Two advertising firms this week were ordered not to supply MaltaToday with adverts from two government entities, shortly after a story appearing on the front-page of this Wednesday’s edition.
Bookings were instantly cancelled from the Automated Revenue Management Services Ltd (ARMS), the billing company owned by Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation, after a story appearing on this newspaper’s front page.
The cancelled adverts were also for the Malta Transport Authority, whose only relation to ARMS is that it falls under the aegis of the ministry for infrastructure, transport and communications.
MaltaToday has learnt that two private advertising agencies were instructed to cancel a series of adverts pre-booked by the same ministry in all newspapers owned by MediaToday (which includes Maltese-language sister paper Illum).
These instructions were received on Thursday, the day after the ARMS story appeared in our newspaper.
“Readers are of course entitled to interpret this sequence of events as they deem fit – our interpretation is that the MaltaToday stable of newspapers has been penalised for the grave crime of trying to do its job properly,” editor Matthew Vella said.
“It’s disappointing that such bullying tactics are used against us for carrying out our job.
“MaltaToday will persist in bringing to public attention the news and stories that are of direct and immediate public concern, regardless of any abusive commercial pressures.”
ARMS Ltd has encountered teething problems due to technical faults that render an incorrect calculation of the new energy and water bills. ARMS is still looking for a chief executive, just as it is expected to issue the new bills for 2010.
Its main technological partner in the billing project is IBM. The new software system – the SAP IT platform – can analyse data as it is fed through the energy grid from smart meters. ARMS Ltd’s new bills also come with a spanking 6% interest on late payments of 45 days and over from date of invoice.
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