Press, release

Much as I have often admired Labour MP Justine Caruana for her candour to the point of bluntness, I heartily object to her lumping all journalists into one grab-bag of "people who seek to use Gozo for their own ends and means". There was more, of course, but then this is a respectable Sunday paper.

It pains me to notice that journalists are either presented as knights in shining armour, or the dregs of society, depending on what the issue at hand is, to whom comments are addressed, and who is making them.

Friday night is the time when a good number of self-respecting home-makers prepare their tabula rasa for the weekend, catching up with their correspondence, and other chores where television would be a distraction.

So it comes as a surprise to hear, on Radju Malta, a re-run of Mario Laus's programme in which he wishes everyone L-Ghodwa t-Tajba, promising he will see us through sa nofs in-nhar.

But at least the online schedules have now been brought up to date; although I cannot understand why there are certain inconsistencies in the lists, and why some of the pages are written in white-on-black, which is very tiring on the eyes.

This is as good a way of saving PBS money as any, of course. I understand that re-runs are only possible when a series of programmes has already had its repeat, and is once again given centre stage; but there has to be some forethought for this, with the originals being recorded on hard disc since log tapes - when they existed - were usually of too low a quality to be transmitted.

Perhaps, after all, they existed only so that someone could check whether he really said that, when slapped with a libel suit - or whether it is true that he fluffs as much as his devotees claim.

One of my moles had friends over from abroad, and they expressed an urge to visit a particular Casino. My friend picked up this information: there had been some filming done in connection with Santa Monika.

Apparently, one of the more important characters has a relative with a penchant - ok then, an addiction - for chips of the plastic kind. The next series is not, I take it, going to be as claustrophobic as the first, and this should garner it a wider audience.

As from Friday, auditions for L-Isfida, have been taking place at Net Television's studios. The hopefuls are being given the chance to perform within their preferred spheres: the 27 actors had their heats on Friday; the 46 singers were not allowed playback in their Saturday stint; and the 33 dancers have their test today.

Viewers will be given the opportunity to vote (both televoting and SMS) throughout August and September, with the results being announced on October 4 during the first in the series of L-Isfida on Net Television.

One notes that, unlike what happened with l-iSpjun (sic), the spelling of this programme title is in correct Maltese.

The judges selected by Cliché Media and Entertainment Company Limited are hard nuts to crack - and that is a compliment - for each is an artiste at the apex of his profession: Chiara, Felix Busuttil and Alan Montanaro, for all disciplines, and Alan Paris (actor), Justin Barker (dancer, choreographer) and Mro Dominic Galea (musician and composer).

In Malta, anyone can purchase airtime and present programmes aimed at children, teenagers, stay-at-home mums, compulsive shoppers, or indeed any other viewer band that takes their fancy.

There was a time when Super One ran cartoons on television simultaneously with a story (with the apt umbrella title Queue Tfal Ghax Sar il-Hin) on radio; both were, at the healthy hour of 6.30 a.m., aimed at the tiniest. Some foreign stations are also in the habit of giving out evening programmes aired at helping children wind down before bed.

Recently, the (American) PBS Kids Sprout network fired the hostess of The Good Night Show because, in what some fans say were her "starving actor days", she acted - if that is a proper word to use - in videos that could well be described as pornography for teenagers, and therefore, in the words of her (ex) bosses, inappropriate for her role as a preschool programme host, even though it pre-dated her job with them by several years.

The video - or rather Ms Melanie Martinez - was outed by a Memphis radio station. So now Hush, the goldfish, and Star, the cushion-creature, will have to get a new mentor.

This incident brings to the fore the usual endless tape of arguments: is this sexual discrimination (how many male actors who regularly use profanity in their 'adult' roles have been given voice-overs in animated films?).

Should all those who make out they are, or are presented as, role models, be as pure as the proverbial driven snow, or is their past a closed book?

This incident will hopefully cause reverberations - of the reasonable kind - in the local media, too. Is this an issue about one person's credibility, or that of the network for which one works?

Ironically, cartoons are used as a stopgap measure while a new host, up to the impeccable standards set by Ms Martinez, is sought.