Many of Malta's newspapers and broadcast outlets have strong political affiliations.

Daily and weekly publications appear in both Maltese and English. Italian television and radio are also received. Radio broadcasting was introduced in the mid-1930s - in the form of cable radio - partly to counter the Fascist propaganda that was reaching Malta through Italian radio stations. Malta Television was inaugurated in September 1962, five years after the Maltese started receiving television signals from Italy. Italian TV channels are still very popular in Malta, with some 28% of Maltese saying they watched Italian channels at the beginning of 2001. The 1991 Broadcasting Act permits private commercial broadcasting, ending lively political debates on the alleged partisan views of state-run TV and radio. Initially, broadcasting licences were granted to the two major political parties and the Catholic Church. More stations followed and there is now a proliferation of privately-run radio stations and several TV channels.

Since Malta is a member of the Council of Europe, media laws are based on European law. Cable TV was introduced in 1992 and satellite TV is widely-watched. There were more than 41,500 internet subscribers by March 2001.

The press: The Malta Business Weekly, Times of Malta, Malta Independent, It-Torca (weekly, owned by General Workers' Union), Il-Mument (weekly, owned by Nationalist Party), In-Nazzjon (daily, owned by Nationalist Party), L-Orrizont (daily, owned by General Workers' Union)

Television: Television Malta (TVM) (public TV station), Super One TV (owned by the Malta Labour Party), Net TV (owned by the Nationalist Party), Smash TV (private TV station)

Radio: Radio Malta (public radio station), Super One Radio (owned by the Malta Labour Party), Radio 101 (owned by the Nationalist Party), Bay Radio (privately-owned FM music station), RTK (Catholic Church radio station), Voice of the Mediterranean (non-profit shortwave broadcaster, set up to promote Malta and report on Mediterranean issues), plus further privately-owbed radio stations.

Internet: MaltaMedia, Malta Today, di-ve.com

The major newspapers in Malta are the Times of Malta and the Malta Independent. Other newspapers in circulation are published by various political parties and organizations. The Italian press is also widely read. Television broadcasting is provided by Television Malta (TVM); again there are television stations owned by political groupings. Radio Malta is the main public radio station but services are also provided by privately owned companies. In 2001 there were 13 radio and 5 television services.

Telephones - main lines in use:

202,300 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

346,800 (2006)

Telephone system:

General assessment: automatic system satisfies normal requirements.

Domestic: submarine cable and microwave radio relay between islands.

International: country code - 356; 2 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean).

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 18, shortwave 6 (1999)

Television broadcast stations:

5 (2006)

Internet country code:

.mt

Internet hosts:

21,386 (2007)

Internet users:

127,700 (2005)