When I complained about the sex scenes, they said I was being fussy. When I complained about the domes­tic violence, they said no one listens to Rumanzi ta’ Radju Malta or any other station for that matter.

It’s not just to make a hat-trick that this week I am complaining about the excerpt that describes the preparations for a Black Mass, in the novel currently being read by Ġorġ Peresso, in last Tuesday’s reading. The deadline for this column is before Thursday’s reading, so I cannot tell whether the sordid episode was realised, or whether a deus ex machina halted the proceedings.

Ever since I took over this column I have been asking for a watershed for radio, similar to the one for television, seeing that some people do not even imagine there is such a thing as ethical behaviour.

This should also put an end to things such the gratuitous insults that certain DJs throw about. It is wicked and cruel to call a person with achondroplasia a ‘midget’.

In addition, it is not right to include tracks that have misogynist, racist, or any other divisive lyrics or obscene words in them. This, of course, includes tracks that could have been chosen by listeners of any particular station – such as Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers), which was on the RTK website (www.rtk.org.mt) poll list last week.

Incidentally, the website is a caboodle of Maltese and English spellings that needs to be overhauled – although it is nowhere near as terrible as the PBS website (www. pbs.com.mt), which still looks like a dog’s dinner, despite all good intentions and promises that it would be extensively revised “soon”.

When I had attended the induction lectures for RTK we were repeatedly told contributors would be expected to be the salt of the earth when it came to content of programmes. Alas, in the drive to be more hip and compete with the commercial stations, not everyone is following this brief.

Another item that has been on my wish-list for a long time is a phonetic list of pronunciations for proper nouns. You never know when an airhead like Massimo Giletti is going to talk through his hat, but we must at least pay him the courtesy of pronouncing his name properly, although the rest of what was said about him, mostly in newspaper comments pages and social websites, falls under the general category of ‘Not suitable/safe for work’.

Pronouncing Giletti correctly, in fact, was what a newscaster on Calypso Radio 101.8 failed to do, following which ensued a lively discussion led by Enzo Gusman. Incidentally, this station’s website (www. calypsoradio.com) exhorts us to “Lisen live the Holy Rosary” (sic). That “this website is still under construction” is no excuse.

Alas, this is a part of what the liberalisation of the airwaves has given us; these days it’s not only beauty contest winners, singers and teachers who multi-task as programme presenters, but anyone who has a bee in their bonnet and friends who can help them achieve their ambition to ‘be a broadcaster’.

I would say it is also time for all radio and television stations to invest in caller-identification systems. This would enable presenters to say they will not be accepting calls from undisclosed numbers (and it would also help them ignore listeners or viewers who love the sound of their own voice despite never having anything worthwhile to say).

I also fail to see why Maltese terms for certain words are cautiously avoided as if they would scandalise listeners when, if they were spoken in context, they would not.

Last week we had a foreigner who “xtrat” a baby on a boat carrying refugees – whatever is wrong with ‘welldet’? This beats the paediatrician who somewhat gauchely informed us there are children who “jagħmlu number two fin-nappy” at an age when they ought to have stopped soiling their nappies. Frankly, he sounded ridiculous.

A reader wrote to me saying that among his bugbears is the word ‘ammont’ when it refers to things that may be counted, and what is said as one word, such as ‘hemmbarra’, which is literally translated from ‘out there’.

It goes without saying that now the Broadcasting Authority has issued the official list of Maltese place-names, the excuse that one does not know which places take the article, which take the diminutive of raħal, and which take neither, does not hold water.

• I caught the promotions of Tagħna f’Tagħna, beginning today at 5.15 p.m. on TVM. This series takes a different slant on arts and crafts. Jackie Vassallo Bianchi and Ryan Darmanin will be delving into the international history, language and culture associated with each particular type of visual artistry and craftsmanship (including cuisine), and their bearing on Malta.

• Eileen Montesin has finally realised it is silly to call a programme ‘live’ when it is not – so her recorded radio programmes are now called ‘specials’. Meanwhile, Montesin has moved Don’t Stop Me Now to TVM. More about this talent show later.

• Jan-Jan Estrada, a six-year-old boy, was made to dance in a sexy, adult way on Filipino national television on the March 12 episode of TV5’s prime-time game show Willing Willie.

Whereas this incident, as has been the case with local talent shows in the past, would merely have en-gendered talk about whether it was acceptable or not, the Pinoy point of view was slightly less relenting.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman actually defined it as child abuse, citing Republic Act No. 7610, ‘Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act’, since this embraced “psychological and… emotional maltreatment, and any act… which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child as a human being.”

television@timesofmalta.com

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