The interplay between political parties and their media : agency and its limitations in the two-party stations

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the relationship between Malta’s major political parties and their media outlets, focusing on how party-owned broadcasters - ONE (Labour Party) and NET (Nationalist Party) - shape political communication and what are their limitations. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study combines a quantitative content analysis of television and radio programming and integrates a one-week content observation of television and radio programming with six semi-structured interviews involving ex-party officials, politics and media scholars, and independent journalists. The findings are clear: ONE and NET do not act as independent newsrooms, but rather as mouthpieces for their respective parties. Each chooses and frames tales to fit a given narrative, leaving viewers with two quite different interpretations of the same reality. Yes, party leaders steer the coverage, but their reach is also limited by budget pressures, different audience niches, and a slow shift to newer technology. Malta’s regulator looks for “balance” across the whole media scene rather than inside each outlet, which effectively blesses this two-party setup while squeezing out smaller or independent voices. This study adds to our understanding of media theory by showing how agenda-setting and social responsibility work within a highly politicised, two-party system. It also points to areas where change is possible - like making public broadcasting more independent, encouraging greater editorial transparency, and strengthening support for independent journalism. While it doesn’t measure how audiences are affected, it opens the door for future research into how people perceive media, how digital platforms shape those perceptions, and how Malta compares to other deeply polarised democracies.