Malta Today: 'a public vehicle for private envy'
Saviour Balzan and Roger de Giorgio, co-owners of Malta Today, were Consuelo and Robert's Christmas guests
Those are Lou Bondi’s words, not mine – dammit.
Malta Today’s editor, Matthew Vella – an ahdar par excellence, or perhaps that should be an ‘akbar zib’ – has just emailed Lou Bondi with some ‘challenging’ questions about last night’s show.
Lou Bondi sent his replies in a round-robin to all the popular media, including this blog.
I’m reproducing the exchange below, for your delectation.
Dear Matthew,
Thanks for the questions and your interest in Bondiplus. My answers are below in bold. Given that I do not consider MaltaToday to be a newspaper but a public vehicle for private envy, I am copying my answers to all the media.
Regards,
Lou
________________________________________
From: Matthew Vella [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 23 February 2010 12:32
To: Lou Bondi
Subject: REQUEST FOR COMMENT
Dear Lou,
Kindly review the following questions with respect to Monday’s (yesterday’s) edition of Bondiplus – I was hoping you could answer them by 5pm.
1. Your programme dealt with the role of digital journalism and blogs and its ramifications for other established media outlets. There was a total lack of speakers representing the Maltese media landscape that could have presented a balanced exchange of ideas on the subject at hand: why did you choose not to have a wider line-up of speakers?
First of all, quite frankly, the journalistic decisions taken on Bondiplus are none of your business. Bondiplus has an audience of 116,000 a week and it is to them and PBS we are responsible to. Secondly, MaltaToday used to have a daily programme on PBS, hosted by your colleague Saviour Balzan, and he had a single guest everyday, just like yesterday’s Bondiplus. But what am I saying? Expecting consistency and basic logic from MaltaToday is a like expecting a shepherd to be in charge of a NASA space mission.
2. Can you explain why no comment was solicited from either Ms Caruana Galizia, or Magistrate Scerri Herrera and Robert Musumeci, themselves being the subjects of the discussion, which would have also offered a more balanced exchange of ideas?
Here we move into the Benny Hill School of Journalism territory. In the programme I did say that we asked Robert Musumeci for an interview and he declined (at the same time he gave an interview to MaltaToday). About Daphne Caruana Galizia, we said that it was not necessary to interview her because she says everything she has to say, and more, on her blog. In addition, we reported almost verbatim what what she told the police in her interrogation. Were you rummaging in the kitchen for a Mars bar when I said this? So that leaves us with your deeply investigative question: why didn’t we interview Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera? Oh dear, dear. You don’t even know that Magistrates do not give such interviews and are prevented from doing so by their Code of Ethics. Perhaps you should change your newspaper slogan from ‘Content is King’ to ‘Mickey Mouse is King’.
3. Do you feel you should have stated that you were present at the dinner party where the comments made by Magistrate Scerri Herrera, which sparked the first in a series of blog posts that led to the subject under discussion at Bondiplus, took place? Do you feel that had you specified this particular circumstance in discussing the effects of Ms Caruana Galizia’s blogposts on the judiciary, it would have been in the interest of PBS viewers?
Another visit to the Benny Hill School of Journalism. In the programme I said that I know and frequented all the three protagonists – Robert Musumeci, Consuelo Scerri Herrera and Daphne Caruana Galizia. But, being such a valiant crusader for the truth, I think that you deserve to be given a scoop. Here it is. In the evening of 17th December 2009 your colleague Saviour Balzan and the owner of your newspaper Roger Degiorgio were at a party at Robert Musumeci’s and Consuelo Scerri Herrera’s house. Given that you have followed this story without fear or favour, I am sure I will see this scoop plastered all over your front page tomorrow.
70 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Lou Bondi – LEGEND.
Very good. That puts this so-called journalist in his right and proper place: the dustbin. Ara il-veru gurnalisti hodor ghandhom fl-istalla tal-Malta Today. Imdejqin bihom infushom u hlief agendi mohbija m’ghandhomx.
Very well said, Daphne and Lou. What goes around comes around. So the divine Saviour, who stands on a lofty pedestal and hurls mud at everyone else, and who accused people of ‘going to Consie and Robert’, was there as well.
This only keeps getting better and better !
‘Do you feel you should have stated that you were present at the dinner party where the comments made by Magistrate Scerri Herrera, which sparked the first in a series of blog posts that led to the subject under discussion at Bondiplus, took place?’
Doesn’t Malta Today think that its readers would have liked to know that Saviour Balzan and Roger de Giorgio were guests at the home of the magistrate and Robert Musumeci?
Of course they do. That’s why they don’t say it. It doesn’t fit their agenda.
They’re far more interested in peddling Hello magazine style interviews in exchange for lists of dinner party guests. Now *that* suits their agenda.
Chapeau Lou!
I found your answers to Matthew Vella to be more entertaining than yesterday’s Bondiplus.
Moreover, I would be the first to confirm your remarks with respect to what you stated in yesterday’s Bondiplus.
Lou Bondi has all the credentials for a brilliant blog of his own, but nobody has said it better than D till now.
I actually heard Lou Bondi stating that he asked Robert Musumeci for an interview, which Robert declined.
I remember for two reasons:
1. because at that moment I thought ‘Of course he declined, but naturally, he gave an interview a few days ago to biased Malta Today’;
2. he mistakenly said Daphne Caruana Galizia then excused himself and said Robert Musumeci, adding that he did not need to interview Daphne Caruana Galizia since she had said what she had to say.
What was Matthew Vella doing at the time, still looking for Consuelo’s skirt? If he wanted to see it on PBS and couldn’t, because it had been edited out, he can have a look at it here: the (in)famous picture from her very own Facebook profile.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/02/18/tvm-news/
Wowsers .. that was some reply. What one doesn’t fail to notice is that as more time goes by and more journalists/public figures touch on the subject, the more we can distinguish between the intelligent ones and the ones more suitable for the “recycle bin”.
While I totally agree with Lou’s views, maybe replying in a round-robin of all the popular media was a little too cut-throat. Completely humiliating people can sometimes turn them into more dangerous adversaries. Usually, it is best to leave them believe that they are still important in their pathetic little worlds. They cause less harm that way.
[Daphne – Matthew Vella and Saviour Balzan are already as dangerous and unpleasant as they can get. Akbar Zib strikes me as the sort who, if he had been born in the right time and place, would have found his home in the Brigate Rosse or the Bader Meinhof. That’s the psychological profile we’re dealing with here.]
What did you think of yesterday’s programme?
It still continues to astound me how these people manage to build successful businesses. It totally defies logic. Maybe there are things they still keep close to chest despite how stupid they would appear to be.
[Daphne – Malta Today is not a successful business. Try working out how much revenue they get from advertising and how much from selling hard copies of the newspaper, then give a rough estimate of salaries and general overheads and try to deduct the second from the first. You’ll find that you can’t. If Malta Today were successful, Saviour would not be so angry all the time.]
I don’t have those figures in hand. But the knowledge that the newspaper is still in circulation given the current economic climate makes me think that it may still be making a profit. Unless they have a personal bet on how much debt they can accumulate in the fastest time possible.
[Daphne – It doesn’t follow. It can be bankrolled by shareholders or sleeping partners.]
Anyway, thanks for the replies. It’s always refreshing to see the new methods you come up with to whip Saviour’s ego. Lou’s barrage was an added bonus.
Yesterday’s BondiPlus was a great programme where we had a deep understanding of what can or cannot be written or said by a journalist.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Daphnie is not a journalist here and this is not a newspaper; I find this place to be more like Daphne’s sitting-room where everyone is welcome to share his views with other visitors.
In his introduction Lou asked if a magistrate has a right to a private life, but failed to ask whether a columnist has the right to a private life. Fr Joe Borg in his answer included the journalist’s right to a private life.
Lou’s spotlight on Toni Abela’s article of last Sunday’s Illum http://www.illum.com.mt/2010/02/21/toni.html was good, but somehow forgot the magistrates dancing on the tables at the Four Seasons Bar.
Is that not the same Toni Abela who was appointed by Saviour Balzan to be his lawyer in a case against PBS after information of public interest about Reporter was published in Parliament? (The Times, Sunday, 12 July 2009)
These people have a communist attitude, and they project their paper as being clean and fair. What a waste of time. “Savtozzi contra tutti”.
Isma Daphne, jaqaw mhux Saver hux baghtlek l-sms biex kont taf x’qed jigri waqt l-ikla ghand il-magistrat? Ghax issa anki fik qed niddubita ta, hejj.
Am I understanding this correctly?
If so, then can a person be so Janus-faced? And I don’t mean Daphne.
I now have the answer. Yes they can. The spokes of this particular wheel finally fit into place.
Looking forward to MANY more blogs Daphne.
I knew Lou wouldn’t disappoint us. WORDS OF STEEL!
Dieci e lode per Lou Bondì!
Il-minestra gets gets thicker and better every day. I see nothing good coming out from the criminal defamation suit. I hope the magistrate reconsiders and moves on quietly with her life.
Taking an internet discussion of this blog to court has now shifted the discussion to all the media and court documents that will linger on for many years. Only embarrassing news can come out of it. One may ask, is the fight worth it?
A change in behaviour is cheaper and in the long run will be more rewarding.
Personally, I see no battles to be won.
Someone told me “If I ever have her as my magistrate in a court case, man kunx niflah ma ninfaqax nidhak f’wicca”.
I am really impressed, Lou.
Keep up the good work for proper journalism.
And that goes for you too, Daphne.
One article which Matthew should have shown to Consie: even back then the intelligent ones knew how to use privacy settings on Facebook.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2007/11/25/mvella.html
Can find his pic on Google – good to know who this guy is.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/images/matthew_tab_t.gif
Looks Russian.
The eyes are the mirror of the soul. Matthew Vella’s have the same glassy expression as Saviour Balzan’s.
Harry Purdie: The Russians I know are good looking and charming. And no, they’re not paid to be that way.
La Redoute. Happy you clarified that. Was wondering.
I am very disappointed in Lou. There’s an extra “to” and an extra “what” in his replies and consequently MaltaToday will not publish them. There are standards to be upheld, you know.
A fitting reply from a seasoned journalist to a useless one – well done, Lou.
“Expecting consistency and basic logic from MaltaToday is a like expecting a shepherd to be in charge of a NASA space mission.”
Epic win!
Here’s your virtual bouquet Matthew Vella:
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/lfo/lowres/lfon40l.jpg
Lou, I haven’t stopped laughing!
The space between some people’s ears is an ODZ. Forsi ghalhekk hodor.
Good one.
The irony is that many more people will read Lou Bondi’s replies on this blog than they would if they were published in Malta Today.
Well said, Lou! That really put them in their place!
Actually, Lou missed the point of Matthew’s email.
Matthew asked Lou to “review” the questions, not to reply to them.
“I was hoping you could answer them by 5pm.”
Sounds like a request for replies to me.
The infamous phrase from the last general election – “kemm hu pufta Lou Bondi” – must have had quite a resurgence at the Malta Today offices this afternoon!
Brilliant!
Maybe that is why they set up LGBT Labour – they are after Lou now…
If they really decide to take you to court, tal-hot dogs u tal-gelati will apply for a permit outside the law courts and entrance tickets will have to be issued for 15 minute intervals.
[Daphne – I AM being taken to court.]
…and it’ll be a damn fine show!
Is everybody allowed to attend, if yes, tell us when, please?
You’re going to have many early birds queueing up to get in first. Maybe barriers will be placed as is done during the sales periods to avoid people from queue jumping.
Giovanni and the rest of us.
I expect each and every one of you guys to put your money where your mouth is and be there, I will be the one wearing a Mickey Mouse tie, discreet but still Mickey Mouse, because as far as I am concerned that’s the level Consie has brought the judiciary down to.
I cannot wait to watch Malta Today dig its own grave….got a shovel anyone?
Daphne – make sure that you tell us the date and time when they refer you to the courts. We all have to make sure that all this will not stop now. It has to end with the elimination of arrogance, and with a cleaner Malta!
Joseph Muscat on Dissett this evening is asked whether he will vote in favour of impeachment. He thinks there might be a hidden agenda. Insomma what do you expect? Dejjem jipprova jirkeb xi karru ta’ haddiehor.
So what if there were a hidden agenda? Reno Bugeja’s question was quite clear “what would you do *if* there is a motion for impeachment”
*if* not *when* – and he still won’t even acknowledge the question, let alone provide an answer.
Sieheb tal-misprints u l-malfunctions.
I’ve had enough of Malta Today staff being referred to as “il-gurnalisti tal-Malta Today”! THEY ARE NOT JOURNALISTS. They’re simply Malta Today employees and/or owners. Journalists are one thing….these people are what they are.
If I start working for a rag, will you promise to start calling me gurnalista?
Lou owes me a new keyboard.
Note to self – no coffee allowed while reading this blog.
OK, Lou has now justified that PLUS after his name – I mean BondiPLUS. So, after Lou’s scoop, maybe Saviour and his team at MaltaToday were not defending Mr. Musumeci and Magistrate Herrera after all…
The can is open and the worms are crawling out – off to party at La Chica Consuelo Maria Pilar Herrera. Ole!
My God I just cannot believe Joseph Muscat on Dissett. Following on from Eddie’s biography, too.
What the devil is happening to this country?
Magistrate Herrara should simply resign. Does she have any self respect and does she realise what she has done to the image of the judiciary? It was bad but now it’s bloody terrible.
I sincerely thank the Divine that we have journalists with the ability AND perseverance, albeit facing great adversity, to carry out their duties as they should.
One cannot but admire Daphne who has, throughout the years, fought off the likes of Saviour Balzan who feeds off people’s insecurities and ignorance.
If you think the level of journalism in Malta is high, you couldn’t be more wrong. Having connections who feed you info, putting it down in newspapers when you deem fit and leaving stuff out because of personal agendas or bias, is unethical. (And this is not directed at DCG).
Just like the judiciary has a code of ethics. so does the journalistic profession. I’m afraid that Maltese journalism is like a rich, well-bred bachelor who has all the socially ambitious trashy whores ogling him. The chase for those 15 seconds of fame they are all after really nauseates me.
Nicky Mamo:
Journalism is not a profession. It has no barriers to entry – unlike law. Even if there were a code of ethics for journalists, it would be ineffectual because there is no governing body that decides whom to appoint as a journalist and whom to dismiss.
The only people who can act as a check on the behaviour of journalists are other journalists.
Il-x’wahda sawwtu Lou.
With almost all Malta attending this party I’m starting to feel left out.
Exactly the same feelings here. So it seems that you were not the only one left out, If that is of any CONSOLATION.
Clash of the Titans – Ave, Lou.
Nahseb li l-Malta Today minn issa l-quddiem se tfaqqa gwerra qaddisa kontra Lou Bondi u se jkun popolari fuq il-gazzetta taghhom. Int taf x’igifieri meta taqbad mieghek il-media.
Way to go, Bondi! I wish I could have seen Matthew Vella’s face when he read that. I can’t stop laughing.
Lou – fantastic reply. If I were Matthew Vella I would quit my job!
Oh so the magistrate can pick and choose when to follow her “Code of Ethics”. Have we reduced the law to a bag of liquorice All Sorts where you can take the ones you like and leave the rest?
If Matthew Vella wants another scoop, he can investigate the story about the ‘investigative journalist’ in his newsroom, who either can’t read or doesn’t do his research properly.
http://www.judiciarymalta.gov.mt/file.aspx?f=576
Article 25 of the code of ethics for members of the judiciary:
“Members of the Judiciary shall not, whether in their private or public life, act in such manner as might imply political partiality.”
13. Members of the Judiciary shall not discuss out of Court, cases that are pending in court. In full respect of freedom of expression members of the Judiciary should discourage
persons from discussing, in their presence cases that are sub judice.
Din ukoll mill-kodici tal-etika. Forsi Raphael Vassallo ghandu bzonn kopja gdida?
Prosit Lou, your programme was a pleasure to watch.
I think Lou was quite ridiculed with those answers he gave.
Two big words shine through Matthew Vella’s questions: ‘insecurity’ and ‘persecution complex’.