The news portal website di-ve.com yesterday evening announced, in a bizarre statement, that a new corporate policy had been passed not to report the general elections.
The announcement was posted as main item on the di-ve.com website at 9.00pm.
“As a result of new corporate policy, di-ve.com will not, for the foreseeable future, cover political activities and statements as part of its day-to-day operations.
“We shall focus our news coverage on matters of factual, current affairs and general interest. We trust that you will continue choosing our portal as your daily source of Malta-related news – the management,” the portal announced.
Di-ve.com is owned by telephony company Go, whose major shareholder is Dubai-based Tecom Investments – the developers of Smart City.
Go chief executive David Kay yesterday evening steadfastly refused comment when contacted by MaltaToday. “I can’t. It’s rather late, and I suggest you call corporate office tomorrow morning,” Kay said.
Pushed by MaltaToday for a reason why di-ve.com, Malta’s foremost news portal, will not be covering the general elections, Kay was adamant not to give any answer. Kay also refused to comment on whether the company had been put under pressure by government.
But it is reliably understood that government was not too pleased with di-ve.com’s coverage of political affairs. MaltaToday is informed that government officials put across their views on the coverage of di-ve.com to the management at Go.
Only recently the Nationalist party’s internet news portal maltarightnow.com was also launched in a new, bilingual format. The PN campaign is banking heavily on the effective use of the internet to communicate with potential voters, this week marking the revamp of the Nationalist Party website, as well as the launch of Lawrence Gonzi’s personal website, including both his blog and another for his wife.