Spiteri-Fremond Mass

The three local private TV stations, recognising its importance, included in their prime time news bulletin an item featuring the latest APS Bank concert which, for the first time in practically 150 years, presented a Grand Mass by Giuseppe Spiteri-Fremond, a superlative Maltese composer.

A distinguished audience headed by the Archbishop, under whose patronage the concert was held, the Prime Minister, three bishops, government ministers, Members of Parliament, ambassadors, judges and magistrates, monsignors, etc., recognised the importance of the concert and packed St John's Cathedral to listen to the performance.

Additionally and coincidentally, the concert might have turned out to be the final official appointment in Archbishop Mercieca's long and illustrious episcopate.

But for TVM, the happening was a non-event. The newsroom did know about the concert's importance for I e-mailed the relevant information and even telephoned on Saturday evening to point out that the news value of the story had increased given that it had turned out to be Mgr Mercieca's probably last official engagement as Archbishop of Malta.

The newsroom did send a cameraman both before and during the concert to film it. But, obviously, it was then decided that the event had no news value for TVM listeners for it did not feature in their news bulletin.

Such stories as some children riding bicycles or a minister insulting other MPs or a foreign singer planning to hold a concert in Malta or any press conference hosted by a minister even on the flimsiest of excuses or the silliest of reasons have prime time news value for TVM.

But not an important and unique concert that highlighted the Maltese musical inheritance and did undoubted honour to the Maltese nation!