A PN advert in Monday’s edition of The Times raised the ire of Labour’s secretary-general Jason Micallef because the propaganda advert had no indication whatsoever that it was in fact a paid advert by the Nationalist Party.
The advert “Facing Facts”, dealing with unemployment figures during Alfred Sant’s Labour administration, is the first of a series of electoral adverts.
Micallef has protested with The Times’s board of directors, insisting that it was the newspaper’s sole responsibility to clearly indicate that the advert was a paid advert from the PN, MaltaToday has learnt.
Micallef confirmed that he personally called the directors at Allied Newspapers. “They said that I was right and pledged that the next advert will include a declaration saying that this is a paid advert.
“I cannot but ask myself how these kind of ‘mistakes’ happen over and over again. How on earth can you call this a mistake when the advert was booked in advance? Wasn’t The Times’s editor aware of this advert in his newspaper?”
Micallef said the newspaper knew that such adverts are in breach of the Publication Act, should they refrain from saying that the advert is a paid one from third parties.
“This is not a first-time error from The Times. Three years ago they carried the same kind of advert from the Nationalist Party. History is simply repeating itself.”
The first PN advert states that “since Lawrence Gonzi became Prime Minister three years ago unemployment has dropped by 1,778, the number of self-employed has increased by 643 and foreign investment has averaged Lm325 million per year – four times that invested per year when Alfred Sant was Prime Minister.”
According to the PN advert, “Malta’s economy is taking off. With Alfred Sant’s Labour Party back in power, things will change for the worse.”
The advert’s main thrust – competence – insists that “without proper leadership, vision and effective planning, Malta’s increasing prosperity will again disappear. And unemployment will soar, again.”