The famous BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman once said in an interview with The Guardian that a journalist's attitude to politicians should display the same degree of respect which dogs reserve for lamp-posts.
On the other hand, some politicians believe they are the dogs and journalists are the lamp-posts! They think journalists are at their service; just one more wrapping paper in their attempt to package politics and sell it to citizens as manufacturers sell their products to consumers. News control and management is their credo.
One would like to think the situation in this country is different. But is it? Take Alfred Sant's non-participation, for one reason or other, at Xarabank, the PBS's newsroom discussion on Budget Day, a Net TV programme with representatives of constituted bodies and at a business breakfast by Malta Today. The pressures put by the Labour Party on the independent media are in the same vein.
The PM participated in all of these programmes.
Love it or hate it, Xarabank is there and it has a huge audience every Friday. Now, Dr Sant is saying that it is "mediatic vaudeville" not worthy of his and Lawrence Gonzi's presence. His deputy leaders, Charles Mangion and Michael Falzon, seem to think otherwise as their participation in the chat show indicates.
The list of people who did not consider participation in Xarabank as infra dig includes the Vice President of the EU Commission, Gunter Verheugen, Presidents and former Presidents of Malta, archbishops and bishops. It is true that Xarabank has a very eclectic nature, which, sometimes, manifests itself in low-quality programmes. There were occasions, however, when serious topics were addressed and discussed in a serious way.
It is more likely that Dr Sant's real objection to participating in Xarabank and other programmes/occasions lies in his discomfort with finding himself in situations where he can lose control because they are not rigidly structured or because he is not able to call the shots. He is comfortable with one-to-one encounters with the Prime Minister or anyone else, for the matter. Past events have shown him to be an intelligent and sharp debater. But due to his repeated nays to invitations by different sections of the media he is coming across as someone who feels uncomfortable with a situation where members of the public or constituted bodies or inquisitive journalists are free to ask anything about any subject.
Instead of open debates, where even a common John or a well-prepared journalist, can put him on the spot, Dr Sant seems to prefer over-structured debates with the Prime Minister. During such debates journalists are de facto relegated to glorified time-keepers.
Dr Sant's proposal to the Prime Minister to hold regular debates on PBS is a non-starter. It is not the business of politicians to dabble with the schedule of PBS. It is a pity that Dr Sant aspires to do so. Some years back, the Malta Broadcasting Authority had immediately stopped a similar initiative following agreement between Anglu Fenech and Eddie Fenech Adami for a debate on TVM.
Let there be more open debates where journalists and representatives of the public lay down the terms in the light of existent regulations. In such debates, journalists should respect politicians more than dogs respect lamp-posts and should do their utmost to unwrap the politicians' "packets", not help in their wrapping.