Mr Anthony J Tabone
Chairman of the Broadcasting Authority

Mrs Rose Sciberras B.A.(Hons.),LP
Member

Rose Sciberras nee Apap, was born in Santa Venera in 1953 but grew up in Gzira.  She received her education in government primary and secondary schools, the Junior College and the University of Malta. In 1974/5 she graduated her first degree of B.A. Honours in English.  For that course she held the Rediffusion Scholarship and her first employment was as Producer/Announcer with Rediffusion in Malta.  In April 1975 she became newscaster on national TV and took on the production and presentation of the weekly current affairs programme Malta u l’ilhinn minnha.  She left her career in broadcasting for reasons of marriage in 1977.  Between 1987 and 1990 she returned to university to reas a B.A. is Sociological and Legal Studies and a Diploma of Legal Procurator and practised this profession for twelve years.  Between 1996 and 1998 she was a member of the Board of Directors of Public Broadcasting Services as well as a government representative on the Council of the University of Malta.  She was appointed member of the Board of the Broadcasting Authority in 1999 where she still serves in her third term of office.

Dr Peter Fenech B.A. (Hons),LL.D.
Member

Mr Alfred Mallia Milanes
Member 

Alfred Mallia-Milanes is an expert in Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs. He is a leading consultant and negotiator in these specialised areas and his advice is sought by many firms and individuals. He has represented Malta and Maltese employers for many years in international fora including the International Labour Conference and the European Commission. Mr. Mallia-Milanes serves as a member on a number of National Boards and advisory committees.  He is also a director on various companies. In April 1996 Mr. Mallia-Milanes was appointed member of the Malta Broadcasting Authority and held the post till 2002. He was reappointed in January 2006 to serve for another three years.
Mr. Mallia-Milanes served for many years with the Malta Employers’ Association. His last post was that of Director-General. He was the chief negotiator for Business when the Maltese labour law was being remodelled to be brought in line with the requirements of the European Social Chapter.  In 2001 Mr. Mallia-Milanes set up his own Consultancy firm known as Mallia-Milanes & Associates which is a specialised advisory agency offering advice, assistance and information in Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs.

Dr. Reno Borg B.A. (Hons), M.A., LL.D Member 

Dr Reno Borg studied in government schools, University of Malta and carried research  at the LSE (London), the Bodleian Library, the Public Record Office and Rhodes House. He graduated in history cum laude in 1975, obtained his M.A. in 1977 and graduated as notary and lawyer in 1982 and 1983 respectively. He worked at the Inland Revenue Department, the Office of the Prime Minister and at the Attorney General's Office. He served as Head of the Malta Delegation to the CSCE ( now OSCE) in various conferences and also represented Malta in the Law of the Sea Conference in Geneva. Dr Borg was legal adviser to Mid-Med Bank (HSBC), Lohombus Bank, Enemalta Corporation, and as a main lawyer at the Bank of Valletta plc for eight years. He was a member of BOV's Board for five years and also headed the bank's group of companies as chairman in l997-1998.  He was Chairman of Middlsea Valletta plc and is still  a member of Middlesea's Group Investment Committee.  He also chaired the Engineering Board and the Maltacom Disciplinary Board.  Dr Borg is a contributor to various local newspapers and is author of the book "Malta u l-Faxxizmu" (Malta and Fascism).  He is a qualified Arbitrator and Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (European Branch).  Dr Borg was appointed member of the Malta Broadcasting Authority in 1999 and is still a serving member. He has been a practising lawyer at the Maltese Law Courts for the last 23 years.

Mr Cassar holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Communication Studies from the University of Malta and an M.Sc. degree in Human Resources Management and Training from the University of Leicester. In 1995, he was awarded the Harold Scorey Scholarship for broadcasting. Mr Cassar lectures at the University of Malta on the scripting and production of programmes for radio. Between 1997 and 2001 Mr Cassar was employed as Station Manager of the then ‘Ir-Radju ta’ l-Università’, and for the previous five years before his appointment on 1st January 2009 as CEO of the Broadcasting Authority, he has held the position of Corporate Communications Manager at Heritage Malta. Mr Cassar maintains a keen interest in sports and, in this respect, for a number of years he was appointed Director of Media of the Malta Olympic Committee and was also entrusted with the responsibility of Director of Public Relations for the Games of the Small States of Europe held in Malta in June 2003.

Dr Simon Manicolo B.A., Dip. Not. Pub., Adv. Trib. Eccl. Melit., LL.D
Secretary to the Board of  the Broadcasting Authority

Starting his career in the public service as an Executive Office, he was seconded with the Broadcasting Authority in 1987 where he was them promoted to his present position as Head of the Monitoring Department.  He has continued his studies at the University of Malta where in 2006 he graduated from the Faculty of Laws, from the Ecclesiastical Tribunal and has attended various courses on Journalism and Management.  In 1996, he acted as Secretary for the publication “Malta Human Development Report” under the auspices of the UNDP.  He was also involved in various other organisations on a Parochial and Diocesan level where he was a member for the Forum tal-Għaqdiet u Movimenti Ekklesjastiċi as well as acting as representative at the Diocesan Representative Council.  He is involved in the Fokolari Movement and in the Cana Movement.  He was also actively involved in Maltese Emigrants and Refugees Commission as well as in rehabilitation programmes for drug addicts within the Caritas Movement.
       

Mr Gordon Vassallo, F.I.A., C.P.A.
Financial Controller

Mr Gordon Vassallo joined the Authority in November 1994 as the Authority's Chief Accountant. He was subsequently promoted to Financial Controller a year later and is currently Director Finance. Before joining the Authority, Mr Vassallo had worked in various financial related fields including banking, accountancy and audit particularly within a large local auditing firm. Mr Vassallo is a fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants, a Certified Public Accountant and a Registered Auditor. 

Mr Vassallo is responsible for exercising financial control over all of the Authority's transactions and activities exercised in executing its functions as regulated by the Broadcasting Act. He is responsible for the supervision of the Authority's finances to ensure costs are maintained within budget levels and to ensure full economic use of the Authority's financial resources. Other responsibilities include preparation of quarterly management accounts, periodic cash flows, business and financial plans, annual budget and financial statements.

Ms Joanna Spiteri B.A. Hons. (Communication Studies), M.A. Head Monitorind Department

In 1998 Ms Joanna Spiteri was conferred a BA (Hons) degree in Communication Studies by the University of Malta with her main dissertation focusing on the changes in Maltese print journalism since the eighties. After obtaining her first degree, she worked as a journalist at Public Broadcasting Services Ltd. newsroom producing local and foreign features for television and radio.  She also covered Parliamentary sittings.  During the two years at PBS Ltd. she presented and produced current affairs programmes on TVM and Radju Malta, two of which had won the Broadcasting Authority’s Programme Awards.  She produced and presented a series of programmes on Channel 12 focusing on the work done by voluntary organisations and adult learning.  In 1999 she joined the Broadcasting Authority as a Supervisor in the Programme Monitoring Department.  During the tenure of this post, she read for a Master’s Degree in Arts at the University of Malta focusing her research on the portrayal of gender issues in news bulletins.  Her interest in gender issues led the Authority to appoint her as a Chairperson of the Broadcasting Authority’s Equality Committee in order to liaise gender issues at her workplace with the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality.  In 2004 she drafted the Broadcasting Authority Guidelines on Gender Equality and Gender Portrayal in the Media.  She was involved in a number of projects with regard to gender and the media including the co-ordination of an EU project known as “Portraying Politics: a Toolkit on Gender and Television” and co-ordinating the staff at the Broadcasting Authority to assist the National Co-ordinator, Dr Brenda Murphy, in the Global Media Monitoring Project.  In 2001 she attended a workshop within the news department at the Irish Public Broadcasting Service, RTÉ.  This work is the result of her research on news and gender issues.

She is currently reading for a Ph.D. with the University of Stirling in Scotland where she is studying news impartiality in the Maltese TV broadcasting scenario, the role of the public service broadcaster and the role of the Broadcasting Authority in achieving impartiality on the television broadcasting media.  

Mr Mario Axiak
Dip.B.M., B.A. Hons., M.B.A. (Maastricht), M.I.M.
Head Research & Communications

Following a Diploma in Business Management, Mr Axiak started his working career with the Malta Development Corporation. Two years later, he continued his studies at the University of Malta where in 1983 he was conferred an honours degree in Business Management; during which time he was posted by the Malta Development Corporation at various parastatal industries.  In 1999, he joined the Broadcasting Authority as Communications Officer, being appointed soon afterwards as Head of Research and Communications. He was involved in many projects undertaken by the Broadcasting Authority including public seminars; training workshops for broadcasters both locally and at RTÈ, the Irish Public Service Broadcaster; executive producer of the Broadcasting Authority’s Annual Programme Awards, 1999-2003; as well as in various publications of the Broadcasting Authority.  Mr Axiak has furthered his studies obtaining a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maastricht in April 2007.