Back in the unsophisticated days of Mintoff, those of us whose teeth are a bit longer than your average bear's will remember, there was only one broadcast medium, known to one and all as Dardir Malta ('dardir' being Maltese for 'nausea') and it was so well controlled by Mintoff's henchmen that the Nationalist Opposition had to resort to illegal (because of fascist-inspired laws) transmissions from Sicily.

These were more symbolic than anything else, though they so irritated Mintoff and his good buddies that the front man, Richard Muscat, had to stay in exile, very prudently, until the Mintoff/KMB tandem was finally booted out in 1987, even if by only a whisker.

Today we have pluralism in the broadcast media, meaning that you have umpteen music stations (thank God for Campus FM) and a couple of party-run radio and TV stations, whose audience is mainly their own dyed-in-the-wool supporters, though as soon as you make wise-cracks about DNA, you get splashed all over the other side, so perhaps someone else is watching, after all.

So, basically, it remains important for the national station, paid for by your taxes, and mine, to be a reference point, a forum where the relative merits of the players of the political game are able to be assessed comparatively on a level playing field

So, basically, it remains important for the national station, paid for by your taxes, and mine, to be a reference point, a forum where the relative merits of the players of the political game are able to be assessed comparatively on a level playing field.

Anyone who watched Dissett and Reno Bugeja over the past couple of weeks will now be blessed with ached eyebrows, and not in a pretty way. Lip-service was paid to the principles of equal treatment, because both party leaders got the same amount of time, even the Broadcasting Authority would have woken up if this had not been the case.

Many viewers, however, will agree that while Premier Muscat was given treatment that would not have ruffled the wool on a new-born lamb, for reasons known only to himself, Bugeeja suddenly found the anatomical attributes required to be a combative interviewer when he had Dr Simon Busuttil in his sights.

Needless to say, Busuttil disposed of Bugeja with the same ease that David Thake had buried that Bedingfield character and Beppe Fenech Adami had crushed Panama Hats, but that is not the point.

A national broadcaster is obliged - as part of its public service ethos - to torment all sides of the political game equally and anyone who is unable to do this should step aside. After all, there are plenty of media-coaching and PR slots available for people who prefer to do this rather than be a professional broadcaster.

You'll have noticed that I've only been ruminating about the broadcast media.

This is not to say that Premier Muscat willing servants do not try - or would not give their eye-teeth - to get their controlling tentacles into every other aspect of the media, this is the way Labour works here, as is very evident. Happily, "we the people" have too many means to fight back at our disposal for the evil clique to be successful in this endeavour of theirs.

On the other hand, TV and radio stations cost money, so it's handy for Premier Joe to have us pay for one for him.