The other day I chanced upon the teaser for the Xarabank edition featuring the trip Down Under with The Prime Minister.

I have often stated how much it irritates me when people are referred to solely by their surname; and this clip indicated the extreme end of this tendency. One expat was heard saying "When they said Gonzi was coming, I assumed it was the Bishop." This, one assumed, was supposed to have been considered a gaffe hilarious enough to be left in the edited clips, for our delectation.

Such inane statements do nothing to bolster people's opinions about others. Indeed, this week a similarly absurd comment was heard on Familja Wahda when a lady called and insisted that nits generate spontaneously in the hair of pre-pubescent children, and, moreover, that the problem cures itself once they reach adolescence.

Then there are those sad people who think that their lives are so interesting that they go about streaming it through a cellular Wifi-connected Sony Vaio notebook computers or whatever else does duty as a Webcam. This is what they call "life-casting". Rather as if we cared whether Therese ate all her scrambled eggs on toast, or that 15 cars whizzed by when Peter was waiting on the zebra crossing.

How disappointing it is to find people who actually watch someone else live rather than getting a life of their own. As if it were not already too much trying to find something worthwhile watching on 'real' television. This type of Webcasting also has sinister connotations. Pekka-Eric Auviven, who recently killed the head of Jokela High School, in Finland, and seven of his classmates, had posted a video of himself on YouTube, doing target practice on an apple, together with a declaration of his devotion to the original Columbine school shooters.

But definitely, the Biscuit Award goes to Dr Emy Bezzina. It happened in one of those surreal discussions which go back and forth, with guests gleefully ticking items off their agenda, and not really knowing or caring what the others are saying.

At one point, the good doctor paraphrased what my Nan used to say about someone too silly for words being solely fit to join chickens in their coop, in typical Birgu terminology. "Go and sell cheesecakes! That's all you're good for!" was his sanitised version. And the presenter nearly felt constrained to apologise for Dr Bezzina's outburst, and indicated that there would be another programme the next day. At this point, Dr Bezzina said something to the effect that the studio wasn't big enough for him and the other guest; but having thought better of it, he was there the next day. One notes that thankfully, he refrained from using any similar epithets towards the (female) guest.


Meanwhile, it seems it is never too early for the preparations for the next Eurovision song contest to begin; like those for the village festa, they begin practically on the morrow of the event.

The last time around, there had been a brouhaha, based on misinterpretation, about whether or not there ever is clan-voting involved. As I heard it, it had not actually been stated that corruption was rife - the comments were based on quoted conversations, and personal perceptions.

However, this year, for the first time ever, the European Broadcasting Union has decided to anticipate its decision to introduce a system of two semi-finals as from 2008 instead of 2009. The intention is clearly to eliminate any whispered allegations of vote-rigging. The question begs itself - why now?


This week I came across two very interesting media-related terms: "whispering café", used to indicate a pace where journalists, intellectuals and political leaders congregate, and "media snackers", describing especially those users of new media who will not necessarily take what is offered on "set menus" (schedules) of broadcast stations, or print media, but prefer to use modern technology to get what they want, when they want it, from wherever they wish to get access to it.

Writing for CanWest News Service, for Media Education Week, Shannon Proudfoot recently bemoaned the fact that "young women see only 'skinny, sleazy and stupid' reflections of themselves in the media". This was not a blonde joke, although women interviewed by Media Action did say that that "tall, thin blondes seem to set the only standards for beauty, while bad behaviour and rampant sexuality grabs the most attention for female celebrities."

The argument was developed further to include advertising. It is useless boycotting a programme because the bumphs for it insult you; the company and the advertising agency would see sales drop - but unless they are told what the matter was, they would never know.

The GO Malta Television Awards might be a step towards changing this perception. Last Friday, Mermaid Media Entertainment Ltd announced the nominations accorded by its 35 appointed judges, who, judging by the list of entries, must have had an extremely tough time during the selection process.

There were no fewer than 265 submissions in 33 categories. Yet another four awards announced on Awards Night: the Charles Arrigo Lifetime Achievement Award, and two People's Choice Awards (Favourite Television Personality and Favourite TV Programme), which are self-explanatory, and the Television Station of the Year Award, awarded to the station garnering the highest number of awards. I am happy to say that a good number of my personal favourites made it to the list, under one mention or another; including Zmeraldi Teens, Waltzing Matilda, Santa Monika (second series), Wheelspin, Trip, Cibus, Meander and Grajjiet Ghawdex.

The names of the judges are as yet secret; and now I am even gladder that I was not one of them.


Quote of the week comes from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and is ripped totally out of context: "I said frequently that the media should not be negative."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.