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The Press & Manu's Mission
The tragicomic news items from the island never cease to surprise but the story of the rise and fall of Emmanuel Cini in the sympathy ratings in the Maltese press is as intriguing as ever. For those who have been too busy complaining about omnibuses or owling, Emmanuel Cini is the man who is attempting to become Malta’s Marco Pannella by going on a hunger strike until Minister Gatt resigns.
The story – accompanied by a daily vlog (video blog) – of the weakening Cini did hit the headlines by his second day of starving. It was pushed by the pinker of the press (MaltaToday & Maltastar) and then picked up by the village gossip angle of the Times. Being the christians that we are (especially when the subject is white and not coming in a boat from North Africa) the papers were quick to emphasise the disabilities and illnesses of this particular individual – gunning for even more empathy from Joe Public.
By Day 4 there was something weird in the air. No direct contact from the ministry, the usual labourite barks hanging onto anything remotely anti-government and the pink press milking whatever was milkable. Then came Cini’s daily vid and his clumsy attempt to distance himself from what he called Labour’s “squeaky clean” image. Apparently this martyr did not want to “tarnish” Labour with his deed (How could such a commendable act tarnish Labour we wondered? Then we wondered why all this fuss about the “squeaky clean”).
There was an uncomfortable silence about this man’s travails. Sure, the TGITTCB crowd and the usual hobby-horse anti-government bitching elevated Cini to hero status but the reluctance of the press to dig deeper stood out.This morning Joe Camilleri from the National Commission for Persons with Disability politely refrained from joining Mr. Cini’s cause. Surely there was something everybody knew but was reluctant to mention.
Then came Daphne to the rescue. Her pachydermic memory (and a few tips from the blog commentators) unearthed another side of Emmanuel Cini (if you excuse the weak pun). Suddenly the hunger-striker became the gay porn star with a track record of more than half a screw missing. Apparently it did not take much to unearth his earlier life in porno stardom.
So what kept the press from delving deeper? If this man had been in the news earlier why were not newshounds’ instincts alerted? Is this a sign of incompetence or is there more to it? I have a feeling there is more to it in the sense that once you eliminate the average PL-friendly press who can get more mileage out of the striker if he is a victim and not a pornstar you are left with journalists who might not feel it is right to question the motives of someone who is “putting his life on the line”. In other words Emmanuel Cini, the dying man, is untouchable because he is sick and dying.
Nobody would dare question his recklessness. Nobody would question whether Arriva and Minister Gatt are worth dying for (are they?). The weakness of the press is not always politically motivated. It could have a lot to do with our modus operandi and values. It could also have to do with being lazy: the dying man story was as good as it got for some: why look further?
My question is why should we look further? He was a Gay Pornstar. So what? What does that add to the news item? Apart sheer gossip, which we obviously like so much!!!
what’s the difference between a man who goes on hunger strike to express an opinion, and a man, who is a former porn performer, who goes on hunger strike to express an opinion?
This guy is on a hunger strike because of a bus route, in case it has escaped your notice.
What opinion is he expressing?
Having said that, I still fail to see the link between his “pornographic” past and his present (idiotic) stance.
Even for Maltese so called social liberals, being a former porn actor has you marked as the spawn of something ugly and unmentionable, and dirty and evil too. Keep at arm’s length, for fear of becoming dirty too. That’s the approach, I fear. What I can’t understand is why don’t people come to grips with the problem at hand, and deal with it. Cini has obviously been dealt a huge blow with the new bus routes. His fatal error is that he tried to make it an anti-Austin Gatt campaign. He should have simply protested to have his voice heard, and no doubt there are many others like him, who are not being served, as citizens (and customers), by Arriva. That’s where he went wrong.
But his critics are even worse. Instead of seeing through his desperate tactics, and going straight to the heart of the problem in order to solve it, they’re stuck in this rut of not taking the guy seriously.
Sometimes it’s extremely hard to hold on to my increasingly waning faith in my fellow human beings.
It’s ok to die of hunger, but God forbid yu should die of sunstroke – or of cold in our Siberian-style winters.
Alice in Wonderland pales into insignificance compared to this
I’d worry more about fellow human beings who fail to point out to Mr. Cini the disproportionate futility of his protest.
I’m surprised the press didn’t mention it, but to be honest whether he is gay or a porn star is pretty much irrelevant. I think this guy is either too brave for his own good or pretty stupid. He’s basically done for unless Gonzi gets rid of Gatt, and there’s no way that’s going to happen.
I guess the point he’s trying to prove is that in other democratic countries ministers are held accountable for their blunders but here everything is hunky dory. His point is that if we want our politicians to be held accountable we must demand it. He is right, but that said I wouldn’t hunger strike for this cause.
What is the point of this “expose”?
What I take from it is that as long as he serves the purposes of the particular news outlet (anti-PN for MaltaToday, anti-Arriva for the Times), the press will give him exposure, but if they knew he was a porn star, they would shun him.
However, it seems like you’re actively trying to discredit him just because he used to be a gay porn star. You bandy about the term “gay porn star” as if it’s somehow equal to “child molester” and would result in all of society shunning him. Maybe you’re right, and they would, but you’re part of the problem as long as you frame this in such judgmental terms. His past career is utterly irrelevant to this matter.
This guy is unhinged and unfortunately pursuing a senseless crusade which can be debunked on its own terms. You don’t need to ‘dig up dirt’ on his past to see that what he’s doing makes no sense.
This article seems to take a bit too much pleasure in humiliating this unfortunate person, but comments so far seem to show that no one really cares about your anti-gay agenda.
Oooh dearie me… now I have an “anti-gay agenda”. Who knows maybe I have an “anti-pornstar agenda”. Or maybe, just maybe I am interested in the multi-faceted personality of this unfortunate man and how different parts of the press have reacted. You seem to be intelligent enough to note that I did not “dig up dirt” but simply commented on a step in the process of the past few days.
The most judgemental part on this post is yours What and I am not falling for this “anti-gay agenda” victmism. My observations have nothing to do with gays, pornstars or drama teachers… I am simply observing what is happening. If anything I was critical of the presses ambivalent attitude.
Like others before you (being many does not in any way make you right) you chose to draw the wrong conclusions. It is of course much easier to label someone as anti-gay or anti-porn or whatever tickles your latest pc fancy. Spare me your idiotic sweeping statements… I have no anti-gay agenda… if I do have an agenda it’s anti-stupid and you risk falling squarely in the middle of it.