Straight and harrow

I've heard it said that comparisons may be odious, but the people who make them are even more so. But many of us could not help contrasting the marathons made by RTK and L-Istrina There's Everybody, in the event proper and the auction sale last Sunday, taken together.

The amounts were, of course, wildly different, although both showed (as did the traffic jams all the way from St Venera to Blata l-Bajda, and elsewhere later on) how generous we are as a nation, even if we tend to be selfish as individuals.

But in the RTK event, many different presenters took the stage to present acts by different people, none of whom appeared to find the do as an excuse to strut their stuff albeit in aid of a good cause.

I can never understand why we are supposed to laugh at men in drag, but when women wear men's clothes, it is supposed to indicate one of two things - but I digress.

I was amazed, to be honest, that Mr Azzopardi told us, last Sunday, that he would be "alone" for "Valerie was abroad". Heavens to Betsy, as my grandma was fond of saying, is there no-one else who is allowed to step into her dainty shoes for the nonce?

As things turned out, there was; because PBS did finally realise the folly of airing Liquorish and Andrea appeared live (as did a host of other presenters from other stations - which is, perhaps, the way it always ought to be done) for a stint on the auction sale instead of looking into the inexistent future with the gang in footage shot just miles from the apocalyptic scenery we have been faced with as a global village of late.

This year's Strina, chunks of which were relayed by other stations, showed, if there had been any need for it, that the Station of the Nation need not hold the monopoly over it.

Still, I wish that the giving was back to good old Ring Us Up days, not with regard to amounts, but when it comes to donating money without expecting it to be restored a thousandfold.

Lou Bondi's smirk - a perfectly justifiable and excusable one this time, not produced because Where's Everybody? inevitably topped the ratings charts again - said it all: U zgur li nilhquhom il-miljun... u izjed ukoll.

So what if the BBC does it too? One would expect local journalists to be more on the spot. PBS television recently broadcast a rundown of last year's events starting with the immortal words "Behind me one may see the Grand Harbour...", and, sure enough, the following day it was repeated on Radju Malta, where, of course, listeners could see nothing.

Overweightness (sic) in children is not just a novità gdida, since obviously l-ewwel tas-sena jibda minn Jannar. Meanwhile, we also had a tletin sena anniversarju and people jiskambjaw l-awguri galore, despite majnata 'l isfel, and one of those snooty callers asking for free advice actually asked "Shall I cut u nisma' mir-radio?"

Another 'mistake' the BBC made this week, in that they did not check physically but took things for granted, involved the news item about how last Wednesday all the European Union, including its media, stopped in its tracks for three minutes to commemorate the tsunami victims.

Whereas PBS, Net and Super One showed us an announcement, with no background music, about the observance, Smash television actually continued with its teaset-teleshopping programme. Then someone pointed out the above to the presenter, and she halted the sales promotion mid-sentence, inviting us to recite the Our Father with her - which was not the idea behind the tribute at all.

On the radio front, some local stations kept up their broadcast; one played Il Silenzio (which is not silent), another reminded us of the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. and others informed us about the reason for the dead air.

Not many people are in the habit of riffling through a book as they watch television - unless they are seeking an answer to a competition question.

But what actually got my goat about the Alfred Dreyfus cause celebre that divided France for more than a decade was that it was yet another occasion that showed the power of the media, and what happens when it (and an entity such as the army, or the state itself) decides to tar and feather an innocent person because of ulterior motives, not least of which are any feelings ending in -ism and pseudo-patriotism, and when frightened men are afraid to admit the truth.

What I wrote was what I recalled from my history lessons. I thought it would have been a mite of overkill to mention Clemenceau, President Loubet, Devil's Island, Anatole France, Colonel von Schwarzkoppen, and the somersaults involved.

Somewhere within all the verbosity is a lesson for us all, and a reminder of our responsibilities as people who sign their names to what they write in the media.

Meanwhile, one expects that the date in which Dreyfus was declared totally innocent, rather than guilty with extenuating circumstances, will likewise be remembered in L-Almanakk.

Rude Broadcaster of the Week Award goes to the young professional who will know who she is as soon as she reads this. During a phone-in, a man said that his jaw had literally been put out of joint in a brawl, and that he was suffering excruciating pain.

After he rang off, the guest asked the presenter whether he had heard what he thought he had heard, and, unable to stifle her giggles, the young woman replied, yes, that's what I think he said, too.

Understatement Award goes to the tsunami survivor who said Il-bahar rajnih funny...