Matthew Vella The Employment and Training Corporation is hiving off €289,000 in European Union funds for a publicity campaign that will feature on just the three “most sold” newspapers and TV stations, as determined by a private survey run by a marketing firm.
The Media Warehouse survey is a bi-annual poll that asks respondents which newspapers and TV stations they have been reading and viewing. It is carried out by private firm Informa Consultants, whose director Chris Bianco is also a shareholder of the advertising firm JP Advertising.
The ETC will spend the cash from the European Social Fund on the three newspapers which the Media Warehouse survey claims are “most sold”. Another part of the money will go to the three most viewed TV stations, as determined by the Broadcasting Authority survey.
But the Media Warehouse poll – whose findings are sold for €1,058 – has no access to newspaper sales figures and its survey does not enjoy the official endorsement of media houses.
The survey’s yardstick is in contrast to accepted newspaper standards abroad: in the UK, the ABC council is owned by the media industry to independently verify media performance and provide detailed circulation figures.
Informa says its survey is “independent” and “free from any bias”. But the owners of the firm hold some of the island’s major advertising accounts, and are responsible for directing the flow of advertising cash to media companies.
The next survey, out in November 2009, is likely to determine which media companies will be getting a slice of the €289,000 cake for the ETC’s publicity campaign.
Sue Vella, the chief executive of the ETC, ignored questions on the discriminatory criteria by directing MaltaToday to the Department of Contracts.
This newspaper also sought the reaction of Marlene Bonnici, the head of the Planning and Priorities Coordination Division, which audits the use of EU funds. “We don’t approve the tenders issued by the beneficiaries… however, PPCD does oblige all beneficiaries to comply with national legislation on public procurement.”
Bonnici said the case would be looked into.
Questions were also sent to the Department of Contracts.
Saviour Balzan, the managing editor of Mediatoday – publishers of MaltaToday and Illum – said that whether Informa’s surveys were realistic or not was “beyond the point”.
“We can say, rather subjectively, that we sell more copies than The Malta Independent. But if anyone wants to see if this is true, the only way is to ascertain sales is through audited figures. So we challenge all publishing houses to accept an audit of their sales.”
Balzan said the ETC’s decision to spend EU funds based on a “questionable” survey, was “one way for government to control who gets public funds. We’re seriously considering legal action now. We’ve long accepted the fact that this media company cannot expect any benevolence from any government.”
Discrepancies A niggling factor in the ETC’s decision to discriminate between media companies is the fact that it wants to use the Broadcasting Authority’s audience survey to determine the three “most viewed TV stations” to buy ad space – and not the Media Warehouse survey.
The difference in findings of these two surveys alone elicit major discrepancies.
In its November 2008 to April 2009 assessment, Media Warehouse said religious radio Radju Marija had the second highest overall share at 12.5% – trailing behind One Radio’s 21.2% and just above Bay Radio’s 11.5% share.
But the Broadcasting Authority only places Radju Marija at an average 8.6% share over the same period, outshined by Bay Radio, One Radio, Calypso Radio and RTK.
The two surveys also contrast on the overall share for TV’s most watched stations: the BA gives TVM a 36% average, while Media Warehouse says the national station has a 54.5% share.
Going by Media Warehouse’s latest survey on newspaper readership, the Sunday Times, It-Torca and Il-Mument are the three most read papers on Sunday.
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