Cents and sensibility

Leopold Butters Stotch is probably the most naive child in Christendom. His role in Southpark has seen him ‘redefine’ his chin, get locked in a bomb shelter for weeks, dress up as a dog, get liposuction, and explore his feminine alter-ego Marjorine.

He creates yet another alter-ego – the iniquitous Professor Chaos – to wreak revenge on the world in general and his tormentors in particular. A case of great cry and little wool.

The latest plotlines have him being diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, a condition that has long permeated the local media.

To confirm this, it’s enough to listen to the totally different interpretations of the same news item on Net and One. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why TVM news has the most viewers; people will eventually want to listen to what is probably an unbiased view of things.

Not that all is wine and roses at PBS – presenters, newscasters and guests still talk through their hats sometimes, not having done their research; e-mails go unanswered; the vernacular keeps getting battered; and the public is still treated as if it is unable to think coherently.

When Max+ television, was launched I was glad someone had realised what broadcasting ought to be about. And later, of course, Favourite Channel was launched.

Comparisons are odious, but I did feel that the Borg Bonacis were biting off more than they could chew. The tagline was ‘Quality and innovative television’, and I couldn’t help thinking here we go again.

Yet, the serene presence of Norma Saliba, one of Malta’s foremost journalists, set my mind at rest.

Now, as it turns out, Saliba has left Favourite Channel for pastures new.

“Favourite Channel experience was one of the biggest challenges in my life. As with anything else I do, I was committed to doing my utmost for the good of the enterprise in which I was at the moment.

“With my team, I strove towards creating an entity that would cater for different strata of viewers. My experience in the media enabled me to share my ideas and imbue the news department with dedication and loyalty, two qualities that are very important to me.

“I definitely will never forget the last two and a half years spent with Favourite Channel. I learned new things, enabling me to broaden and further my experience; however, of late, resources at our disposal became less, so we could not keep up the standard viewers of Favourite News had become accustomed – that is, news based on journalistic principles, that educates, seeks, asks and informs, rather than merely tells. I built that newsroom from scratch, so you will understand that choosing to continue with my other projects has been a difficult decision.

“I have over 14 years’ experience on television. I am currently working on a new programme, Kudos, which will be broadcast on One, with features, guests, and viewers’ participation. It will be a journalism programme, fresh and innovative in style, to reflect the moods of summer. Kudos will be broadcast on Mondays before the main news bulletin. However, with regard to my new job, due to commence next month, I am bound by a confidentiality agreement...”

• The beginning of June signals the end of the nauseatingly boring advert that asked whether we would have heard of the bidla diġitali.

Yet, alas, here’s a new kid in town – the latest advert for Ħanini products. In an effort to create an aura of authenticity, the term ġibniet is used. But then the whole atmosphere is dashed to the ground because the advert ends with the hackneyed English phrase that even mispronounces ‘heritage’.

This patchwork type of advertising could be happening because it is considered hip, and also, with an eye on any foreigners who might be listening to the radio station on which the advert is broadcast.

Another one that takes this tack is the one for Coverderm; after intimating, in Maltese, that the veins in our legs must be covered, at least in summer, the recap comes in English, ‘now you see it, now you don’t’.

But the advertorial that really takes the biscuit is the one connected with yet another programme partly funded by the EU.

We have Lisa and Steve, a (presumably) married couple. Steve has chosen to work lesser hours, so that he may participate in ‘family life’ – by helping out with the chores (unspecified, so this could mean either flicking a feather duster around or doing the laundry), ferrying the children to school (no mini-vans for this family, carbon footprint be damned; and in any case, Lisa collects them) and even helping kids with their ‘howwerk’ (the mind boggles).

So, this is the way to share life’s responsibilities according to the people who ‘know’ these things. Hands up, all of you in the public or private sector who can change your working hours willy-nilly. We have been promised flexi time, job-sharing, and tele-working for many moons now – but to most of us, they are still pie in the sky. Steve must be one of the lucky ones.

• Last week, PBS television head of news Natalino Fenech pulled Ray Calleja’s 12.05 p.m. programme off air because we were supposed to be ‘reflecting’ about the D-word, and the ramifications of the Iva vote went through. The topic under discussion had been one of the arguments raised during the divorce campaign.

Broadcasters had been told (not asked) not to take calls from listeners and viewers, lest someone try to pull a fast one. I sent an e-mail to Fenech and representatives of Dee Media, to obtain more comments about this, but up to noon last Thursday (my deadline) neither of them had replied.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case; many questions by the media are deemed irrelevant... by other sections of the media. This is yet another symptom of split personality disorder, is it not?

television@timesofmalta.com