“Why? Who is she? I don’t even know who that is.”

Thus spoke – well, not exactly Zoroaster, but Pamela Anderson, when she was asked to walk back down the carpet to have her photograph taken with latecomer, Glee sensation Lea Michele, during the 30th anniversary celebrations of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

Just for the record, Anderson was also quoted as saying “When my kids go away to school I want them to say ‘My daddy Tommy Lee is a rock star, and my mommy saves animals.’”

This awkward juxtaposition of ideas and lack of awareness about the status quo appears to permeate the local media too, sometimes; some newscasters did not even realise that there are two persons, siblings Edward and David, with the surname Miliband.

For some weeks now, many have used just the surname throughout several news bulletins, without even specifying once to which they were referring. Apparently listeners are supposed to identify them from the context of the bulletin.

While still some way off surpassing Steve ‘Worst Reporter of the Nation’ Jefferson, some of our journalists still have a lot to learn, despite experience or journalistic degrees. Some who regularly feature on the audio/visual media, for instance, appear to think listeners or viewers have nothing between the ears. I wonder what various ‘chairmens’ (sic – repeated ad nauseam in an interview on One Radio) would have to say about this.

They write (unsigned) articles in the press, thinking the more astute among us will not recognise their meticulous turn of phrase, especially when the write-up features the particular chip they happen to have on their shoulder.

Katy Perry also suffers from selective confusion. She could not understand why her Sesame Street skit, in which she chased Elmo in a décolleté dress, had been left on the cutting room floor.

So inevitably, she did what any airhead proud of her cleavage would do: as the guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, she ‘acted’ in a skit with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph. Perry played the teen, Maureen, who had developed breasts over the summer and was therefore bursting out of her Elmo shirt.

• I seem to be getting into the habit of going to The Palace Hotel on Fridays; last week it was for the launch of One’s autumn schedule.

There is an eclectic mix of programmes from both new and established media personalities – and great emphasis has, here too, been laid on drama and current events.

This led to another discussion about the whys and wherefores of repeats, or the lack of them. The fact that the local airwaves are inundated with drama means viewers are being ‘forced’ to choose – and their selection may not necessarily be in line with what is expected of them by the administrators of political stations.

I received several e-mails asking me to “tell them” to reconsider repeats. However, the solution is not that easy. Some sponsors and advertisers would rather there not be repeats of series they back, since this would mean that their advertising loses its impact on the second showing.

There is also the option of recording a series, but it is a well-known fact that people fast-forward past the adverts during recorded sessions.

The late night news bulletins of certain stations will be vying with one another for audiences – and when it comes to these, not many people will bother recording them to compare and contrast. Apart from content, the newscasters themselves will have a lot of bearing (literally and figuratively) upon audience statistics.

• Amazingly, Media.Link failed to strike while the iron was hot, by promoting the fact that Carlo Borg Bonaci would be back on air after an absence of nearly 20 months, in his preferred breakfast show time slot.

This goes out on weekdays from 6 till 9.30 a.m., and has the grandiose name Carlo’s Breakfast Club. Radio 101 is the fourth station at which Borg Bonaci has worked in 23 years.

• Nisġa is now being broadcast at a more reasonable hour (right after the 8 p.m. news on Wednesdays, on Radju Malta). The programme now contains a new section – Għasel Fuq Fommi – in which Ninu Borg explains the etymology of words falling into disuse, while encouraging us to use them.

This week, he selected ‘iżraq’ and ‘sebħ’, in their alternative meanings of ‘rosy-cheeked’ and ‘praise’. It bears reminding that as its name indicates, Nisġa is a weave of all things Maltese; historical events, biographies, flora and fauna, trades, wayside chapels and churches.

Another series (130 programmes in all) is set to begin on One Television tomorrow. However, it has been slotted at the weird time of 6.50 p.m. Since there will be no repeats, one hopes that eventually a CD or a book of the series will be published as a service to viewers. But it would be better if the series was broadcast at a more accessible time.

Mel’isma’ Din will take us on an incredible journey along the road to all but forgotten crafts and traditions, with attention to detail sadly absent in copy-and-paste ventures.

• Melita plc has, as predicted, been fined for treating its clients like pawns when they were paying good money for its services. As expected, the company has filed a counter-protest against these charges. Go, meanwhile, having acquired the platform that would have been unavailable had Multiplus been a successful venture, is wisely keeping out of the fray.

television@timesofmalta.com