Twisted logic in local media

"...And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him... Bill or George, any damn thing but Sue! I still hate that name!"

This, of course, was the throw-away line sung by Johnny Cash at the end of the song A Boy Named Sue. The song tells the story of a father who bizarrely gives his son the effeminate name of 'Sue'. He does this in order for the boy to learn to be tough by having to deal with the bullying that would ensue as a result of having this girly name.

In the same way, there appears to be a very warped logic permeating Maltese media.

Last Thursday was a case in point. A song festival was aired on One TV. The programme, presented in part by Marija Kilibarda, was interspersed with Outside Broadcasting Unit (OBU) clips.

What was odd was that the advertisements were allowed to run, in what sounded like Croatian language, and no attempt was made to give viewers a running commentary in Maltese, or even sub-title crawls to explain what was happening. The rhyme and reason of this broadcast eludes me.

The following is another example of the local broadcasting authority's misuse of foreign adverts: Only the other day, we were shown foreign-produced clips about a cosmetic hair-enhancement product that were credible enough to have elicited a positive response from people.

Alas, the effect was spoiled by the insertion of inane, locally-shot footage, which made the whole caboodle look amateurish and ridiculous.

In the same pointless tastelessness, is a programme showing queues of people, mostly female, waiting to lift up their tops, baring their midriffs, to reveal how many inches they would have lost by using a particular product in a weight-loss programme.

This, too, is something that the Broadcasting Authority must descend on like the proverbial tonne of bricks.

In another broadcasting absurdity, John Demanuele seems to be blessed with bi-location, for on Thursday night he was on E22 with a DIY programme, and on TVM with the re-run of Niltaqgħu Abbord.

I wonder whether there is anyone monitoring the station of the nation 24/7; the quality was terrible, and the picture kept strobing annoyingly. And things aren't going to well on the radio waves either. Between June 2 and 6, the Broadcasting Authority slapped one short of a dozen-and-half warnings or suspended fines upon Calypso 101.8, mostly for infringements of rules and regulations pertaining to advertising.

But will it do anything about viewers and listeners not being offered quality television and radio?

When I tried to access Radju Malta through the di-ve portal this week, I was given an error message to the effect that the system was "not accepting new connections".

I went to the PBS site to try to get through from there, but it was in such shambles that I gave up.

We have been told that the site was going to be revamped, refurbished, reconstructed and re-organised, but apparently this is not quite the right moment for it to happen.

So despite there not being any indication that the site is 'under construction', that is what is really going on. This promised upgrade has been far too long in coming.

This could be happening as a result of the fact that the people responsible for sprucing up the website are the same ones who are trying to get the new AVID communications system at PBS up and running.

Meanwhile, on a positive note, one hopes to see even more of Morena, who, with Tattoo, has triumphed in the Universong International Music Festival 2008 in the Canary Islands.

She also won the 'best voice' award, and the song was voted 'best original song.

Miriam Christine is the well-deserving winner of the first edition of the Malta Hit Song Contest 2008, broadcast on One.

Both the lyrics and the music for Alone Today are her own compositions.

television@timesofmalta.com