Malta

Malta ranked 67th of 180 in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 61.44 out of 100. The index assesses the environment for journalism across the country, rather than individual outlets.

This profile covers one mapped organisation, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The figure of zero in the independent family describes State Media Monitor’s mapped entries, not the number of independent media outlets in Malta.

Public Broadcasting Services Limited is classified State-Controlled (SC). Incorporated on 27 September 1991, it took over the operations of Xandir Malta. PBS is wholly owned by the government, which appoints its Board of Directors. The 2026 Media Pluralism Monitor also reports that the government nominates the Editorial Board.

Under its public-service agreement, PBS operates TVM, TVM+ and TVMsport+; Radju Malta, Radju Malta 2 and Magic Malta; and the online services tvm.mt, tvmnews.mt, tvmsport.mt and tvmi.mt. The agreement was signed on 15 June 2025 but took effect from 1 October 2024 for a five-year period.

The chairing and executive roles were separated in 2024. Anna Bonett became non-executive Chairperson and Keith Chetcuti Chief Executive from 1 October 2024, following the departure of executive chairman Mark Sammut. In a 29 May 2026 Broadcasting Authority decision, Owen Galea was identified as Head of News and Charles Dalli as editor.

The agreement provides EUR 8.944 million in public-service compensation for October 2025 to September 2026, rising to EUR 10.06 million in 2028–29. These sums are not PBS’s total income: it also undertakes commercial activities, including advertising. A government audit follow-up records that PBS’s 2023 financial statements were filed with the Malta Business Registry on 16 August 2024. The 2026 Media Pluralism Monitor nevertheless identifies concerns about PBS’s financing and spending and calls for greater transparency over public funds.

Constitutional oversight exists and has been exercised. Article 119(1) of Malta’s Constitution tasks the Broadcasting Authority with safeguarding due impartiality and fair allocation of broadcasting time between political parties; Article 118(8) protects it from external direction when exercising that function. On 29 May 2026 the Authority upheld a complaint after PBS broadcast a political news item during the electoral silence period and ordered PBS to read a summary of its decision. PBS said an outdated database entry had caused the broadcast.

Legal Notice 175 of 2025 introduced safeguards for selecting and dismissing PBS’s chief executive and for dismissing board members. It requires a competitive, advertised selection process for a future chief executive appointment and gives the Broadcasting Authority a role in monitoring public-service media independence. Chetcuti was appointed before these provisions; procedures for appointing board members remain unregulated.

The European Commission’s 2026 Rule of Law Report acknowledges progress from the new legislation but says that board appointments and financing remain unregulated and editorial safeguards have not been put in place. It cites the Media Pluralism Monitor’s very high-risk assessment of public-service media independence.

Separately, figures given in response to a parliamentary question recorded 532 sound bites featuring government members and 66 featuring Opposition members in PBS news bulletins between June 2025 and May 2026. The minister said most government clips concerned official duties. Those counts do not measure airtime, tone or the balance of PBS’s complete output.

The SC classification rests on the combination of government control over appointments and independent findings about PBS’s governance and editorial practice. State ownership and public funding, taken alone, would not establish editorial control.

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