Shelf awareness

The other day, I was introduced as a 'journalist' to a foreigner - who immediately quipped that my (under)cover was blown immediately. She looked askance at me and said something on the lines of "Oh, and I have a friend who used to be in journalism - TV news, actually.

"All the clips she came up with were 'creative non-fiction'. They were assigned certain companies, sponsors really, which they had to market, so she would come up with stories to fit in covert advertisements for their products." I asked for an example, and she said that a story about the economy warranted a suggestion about purchasing insurance, and a sound-bite from the CEO of the company, possibly with the logo of the firm in the background.

I countered that here it's the same, only different - the news is slanted by whichever radio station it is to "prove" that the government is doing right, or wrong, as the case may be. This time she asked for an example, and I told her how One was all agog about how Spain was helping out its people in this credit crunch... and how Net was eager to tell us that Germany had entered into a recession. She grinned.

• I have lost count of the number of e-mails I have received asking me to vote for this or that person or programme as the People's Favourites in the forthcoming Samsung Television Awards. What makes this irritating is that most of them came to my personal e-mail addresses, rather than to the one which appears at the foot of this column.

This means that people have trespassed on my personal space, which I value. And it also means that I will not be voting for them.

It is wonderful to see how the number of submissions for the aforementioned award has burgeoned into 350 this year. Of these, the juries had their work cut out for them, in order to shortlist 151 nominees from different categories.

Entries come from different television stations and production houses which sometimes have programmes on more than one of the former. This could be either because they hedge their bets or because the station administrations use different criteria in drawing up a schedule.

Where the submissions are for clips that would have appeared across the board, as in the case of advertorial matter, this is par for the course.

One thing that struck me was the strong campaign being undertaken by Family TV in the People's Choice Awards section. Incidentally, only this station, TVM, Net and One have candidates for the Personality and Station Awards. I would have thought that E22 and Smash would make at least a token appearance - but then, I am not "the people". For some reason, Smash did not even send in any clips for consideration.

Again, there are many reasons why this could have happened - similar to the ones why some people's names have been conspicuous by their absence in each edition of the awards thus far, and why some never enter their work in other contests unless it's for fun and inner-circle kudos.

It is interesting to note that some of the nominations here would have been eligible for - and indeed, would have won - other awards, both in Malta and abroad. This has no bearing on the results of the Samsung Television Awards, because the judges are different, and so are the conditions of entry.

It's good to see, nonetheless, that E22 does have five nominations in other categories. TVM has 66 nominations; One has 59, and Net has 16; Family TV and Melita have one apiece.

Of course, I have my own favourites - in fact, I have marked them down on my list, and I will be comparing it to that of the winners when they are announced on the night. I am especially happy to see the names of some people I had pointed out years ago, when they were starting their career, as having promise.

It bears reminding that the Television Station of the Year will be the one that has the highest aggregate of awards. There will be no actual nominations for the Charles Arrigo Lifetime Achievement Award. Has this been done to avoid animosity between the numerous divas in our local media sphere? The person thus honoured will be known on the night itself (and let's hope he or she will be there).

The awards will be presented next Sunday at the Mediterranean Conference Centre - and I am happy to say that they will be both aired live on all television stations (ah! Mermaid Media has scored more points than the budget and subsequent political claptrap); It will also be shown at Heat at the Valletta Waterfront, where the after-party will be taking place.

You may catch your favourites on the Red Carpet from 7.30 p.m. - even if you would not have opted for them on the numbers being repeated ad nauseam by those who have a stake in the ultimate result.

• Many people appear to follow avidly what goes on in Parliament; to this end, Reuben Sciberras and his team on One are presenting a scarce half-hour programme on its workings. Kworum goes on air every Friday at just past 8 p.m, and the repeat goes out on Sundays at 1 p.m.

television@timesofmalta.com