Flip flops

• Whether as a filler or a service to listeners, the BBC radio service is relayed on several local radio stations. One of my gripes about this is that on Radju Malta, the morning news is cut off mid-sentence when the automated switch flips to local broadcasting.

Until recently, the reason - or was it excuse? - for this, was that it would be time for the morning God-slot. Now, although the service is being cut-off nonetheless, this does not hold water. This ought to be remedied forthwith.

• Whenever I complain privately about advertisements, I am told that they "cost money" to make, and that as a corollary it would be "expensive" to rectify syntactical or other mistakes.

One of the current bumphs, meant to encourage us to go to the polls on June 6, features the distinctive voices of Leonard Callus, Nathaniel Attard and Miriam Dalli. Since Dalli is no longer employed with One Productions, this infomercial is rather off beam.

• James Mawdsley, the human rights activist, was arrested for taking part in pro-democracy protests and handing out anti-government leaflets in Myanmar. Rachel Goldwyn was sentenced to seven years of hard labour for singing pro-democracy songs there.

But what the authorities seized upon, with something dangerously approaching fiendish glee, is how John Yettaw played into their hands through his midnight swim into Aung San Suu Kyi's compound.

The incident was covered with various degrees of incompetence by the local television and radio stations - one of the newscasters went as far as to tell us that for the past few years, "Ms Suu Kyi has been either in prison or under house arrest", without specifying further.

No reminders of why this came about, and no references to how the National League for Democracy won 80 per cent of the seats in the country's only fair election in 1990. This is why I reiterate that most news broadcasts do not deliver the goods.

• The other day I had an interesting conversation with two people, one of whom is head of news at a newspaper; the other occupies the same position at a radio station. One of the issues was the (to me) erroneous use of familijari rather than qraba to mean relatives, and the description of a person as critical, when the issue is not censure, but a person's state of health.

Last Monday morning, the newscaster on Radju Malta went one better. She actually said "il-familjari tal-familja". Perhaps, it is the familial equivalent of ħbieb tal-ħbieb. Meanwhile, Brian Micallef still persists in playing what he calls silta after silta of songs, even if he does allow them to play from start and finish without interruptions.

As in the case of ġins and briksa, it is often the people who make the language. But does that mean that mistakes in the media must be adopted by the people, because when a wrong word is repeated ad nauseam, it must therefore be considered correct?

Whenever I hear the Italianisms kien konxju, żball madjornali, and several others, I always wince. I hope these expressions will never take root in the vernacular.

My informed sources tell me there is going to be some kind of induction course, come summer, for staff of the PBS newsrooms. As a show of camaraderie, I suggest they invite people from Net and One, too.

• Whenever we get news of how and why the Broadcasting Authority slapped fines on our broadcasters, I feel I am reading a 'Pullet Surprise' fan-fiction work. The august body's virtual eyes appear to be searching mainly for subliminal or over-running advertising.

What about the issues of health and safety? Is it not potentially dangerous to keep votive candles lit when there is nobody in the house? Is using religion to raise a laugh permissible?

• It was inevitable that Grace Borg would be the guest of honour on Generation (Favourite Channel, Tuesday).

Although Eurovision brings me out in hives, I could not help watching parts of the programme.

The irritant factor was exacerbated by the fidgeting of some of the guests and the slouching of others.

People like Joe Dimech and Deo Grech, and Chiara herself, were conspicuous by their absence - in fact, Karl Bonaci said that several more invitations for guests had been sent out and people had not turned up, so these could have been on the original list.

I was amused to see how Ms Borg held centre stage, throwing a refrain of "No, I'm not alluding to you!" comments over her shoulder to Frederick Zammit, whenever she said something negative about finances or public relations.

Whereas no reference was made to the fact that judges placed Malta in thirteenth position, it was hinted that a shindig would somehow have helped rev up the public votes.

What really sets my teeth on edge is how we 'boast' that we have foreigners over to help us write songs and/or their music; we have foreigners to make selections and decide for which selection of songs we are entitled to vote; we have foreigners on the judging panel... and so forth.

Surely it is not parochial and insular to say that we do know what we like. The fact that the much-vaunted foreigners came a cropper this time too, proves my point.

television@timesofmalta.com