One of the articles that usually appears in magazines around this time of the year concerns the resolutions made by people with reference to what they intend doing - or not - next year, differently from this year.

Be they about celebrities or the man-in-the street, these features usually have curio value, because everyone loves a bit of gossip - and it's nice to be able to see whether the pledges would have been kept, come the end of the year.

Seeing that, for many years now, we have been listening to the same voices making the same mistakes ad nauseam on the local media, there are a few suggestions I would like to make.

Radju Malta must have the highest percentage of presenters who repeat 'em', sometimes twice in each sentence. It makes no difference whether these people are reading or speaking off the cuff. Sometimes, however interesting the programme or wonderful the records being played, I have to zap.

It also goes without saying that some government entities and commercial establishments send along to programmes spokespersons that have this shortcoming as well. If in-house induction cannot be provided, how is it that someone with a better presence is not selected?

Sometimes, it is patently - and painfully - obvious that a person is translating verbatim from a magazine in a foreign language as he speaks. Not only can we hear the rustling of pages (which is one of the first things we are told should not happen when we are on air) - but the presenter or guest keeps giving the wrong nuance to the translated word, or failing that, he says kif jgħidu bl-Ingliż (as they say in English).

The last two digits of dates are often given badly, and a telephone number is not supposed to end in the letter 'o', but in the digit 'zero'.

There is one particular disc jockey who repeats fil-kumpanija miegħi as if we are his co-shareholders, and it goes without saying that one is never ġo a town or a country.

Last Thursday, Mermaid Media Entertainment Ltd launched the 4th edition of the Vodafone Malta Television Awards, to be held at the MFCC Ta' Qali, on February 27.

The closing date for submissions is January 15 and nominations night is February 12. Anyone seeking further information should e-mail info@themaltatele visionawards.com, or visit www.themaltatelevisionawards.com or call 2123 2461.

Noelene Miggiani of Mermaid Media Entertainment said the prizes, as well as the voting numbers for the People's Choice Awards, will be announced within the next few days.

I was very pleased to note that one of the entries into the Malta International Short Film Festival recently organised by Joyce Grech and Tony Parnis recently fared brilliantly abroad.

The film In The End was the brainchild of Ramon Mizzi (producer and director) and Alexis Mizzi (cameras and editing). Veteran actor Philip Mizzi (incidentally their father) was the main actor of the film, broadcast on TVM on the June 18 (there were also other repeats on E22 and TVM during the summer).

In The End has won the Best International Contemporary Short Film Award, in the New York International Film and Video Festival. What had sent shivers down my spine when I watched the film was the minute attention to detail throughout.

The protagonist has Alzheimer's disease. He seems to live in a world of his own creation, pottering about his memento-filled house without really knowing what he ought to be doing.

He leaves the fridge door ajar, he washes a clean mug taken out of the cupboard, he doesn't wipe his hands before he goes to adjust the faulty radio (from the socket)... these are the minutiae that get noticed.

Anyone who has missed watching the submissions for this festival may view them on demand at di-ve.com.

On December 9 and 10, at around 2.30 p.m., Calypso Radio aired a two-art interview with Antonella Ruggiero, who was in Malta to give a concert.

I never cease to wonder how local and television stations decide what has news value. It is not professional at all for radio and televisions stations that do not get exclusive deals, or for some reason, decide not to give coverage to certain events, to totally ignore them.

This comment is especially pertinent when one sees how tiny events are blown out of proportion when they pertain to certain stations, even if they have no national or international import. This is especially true of viewership and listenership statistics.

Pauline Agius has just launched the book version of her amazing television programme Take 15 in which personalities are invited to rustle up a meal in a quarter of an hour.

Sabrina Mulligan of Brainbox has launched Top Trumps, the ultimate in the aforementioned curio-value card games, where you can have a peek at how old she is and how much he weighs.

television@timesofmalta.com