At a conference on the value of communication in today’s society hosted by the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister in collaboration with the Media Literacy Board, a study on media in Malta was presented. .
The aim of the conference is to initiate an open process by the Media Literacy Board to draw up a policy on media literacy.
From the study conducted by Dr. Vince Marmarà, who is the first of his kind in our country, has released important statistics from the perceptions of the Maltese people, which deal with the media in our country. This scientific survey also focused on public broadcasting, which showed that public broadcasting is more than twice as neutral for Maltese and Gozitans, than all the media in the country. In fact, 48.4% of respondents believe that public broadcasting is neutral, while 21.6% say that independent media is objective and neutral.
This conference served as an opportunity to discuss and raise awareness about media, both traditional and social media, in the context of today’s Maltese society. The conference was divided into three parts: in the first part, which focused on the value of ethics in communication, Mr. Aleks Farrugia, Mr. George Cini, Mr. Frans Ghirxi and Mr. Peppi spoke. Azzopardi; in the second part, which focused on the technological aspect of communication, spoke Dr. Patrick Camilleri, Eng. Charles Dalli, Mr Martin Debattista and Mr Herman Grech; in the third part, which focused on the sociological aspect in communication, spoke Dr. Norbert Bugeja, Dr. Joanna Spiteri, Dr. Michael Briguglio and Rev. Prof. Savior Chircop.
The Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Carmelo Abela, who carefully followed the comments of the speakers, said in his speech that this conference testified to the beauty of a functioning democracy, because we met with a range of different views and ideas the value of communication in our society.
Referring to the Board for Media Literacy, Minister Abela said that because this government firmly believes in freedom of expression, it believed in the importance of setting up this board, made up of people with different and experienced perspectives in various media.
