • PhiliP says:

      Grazzi hafna Joseph ta’ kull ma qieghed taghmel. Grazzi talli qieghed tiftah ghajnejn ic-cittadini xi jfisser Labour fill-gvern ghax hawn hafna li jew ma lahqux gvern Laburista bhali jew hawn min qieghed jinsa’ minn xiex ghadda.

      Jien qatt ma kelli dik ix-xorti li nkun iggvernat minn gvern Laborista. Pero’ ma tantx qieghed tipperswadini bill-moghod kif qieghed iggib ruhek. Qiesek tifel zghir, isabbat saqah ma’ l-art.

      Possibli li ma tghallimt xejn minn Brussels kif ghandek iggib ruhek ta’ kap ta’ l-oppozizzjoni? Taqbel jew ma taqbilx ma’ l-avversarju tieghek, dak decor li tindirizza lill-avversarju tieghek fl-ghola istituzzjoni tal-pajjiz b’ismu?

      Issegwi “Porta a Porta” fuq ir-RAI? Jekk le, naghtik parir biex issegwieh halli titghallem kif igubu ruhom il-parlamentari ta’ kull fehma differenti bejnithom.

      Fis-6.30 Joseph Muscat Dramatic Company beda it-tejatrin u fik spicca qlibt fuq ir-Rai u bejd insegwi dibattitu bejn PDL, PD u LEGA NORD. Ara ma tahsibx li jien naqbel ma’ Berluscon ta!! imma lanqas ma qaghdu jitpastsu u jajru lill-xulxi. Joseph – baqghalek x’titaghallem.

      Il-biza’ tieghi hi li bik fil-gvern il-pajjiz jiehu daqqa ta’ harta kbira u dak li gie jerga’ jitlaq u ma jigi QATT.

    • Vally says:

      “Leader kbir u bravu”. Kurzita’ – X'”I.Q.” ghandek?

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Daphne, way too much Maltese on the blog for the English-speaking ‘great unwashed’. Sorry, back to The New York Times.

  5. kontra pn says:

    this is stupid what you are saying.. the thing is that if you should see the newspaper NAZZJON, you will notice that the articles have the same sense that is.. LIES, LIES, CORRUPTION and more LIES!!!!

    • il-Ginger says:

      LOl, LOL, COUGH, and more LOL.

    • TROY says:

      Kontra PN jew kontra sens komun.

    • PhiliP says:

      Ghalxejn qabbadtu lil Godfrey Grima and Co. biex jaghmlilkom rapport wara it-tielet jew ir-raba telfa elettorali – ghax issa insejt, xorta ma tghallimtu xejn.

      Iktar kummenti, please, halli nkompli niftah mohhi.

      Taf x’nismahhom ighidu? Li ahjar ighixu u jgergru fil-kwiet u fil-paci taht il-PN milli jghixu itterrorizzati u ma jafux x’ser isibu l-ghada fuq ix-xoghol ghax tohrog kont taf, imma tidhol id-dar ma kellikx garanzija.

      Grazzi

  6. MoBi says:

    I’m surprised you haven’t caught on, Daphne. They are 2 completely different photos – he had this same static expression on his face all through the press conference yesterday as he speaks from his backside. So all photos taken of his face yesterday would inevitably look exactly alike.

  7. il-lejborist says:

    If, to you, MaltaToday and the PL are friends, the relationship between Where’s Everybody and the PN is what…an everlasting marriage with children?

    [Daphne – No relationship at all, I imagine. But what is your point, exactly – that it’s all right for Malta Today’s newsroom to share resources with the Labour Party because Where’s Everybody has a relationship with the Nationalist Party? The irony is that Joe Azzopardi is one of the people who voted Labour in 1996 and helped bring near-disaster on this country.]

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      Jien ma nafx x’relation qed taraw bejn Where’s Everybody u l-PN. Bl-ebda mod ma tista’ tghid li Where’s Everybody qed tiffavorixxi l-PN. Lou Bondì huwa wiehed mill-akbar laghqa ta’ Joseph Muscat fil-gzejjer Maltin, bar none.

      • PhiliP says:

        Yes, you’re right.

        Tinsiex li aktar ma’ toqrob l-elezzjoni iktar ser jilghaq ghax hemm hobzu fin-nofs u ma ghandu l-ebda “chance” li jkompli bil-programmi “cheap” jekk ma joghgobx lil Muscat.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Just look at the way The Times is desperately trying to curry favour with Muscat. But I suspect that with Bondì it is the expression of true friendship and admiration.

    • Another Muscat says:

      Obviously there is no relationship between Where’s Everybody and the PN, but as every hard-core Labour supporter believes:
      “Minn mhux maghna, kontra taghna”.

      This attitude attracts the weak independent movements while it will repel those movements who have a stronger belief in their mission or ideas.

      • il-lejborist says:

        A truly independent, investigative journalist, running a show on national TV, should neither be with or against anyone. His job is to scare the living daylights out of EVERY interviewee, irrespective of who is standing in front of him, in an effort to make him or her spill out the beans. That’s if he wants to be taken seriously, of course. Unfortunately, he only does so arbitrarily.

        [Daphne – Yes, you’re right. Lou is sometimes far too soft on Labour. I think he’s worried about coming across as unduly harsh because of public perception about his political preferences.

        What do you mean, with or against anyone? I have yet to meet an intelligent and well-respected current affairs show-host or journalist who doesn’t vote. I have no respect for people who don’t vote, and I cannot think how you see this as the ideal.]

    • il-lejborist says:

      “No relationship at all, I imagine”

      Oh my, you play the naive woman horribly!

      [Daphne – I’m not playing anything. I happen to know most of those involved and have done so for a couple of decades at least. If you were to bother examining the stucture, partnerships and employees of Where’s Everybody, you’d probably conclude that there’s more of a family relationship with people from the Labour Party and Super One, though it’s strictly professional. Where’s Everybody isn’t in partnership with Anton Attard, for instance, but it is in partnership with Silvio tan-Nexus.]

      My point is that, despite not knowing their respective editors from Jesus, I find it normal in a way for two private entities to adopt the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend approach.

      [Daphne – That’s your problem, sir. You don’t know anyone from Adam (not Jesus) and yet you feel confident in forming an opinion and telling me about it. You aren’t even aware that maltastar.com is NOT a private enterprise. It is neither private nor an enterprise, but part of the propaganda machine owned and operated by the Labour Party. Malta Today, on the other hand, IS a private enterprise, and one which claims to give us the news independently and in an unbiased fashion. Then we discover that it’s saving money on photographers by using the Labour Party’s photos.]

      Is your relationship with the PN so different? Do you swear on a stack of bibles that you have never shared any information with the PN?

      [Daphne – Share information? What information do I have that the Nationalist Party could possibly want? I think I need to explain to you how these things work: journalists, writers and media people try to get information out of political parties, NOT the other way round. You’e new to this game, I find. I will even get information out of the Labour Party if I can, not least because it tends to be more interesting.]

      Since, neither Maltastar nor Maltatoday, make use of public assets in their day-to-day endeavours, I don’t see anything to write home about.

      [Daphne – You know, when people like you write in with your arguments, I am no longer surprised that a man with a wig can become prime minister and that a 36-year-old pig-ignorant Super One reporter is about to become one. How do public assets come into this? We are talking here about a newspaper that claims to be politically independent but which is notoriously reluctant to carry stories about Labour, not bothering to send a photographer to an important press conference because it knows it can cadge a shot from the Labour newsroom.]

      Worse is surely the fact that WE and the PN have been in bed with each other for quite some time now, but differently from the previous scenario, it is the tax payers who pay for their bed on which their passionate love is overtly consumed on a weekly basis. (The bed being TVM, figuratively, of course, duh!)

      [Daphne – If Where’s Everybody were in bed with the PN, then Silvio tan-Nexus wouldn’t be in bed with Where’s Everybody. Take my advice: don’t form opinions or comment without first knowing what you’re talking about. And how do the taxpayers come into this, exactly? I am at a loss to understand.]

      Re Joe Azzopardi, you may be right, but one thing’s for sure, he didn’t vote Labour in the elections following that one and I don’t think he gave his no.1 to his ex-buddies at the AD either.

      And, Daph, what about his brother-in-arms, Lou? Why did you leave him out of the equation? You sure he doesn’t have a present relationship with the PN?

      [Daphne – Yes, I’m sure. Better still, I actually know. And I don’t have one either. The trouble with your lot is that you’re too keen to believe that people like me are paid to sing the Nationalist Party’s praises or, more to the point, criticise Labour. I imagine it’s too painful to come to terms with the fact that somebody like me, whose opinions you obviously respect in a perverse sort of way, really does think that the Labour Party is a heap of useless crap and has no qualms telling everybody about it. You want me to admire and praise Labour. Well, tough, it’s not going to happen. I wasn’t born into a Labour family and I don’t have a low IQ or a sackload of lanzit.]

      • il-lejborist says:

        “Well, tough, it’s not going to happen. I wasn’t born into a Labour family and I don’t have a low IQ or a sackload of lanzit.”

        What’s with you and your constant reverting to cheap IQ and social insults each time you’re challenged, huh? Someone needs to get la…errr go out more.

        [Daphne – Because it’s true, that’s why. If there are people with a high IQ (or even just average), who weren’t born into a Labour family, and who do not have it in for the Nationalists because of some perceived wrongs or because of jealousy and resentment and the wish to bring others down, who have looked at the political options on offer and said ‘Hmmm, Labour looks like the best. Those people have some really good ideas and they are very credible and able. I’ll vote for them’, then show them to me. Because I have yet to meet a single one.]

  8. Angus Black says:

    Kemm jiddefendu l-leader taghhom dawn tal-Labour!

    Mur ara li kieku kellhom xi leader bhal Borg Olivier, Eddie Fenech Adami jew Lawrence Gonzi.

    Minflok, ghandhom pupazz bla sustanza, bla vizjoni u bla soluzjonijiet ghas-sitwazzjoni li tinsab fiha d-dinja kollha.

    U George Abela – President ta’ Malta. Prosit MLP.

  9. John Schembri says:

    Could it be a freelance photographer who took three pictures at one go, sold two of them to Malta Today and Malta Star?

    [Daphne – No. It’s the same image. The Labour Party isn’t going to depend on a freelance photographer for its own press conference. It uses its retained or employed photographers, and it is inconceivable that it wouldn’t have a photographer present on such a big day. Malta Today, on the othe hand, doesn’t employ or retain photographers but makes do with what it can find. And that’s why it’s so blinking obvious that the Labour Party helped out Malta Today by giving them one the photographs its own photogapher had taken.]

  10. TROY says:

    Heqq, kulhadd jaf li Joseph doppia faccia

  11. red nose says:

    Those bent on going on a diet, have a look at this photograph. It’s enough to put you off food for months.

  12. Giovanni says:

    Definitely same photograph. Look at the tie knot – on the right hand side, just under the collar, there is a white dot which is the same in both photographs.

  13. Fair deal says:

    Malta Today is now so pro -PL and anti -Gonzi that it’s exactly the English newspaper the PL always wanted and they are getting it free.

  14. fred says:

    Id-dawl u l-ilma gholjin, mela ovvja li ha jrahhashom.

    2% VAT akkomodazzjoni zejda, mela ha jnnehija.

    VAT fuq ir-registration tax tal-karozzi jerga jtihom lura.

    Mittleklass intaxxati hafna, mela ha jnaqqas.

    Il-gass gholi hafna mela ha jrahhsu.

    It-toroq dizastru, mela ha jghamilhom kollha.

    Il-living wage – mela jhallas id-differenza il-gvern.

    Jekk mhux ha jhallsu tal-lukandi ghax il-profit margin naqas hafna, mhux ha jhallas il-mittleklass ghax intaxxat hafna, is-social services (ghall-ghazzenin) irid izidhom, 50 miljun euro lura f’taxxi fuq ir-registrazzjoni tal-vetturi, ha jrahhas il-gass, diesel u petrol, ha jrahhas il-kontijiet tad-dawl u l-ilma – IMMA MIN SE JHALLAS, JOSEPH?

    L-aqwa li ghandna lil Anglu bhala vici kap!

  15. TROY says:

    Daphne, nahseb ‘kontra pn’ kien qied jirreferi ghal gass tad-dmuh, ghax minn dak kienu juzaw hafna.

  16. David Buttigieg says:

    “Are Malta Today and the Labour Party sharing resources?”

    Well, why not? They already share a brain. Pity they couldn’t find one which works.

  17. Riya says:

    Forsi issa il-Malta Today tghidilna x’kien jaghmel Joseph fil-Budget ghax hlief jikkritika ma ghamilx. Jien taf x’naf inghid li kullhadd imur il-cruises, imur weekend breaks, post fejn tiekol il-Gimgha u s-Sibt ma’ ssibx, tmur tixtri ghand tal-computers trid toqghod fil-queue, tmur Paceville ma ssibx tipparkja imkien anke il-parking areas fully booked.

    U l-karrozzi li ghandna fit-toroq taghna? Dan ma jfisser xejn? Jien fi zmien il-Labour ma’ niftakrux hekk il-pajjiz, anzi biex ikollok ftit ilma konna nistennew lil tal-bowser fit-triq qisna tal-Iraq.

    It turisti anqas biex jinhasslu fil-lukandi ma kien ikollhom ilma. U anqas dawl ma kien ikollna, la fit toroq u anqas id-dar. U fil-budget kienu jkellmuna fuq it-tonn taz-zejt u l-incova! Dan mhux il-boghod tafux ghoxrin sena ilu biss. U llim nitkellmu fuq Lufthansa, Smart City, Power stations godda, toroq godda, Sptar gdid. Imma possibli ghal tal-Labour ma nbidel xejn?

    • c abela triganza says:

      I agree with Riya’s comments.

      But over the last years I’ve noticed when I visit Malta that small shops do not stock enough goods. I can’t understand why, when there is enough spending power and the market is open to everything.

      Pharmacies do not stock enough. If you ask for the most common medicine, that’s fine, you find everything. But if it’s a prescription fo something which is not sold regularly, you don’t find it. They have to specifically order it in. Maybe I always visit the wrong pharmacies.

      The same happened with a washing machine which I needed urgently. Most of the answers; we don’t have them in stock, and if the models I liked were available, I would be told, that I have to wait a week or more because they have plenty of deliveries. This happens in Malta were distances are so short. If they don’t employ enough delivery people, then the goods take long to arrive to destination.

      • Anthony Farrugia says:

        Maybe they use “just-in-time” stock control so as not to tie up costly funds from the overdraft in stock; or they could be getting stocks from Sicily or mainland Italy?

  18. c abela says:

    Rigward il-konsum tal-gas, jiena nahseb li l-aktar li jinhela fix-xitwa meta jintuzaw il-gas heaters.

    Imma dawk in-nisa li joqghodu d-dar imwahhlin mat-telephone icemplu lil Manuel Cuschieri ghax ma jmorrux isibu job?

  19. John says:

    Pray tell me why they keep insisting on low angles when Joseph Muscat has a double chin. The comparison to Peter Griffin becomes inevitable.

  20. Mark Thorogood says:

    OK, spelling a word wrong once, it happens, but not eight times in the same article.

    Smart metres cost €20 million
    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101108/local/smart-metres-cost-20-million

    Is a smart metre shorter or longer than a stupid one?

  21. Mark Thorogood says:

    The Times has edited the article, but can’t even do that correctly, only changing 6 of the 8

Leave a Comment