Reuben Zammit, PBS programmes manager, was not entirely convincing in his lengthy defence of the use of the Maltese language on the PBS output.

Words like avveniment, serata, and tikkreja are frequently broadcast and consigning to oblivion perfectly proper Maltese equivalents such as ġrajja, lejla and toħloq respectively.

The Broadcasting Authority has rightly responded to this danger and has issued a consultative document. It is intended that the broadcasting media should employ a Maltese language consultant. Judging by Maltese language use standards, the person so appointed will be kept busy.

Both the broadcasting watchdog and PBS should go further than monitor the use of our native language. We pride ourselves on being dual linguists and some of us boast of being trilingual in Maltese, English and Italian.

These bodies must take into account the fact that the media could serve as a major educative force so one should expand any monitoring of language to something less insular and more productive than our language.

The English language is rapidly becoming the lingua franca of the world. Patriotic sentiments towards our language must not turn into jingoistic blind adherence to our own language. Why must all PBS programmes be in Maltese?

Do not these two bodies know that Maltese schools have the highest rate of failure in the English language exam paper?

The consultative document is of a limited framework. There has to be a wholescale reform of media output.

Most of television time is taken up with pop music, quiz contests, soap operas and other passive type trivia. The exception is channel TVM 2.

The broadcasting media has a famous maxim to guide it: to educate, to inform and to entertain. Regrettably, it has not reached these laudable objectives.