One of TVM’s many banes is the total inability of those of its programme presenters who conduct interviews with personalities to realise that in an interview the most important person is not the interviewer butthe interviewee.

We see this inability constantly, and it once again recently came to the fore in Saviour Balzan’s constant interrupting, resulting in a refusal (during his programme Reporter) to allow Archbishop Charles Scicluna to string together a sequence of two or three thoughts or sentences when replying to questions.

What were the results? Firstly, that Balzan once again got away with his practice and policy of “this is my programme and it is I who will control when you talk and for how long”.

Secondly, “if halfway through your answer something comes to my mind which I deem of greater importance than whatever you may be trying to say or explain, then I [Balzan!] will, like a sledgehammer, interrupt whatever you are saying so that I can expand on my ideas or questions or comments”.

Thirdly, the viewers walk away from the programme saying to themselves, “by the way, what did the Archbishop say, or wished to say, and was not allowed to, by the programme interviewer?”

With more programmes of this type, continued bleating aside about how many are watching their news programmes, no wonder TVM remains so very much like that donkey which has always been fed hay, and simply continues to relish only that type of food.

Thank God for RAI, Mediaset, Mezzo, EWTN and the whole other alternatives.