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Mediawatch

timesofmalta.com uncut

I’s the third time this week that the Timesofmalta.com editors have chosen to not publish my comments online. Now they are fully entitled to choose to ignore my contribution to the high level debate that goes on in the nether regions of every illuminated article. Since freedom of expression is in vogue right now we thought of creating a website where the comments that are not exactly kosher on the timesofmalta.com would be welcome.

We have the prototype up and running. The address is www.timesofmalta.vox.com. The “vox” in the address is quite appropriate as it gives a voice to those commentators with whom the Times has trouble dealing.

Incidentally the comment that sparked this action was a comment of mine at the foot of the Times editorial today. Ed was rambling about how nobody has commented on the Labour plan to tackle corruption and I just remarked that “nel nostro piccolo” we had already done so at J’accuse on the 15th of May. That was this morning. This afternoon and many comments later there is still no sign of our comment. Hence “TOM Uncut“.

The moment we have more time we will move this new blog to a new permanent base with a lovely web address that is sure to surprise the timesofmalta geeks. If you have any comment that has not passed the censorship lines be sure to follow the instructions on TOM Uncut.

Publish and be damned Baby!

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Mediawatch

The Funny Politician

The weirdly named (for an Englishman) Lembit Opik is one of the Liberal Democrat politicians who lost their seat at the last general election in the UK. As he had promised half-jokingly during the special post-election edition of Have I Got Elections News for You he has now taken up a new career – stand up comedy. The BBC reviews his first performance in a small London club here (Give it up for Lembit Opik).

Listening to the BBC news review I couldn’t help but wonder about our set of Maltese MPs. Would they make it onto the stand-up comedy circuit? Would, for that matter, any comedian in Malta make the reverse trip to the benches of parliament? J’accuse has been guilty more than once of firing the allegation that parliament is made up of a bunch of clowns but what if we were to take that assertion more seriously? Could JPO add to his never-ending repertoire of part-time jobs and indulgences and find himself on centre-stage cracking an audience up with his tearsome antics? Would Anglu Farrugia bring an entire coffee morning to a standstill with his anecdotes ? Can you imagine the (Edwin) Vassallo and (Anthony Profs) Zammit double act: Did you hear the one about the lesbian couple who had a baby? Side splitting I am sure.

It may be true that our parliament has found its benches stocked with the product of the lesser art of radio entertainment. The Agiuses, Musumecis and Cuschieris of this planet were all a by-product of the “everything goes” and “radio is popular” culture of the mid-nineties but how many politicians possess the necessary wit to give you a good joke on the level of a Stephen Fry or at least a Lee Evans? Anecdotes about past generations of politicans make you wonder whether the odd Bonello Dupuis or Hyzler senior could have done a decent job of it but that generation is long gone. A good sense of humour, a good feeling with the audience and a large dose of wit are prerequisites for the successful stand up comedian – and I don’t think that we’ll be seeing many of those coming out of parliament soon. If it’s slapstick comedy you are after… then it might be worth your while to wait a bit longer and start reaping the dividends of this generations’ bunch of reps.

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Politics

About Gays in the Village

Poor old Edwin Vassallo. He kicked off a new chatterfest with his declaration that “what heppens in the bedroom is, up to a point, the government’s business, because it often had to solve problems caused there”. Now I am sure that Edwin Vassallo does not really mean that the government will be adding to the spam already in your inbox about erectile malfunction, viagra and cialis or solving vaginitis issues. Nope this was the Chairman of the House Social Affairs Committee discussing their latest topic: “the situation of homosexuals and transgender individuals in Malta”.

Apparently the committee learnt that what happens in the bedroom often ends up before the state to do something about it – citing as examples (wait for it) single parents and teenage pregancies. Once again I cannot vouch for the reporting on the times but surely – surely – Edwin Vassallo is not equating problems in some hypothetical bedroom peopled with homosexuals resulting in a teenage pregancy? By who? The Gay Holy Spirit? And single parents? Who? Gay Geppetto? Sorry Pinocchio if you thought being carved out of wood and having the wrong part of your body grow longer at the wrong time was a problem then think again – daddy is a homo.

Following that mother of all non sequiturs the Times tried to fan the fire by throwing in a few choice quotes from MGRM’s Gabi Calleja about creative ways to have children. I can’t wait for the comments to get rolling on that one. Meanwhile politicians were still having that tit for tat. Vassallo (PN) was reacting to Anthony Zammit (PL) who had repeated what Progressive Joseph had said, which was basically “the state did not care what happened in the bedroom”. Professor (yes, professor) Anthony Zammit’s contribution to the discussion (apart from parrotting his leader) was this: “I am happy to say that I have a lot of gay friends” adding he was never ashamed to be seen with them (not like David Laws then). Anthony Zammit’s declaration reminded me of this episode from Mock the Week (replace “black” with “homosexual” and you see how this kind of statement only fits in a comedy scenario):

The came the coup de grace. Both parties have their fair share of ugly heads that are best kept below the radar. PL has that Anglu Farrugia shooting illogical theories every other day. This time it was the PN’s very own Catholic Mullah who gave us the loveliest and juciest of quotes:

“Dr Fenech Adami asked MGRM representatives whether in homosexual couples there were “mother and father” roles. In his and his wife’s experience, Dr Fenech Adami said, when they tried filling each other’s roles the results weren’t that good”.

Well. I guess if Beppe has trouble switching roles then everybody else does. How’s that for a non sequitur?

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Mediawatch Politics

Legatus non violatur

The big three credit ratings agencies were threatened yesterday with fines and the creation of a new state-backed competitor, only weeks after European leaders attacked them for exacerbating Greece’s problems with downgrades. – The Times (UK)

Readers will be familiar with reactions by the Maltese administration to certain reports from particular institutions. “Audit” is the byword for a scrutiny or check that was originally applied to matters accounting but is now extended to such realms as “democratic accountability” and “freedom of press” to give but non-economic examples. The auditor is supposed to be as impartial as possible and his job is simply to report on the state of affairs – the idea being that it is up to managers, politicians and lobby groups to make do with the report as best they deem fit.

Recently we have seen an increased tendency to debate the validity of the auditor rather than the message itself. In other words, in these times of economic woes that might even effect the clear thinking of (non-economic) democratic institutions, there is a growing tendency to shoot the messenger.  A concerted effort by (Commission President) Barroso and (German Chancellor and French President) Merkel & Sarkozy has recently been stepped up with the intention to undermine the credibility of a very important set of “auditors” in this day and age.

credti rating marks.jpg
Credit Rating Chart

Europe’s continental leaders have targeted the three credit ratings agencies – responsible for the rating of governments and of their ability to pay their debts. The three: Standard & Poor‘s, Moody’s and Fitch (no relation to Abercrombie’s other half) have been busy downgrading Greece, Spain and Portugal’s ratings recently and were also on the verge of giving the same treatment to France. While Merkel and Sarkozy argued that the agencies need more scrutiny – a form of supervision and regulation – Barroso criticised the three for failing to alert investors on the imminent demise of Lehmann Brothers in 2008.

Barroso asks three questions:

  • Is it normal to have only three relevant actors in such a sensitive issue where there is a great probability of conflict of interest?
  • Is it normal that all of them come from the same country?
  • Is it normal that such important entities are escaping fundamental regulation?

Now the eagerness with which the “EU that counts” shoots down the three agencies is inevitably tied to the large amount of control that they hold on the mood of the market. their ratings are not simply an auditing assessment but any move of theirs tends to have heavy repercussions on the financial and economic sectors. Shooting the messenger is only half the story.

The EU does not only intend to regulate the auditors but seems intent on creating an auditor of its own – an in-house competitor. Questions will surely be raised about the independence of such a new monster. If the current three are not above suspicion because of the possibility of conflicts of interests what then of the new monster that will be financed by the very set of sovereign nations it is supposed to vet?

Barroso’s questions begin to sound more and more like Muscat’s quickly assembled 15 point plan to battle corruption. Loads of rhetoric and flimsy legal justification. In both cases they provide little solution and comfort. Back to the drawing board José (and Joseph)

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iTech Mediawatch

There's no such thing as a free (Wi-Fi) lunch

“69  main squares and public gardens around Malta and Gozo will offer free wi-fi in the coming weeks, bringing the number of open spaces offering the service to 88.” That’s wonderful news and all those involved in this project should be lauded with more than a pat on the back. But is free Wi-Fi sustainable in the long term? Does this project fit in within a wider plan or is it just a play by ear routine?

MCA CEO Philip Micallef, PS Chris Said and Minister Gatt have all expressed their enthusiasm about this project “bridging the digital divide” and this is definitely the kind of idea that makes something like Vision 2015 less words and more action. We do not intend to be the wet blankets and killjoys here at J’accuse but it is important not to lose a sense of perspective. While it is true that this kind of service is “similar to what is offered in other countries” there is one missing bit of info in all of this.

Take Luxembourg. We had free Wi-Fi “Hot Spots” a couple of years back. The city center included well signed areas where you could access the public service. After a while though the public service became a paid service. You could  register and buy credit to access the wifi system. Free-riders could go to restaurants such as McDonald’s, Books and Beans (Pierre Meilak’s old haunt) and Urban for example. Like most European cities though the trend was more for paying for credit for public WiFi than for free availability.

Wi-Fi Alliance logo
Image via Wikipedia

When travelling in Europe you can buy credit with Wi-Fi providers like Orange, T-Mobile and others and use their many hotspots around the main towns. Sadly (for Europe) even most hotels require extra payment for the wi-fi service. Few (such as the Campanile chain) offer free wi-fi. The “free” element is excellent to get people used to the benefits of browsing when out but it costs money. My honest question is will the Maltese service be sustainable in the long run?

Lest you batter me with the anti-government critic baton I am genuinely asking whether there is a long term plan. It is all well and good to set up wi-fi hotspots and encourage their use but what will happen in a year or two when the accounts department starts to creak and austerity measures hit the service? I would strongly advise clear, up-front information – that the service will probably cost money in the future is highly probable (unless sponsors are found). Even in the case of wi-fi there is a cost… and government NEVER gives you anything for free.

Answers please.

Times Report

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Mediawatch

Programmes People Watch (II)

Friday on Xarabank. Where’s Everybody discusses Where’s Everybody. Fresh from their appearance at PN’s Vision 2015+ (a conference for non-politicians – whatever that may mean) Peppi and Lou debate Lou. With a little help from their friends. Here’s the “synopsis” sent round by Xarabank:

Freedom of Expression: Where to draw the line? Where is the limit? Should television programmes give space to ideas such as those of Norman Lowell or should these be censored or even banned? Xarabank discusses. Amongst others in the panel, journalist Lou Bondi, media expert Fr Joe Borg, Chief Justice Emeritus Prof Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici and National Commission Persons with Disability chairman Joseph M Camilleri.

You’ve just got to love them. Can you imagine the dilemma at Xarabank’s production team? …

Do we get Lowell?

But would getting Lowell answer the question?

OK OK. So do we get Lou?

And if we have Lou we need a media expert.

Is there anyone we can think of?

I think I heard Lou mention a Fr Joe Borg.

Ok. So it’s Lou and Joe right?

Yes. But no. But but but but that would be a bit too much like the programme on Daphne’s Blog.

What programme on Daphne’s Blog?

You know the one where they talked about everything but the blog

… ah that one. So we’ll just get two more cameo appearances – is anyone else talking about it?

Hmm… not anyone worth inviting…

let’s just get JoJo and spomeone from the disabled community – sorry. persons with disability – and have them talk about how offensive Lowell is.

Should be a good programme – after all people love controversy and Lowell.

Lowell – programmes people watch.

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