With all the fuss being made about how the media ought to present crisp, clear versions of Maltese or English - and not a mishmash of both - this week was somewhat of an anti-climax. And then there is the question of political bias being used to mislead, in the way events are reported.
Anyone listening to the One Radio 6.45 a.m. news bulletin last Tuesday would have done a double take. In the headlines - and in the recapitulation after the news itself - the item about the troubles in Greece was inserted in between two local items.
By accident or design, the country name was not mentioned, and so one could easily have misunderstood the gist of it, and assumed that the event had happened in Malta.
With Net television, the incident was reported too, but the language left much to be desired. It was reported that twieqi tal-ħwienet (a literal translation from 'shop windows') were broken, and that grenadi (presumably grenades) were thrown.
In both instances, it is obvious that no one proofread the scripts before they were okayed for broadcast - or if someone did, they failed miserably at their task. That news bulletins are ongoing and that "attention to detail is impossible" (not my words) is neither a reason nor an excuse.
If one is to be adept at a job that requires the use of both national languages, and one is fluent in both, this issue need never arise. It is bad enough that television and radio stations still do not provide phonetic renderings of foreign nouns (both common and proper), which leads to awkwardness and mispronunciations galore. This would hopefully teach presenters that the expression is definitely not torbot rasek qabel ma taqtagħha.
Most people would know that Senator John McCain came to Malta; but to listen to the items broadcast about him on One and Radio 101, you would have thought he made two trips. A certain station intimated that all he did was attend two dinners, while the other had him visiting places of historical interest and meeting dignitaries. No prizes for guessing which medium gave which rendering.
Another item that was in very, very bad taste was the screening of Disturbia, Rihanna's eerie video, in the early afternoon last Sunday. Children were probably watching what was supposed to be a 'fun and games' programme.
One's Allegria is a game show, and this video was intended as a memory game for the panels ("Where is she seen performing her song?" What colour are the chains holding the singer?"). The clip is full of shameful moments, and I do not see it suitable for daytime broadcast.
According to its website, "One of the aims of the Malta Olympic Committee in line with that of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is that of promoting and enhancing 'and not trivialising' the Olympic ideas to achieve worldwide reaffirmation of ideals and values, which are reflected in the legacy of the Olympic Games."
This means, that unless one practices a sport that falls under the aegis of one of the affiliated associations of the MOC (www.nocmalta.org/page.asp?n=affassociations), one might as well forget about being awarded for international achievements, albeit ones happening locally.
In fact, the sports community was up in arms this week about how Aaron Ciantar was virtually passed over because his sport just happens to be Powerboats rather than say, archery or fencing. Moreover, the fact that there are some people in the MOC who have a say in what appears in sports programmes makes this anomaly even worse.
I say this because I fully understand what the initials MOC stand for - but this ought not to preclude anyone who is successful, in any field (not only sports) in Malta and abroad, to be publicly congratulated.
So, while heartily congratulating Daniel Testa on his success with Junior Swing in the Junior Eurovision Contest, I am dismayed that Francesca Gauci's name does not even feature in the Junior Eurovision website (www.junioreurovision.tv/tag/Malta?id=1519), and in an interview on TVM, to which both children were invited, she was left sitting on a chair while Daniel spoke with Valerie Vella, and eventually included as an afterthought.
It was probably only Tony Micallef, who interviewed them both two Sundays ago on Int u Jien (Radju Malta), who gave them equal airtime. Had it not been a dual effort, the song would not have placed as well as it did. I know that the names of singers doing backing vocals, and those of dancers, are not usually credited, but these are still children, and there is only one Junior Eurovision Song Contest a year.
If it was up to me, I would have someone in every newsroom cover events where Maltese people abroad were taking part. I would include coverage clips in news bulletins, even though the cultural programmes would probably be interviewing the protagonists.
The cost of sending someone to film Maltese violinist Romeo Giacomotto in concert with Austrian organist Wolfgang Koger, at a musical concert at the Catholic Church of St Francis in Tripoli last Wednesday, would probably have been prohibitive.
What prevented arrangements being made with television stations in Libya, through our Embassy there, by stations that did not deem the occasion important enough to include it in a bulletin or a programme? Apathy and indifference and a lack of national pride, probably.
television@timesofmalta.com