I do not usually watch local tv stations. Each time I’ve made the effort to try I found their programmes boring, repetitive and not engaging at all, so I zap onto other channels in less than three minutes. For one thing, I can’t stand hosts who play the protagonists rather than let their guests be the centre of the show. Their long-winded questions are the antithesis of what good tv should be, and yet it goes on unabated.
But last Sunday I was curious to know how Michael Falzon would react to the front page story we had on The Malta Independent on Sunday about his secret bank account. So I tuned in on his newspaper analysis on PBS, a programme he co-hosts with lawyer Ramona Frendo.
It is not a surprise that Michael Falzon did not react at all. The headline “Come again, Mike?” screamed in his face from the front page and yet there was no mention of the story in the one-hour long programme.
One comment, however, stood out, and it had nothing to do with Michael Falzon or the story about him.
It was a comment made by Ramona Frendo about another story carried on the front page of The Malta Independent on Sunday, right next to the one about Michael Falzon’s secret bank account. The story was about the tidal lane traffic system that will be launched in Paola.
At one point, Ramona Frendo said – and I quote – “Ha jibdew Rahal Gdid, ha jibdew minn nies l-iktar intelligenti, in-nies tas-south” (They will start in Paola, they will start with the more intelligent people, the people of the south).
A sweeping statement if ever there was one, and a statement that verges on being a racist comment too.
When one uses the word “aktar” (more) it implies a comparison, and what Ramona Frendo was saying was that the people of the south are more intelligent than, of course, the people of the north. Is it so, for Ramona Frendo, because the people of the south predominantly vote Labour?
Sitting right next to her, Michael Falzon seemed to be taken aback and quickly changed the subject.
It is known that, under Labour, PBS discussion programmes and talk-shows heavily lean towards pushing the government’s agenda. Such a comment, however, goes beyond simple propaganda, and it was certainly uncalled for. It is a divisive remark that will only help fuel the “us-and-them” mentality that hampers the country’s growth. And it is yet another confirmation – if there was still any need to confirm this – that Joseph Muscat’s promise that “people who do not agree with us can still work with us” was a hollow pledge.
If a BBC or RAI host had dared to make such a comment, he or she would have been dismissed there and then. But BBC and RAI are serious broadcasters, and I do not think that PBS would dare remove someone who appeared on a pre-election billboard urging people to vote Labour.