Yesterday's TX on Super One
Il-miss taghtni il-questions minn qabel.
Well, that was a nicely fixed job, and really insulting to viewers – not that your typical Super One viewers would have bothered. They would have been too busy saying ‘Kemm hi sabiha, Miriam hu – taghna isbah minn taghhom. U kemm hu bravu, Joseph! Kemm jaf jispjega!”
Journalists Keith Demicoli, Vanessa Macdonald, Kurt Sansone et al accepted Super One’s rather shady offer to have their questions to Joseph Muscat recorded ahead of time and they played back to him.
The consequences should have been obvious to them: Miriam Dalli would have been able to let Muscat know ahead of time what those questions were, enabling him to research and prepare his answers (and still those answers were crap), and Keith Demicoli, Vanessa Macdonald, Kurt Sansone and the rest were not on air to put follow-up questions if the answers he gave called for them, which they certainly did.
Let’s put it this way – you don’t expect Miss Dalli to give her boss a good grilling. Those journalists were used as stooges. They should never have accepted.
50 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
I was going to say something about insulting the viewers’ intelligence but judging by the people who would have watched this religiously, that is hardly the case, is it?
Well, Daphne was one of the viewers for sure.
Yes but she is one of the few who watch critically rather than religiously. Religiously implies that it is watched without thought.
His Holiness the Pope has journalists’ questions filtered by his press secretary before they are passed on to him and before he ventures an answer.
[Daphne – The Pope is not accountable to electors.]
Is it Joseph’s delusions of grandeur once again? Or is it a sign of his utter inability to answer a colleague’s simple question off-the-cuff ?
It could be a mixture of both. What a let down.
I think that to equate the pope with the leader of the opposition of Malta is insulting for the pope. Plus having questions screened is one thing whilst having them recorded and not allowing follow-up questions is another.
Do you remember the famous interview with Dr Sant and Lou Bondi? Do you remember how he had tried to orchestrate the whole thing by just blurting out a statement and not allowing Lou to ask more questions? He even ignored him completely and walked out on him. I hate comparisons but Il-Leader is going down the same road.
We are talking One TV, a station privately owned by Labour. What else can you expect? But where is your article on NET programmes or, even worse, your friend Lou’s one-sided TV shows? I have searched and searched on your website to no avail. I mean come on Bondi Lou, the pseudo unbiased journalist with no connections whatsoever to the PN (duh!) and whose salaries (or dividends) are financed by our taxes. I still cannot forget his love tea party of an interview with Gonzi before the last election with one spoon-fed question after the other. But of course expecting Daphne to write about such a matter would be like expecting a PN minister to resign.
Errrr …. so why is One News constantly showing clips and extracting news items from Bondiplus? And why do Labour politicians regularly quote from from it? Why did Joseph Muscat on TX refer three or four times to my interview with Lawrence Gonzi last night? Oh, I know. I am so brilliant that I have turned One TV and the PL leader into PN stooges.
I wasn’t referring to last Monday’s interview at all. I know your wise tactic: Be harsh on PN officials in the middle of their term in government, so as to goad them to do better. But then a few weeks prior to the election be harsh on the labourites and go soft (soft is an understatement) on PN officials and help them win it. Go and rewatch your interview with Gonzi before the last general election and tell me if that wasn’t a lovely tea party in comparison to the previous week’s one with Sant, whom you rightfully ‘massacred’.
U hallina, Lejborist. Lou Bondì mhu xejn jekk mhux laghqi gigantesk ta’ Joseph Muscat. Jigifieri ma tistax tghid li huwa dispost hazin lejn in-New New Labour.
Jien ma’ nafx lil min naqbad nemmen, pero dalghodu kont qed nisma (on and off) lil Peppi Azzopardi fuq Bongu u qal xi haga li kienet tumakka kbira lil Joseph minghajr hafna tidwir mal-lewza: Peppi qal li hu kien tlahhaq membru f’bord dwar l-etika gurnalistika tal-gurnalisti tal-One, hu qal li dan ir-rapport miktub baqa’, imma qatt ma’ twettaq,u Peppi ma’ baqax membru f’dan il-bord ghax ma’ jrid lil hadd jinqeda’ bih. (Jista’ jkun li minhix ezatt fid-diskors ,imma tkellem f’dan is-sens , jekk zbaljat ikkoreguni). Jien lil Gonzi ngharfu meta jkun ‘ipreparat’ minn qabel, f’Bondi Plus ta’ l-ahhar zgur li ma’ kienx.
Wiehed bil-karta f’idu bit-twegibiet lesti, bhal Dr Joseph jkun qisu lest biex jaqla’ camata minn ghand Mike Bongiorno meta qabad lil wahda b’karta lesta bit-twegibiet tal-mistoqsijiet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPdTHkLpdqo
HP, a shorter version for New New Labour is Old Labour.
Nice one Reno.
Lejborist, we have a Maltese expression for your kind of insolence: wiċċ tost. Why don’t you set up your own blog instead of trying to dictate what Daphne should write about?
dictate ? insolence you say? I don’t think so. I thought this blog was open to everyone and not solely to blind PN fanatics like you.
Since its Daphtne’s blog she can pick what she wants to publishes,from our answers. Having some answers that go against her believes make the blog more interesting, so you should thank Lejborist for his interventions.
Grace, according to your unique way of reasoning, you should thank Daphne for providing a blog where you, Twanny, lejborist and the rest of Moaners Anonymous can have your little whine.
It is cheeky to the point of insolence to insist – as lejborist unrepentantly does – that she tackle certain subjects rather than others.
He sure had a lot of cuff showing yesterday. Either the shirt was 3 sizes too big or his ‘sjut’ was a bit short in the arms.
[Daphne – The difficulty lies with shirts. The larger the collar-size, the wider the fit and the longer the sleeves. The typical Maltese man has a thick neck, wide body but very short arms, so shirt-sleeves are always too long. Somehow, they manage to work things out with suit-jackets – I don’t know how – but trouser-legs pool around the ankles and even if shortened, they invariably look baggy because the ‘drape’ is designed for a longer length.
This ‘national figure’ is immediately noticeable to outsiders or to those who return to Malta after time spent elsewhere. Joseph Muscat’s figure is typically Maltese – straight from central casting – too wide for his height and with limbs that are far too short for the torso. He’s not exceptional (as I said, he’s typical), and the vast majority of our male politicians are shaped like that, as is the vast majority of the population in general. Strangely enough, I’ve just read an account of life in Malta, written by a British woman in the 1920s, and when describing people this is exactly what struck her about the men.]
“This ‘national figure’ is immediately noticeable to outsiders or to those who return to Malta after time spent elsewhere.”
In my case, the first thing that hit me was noses. I badly need a rhinoplasty myself, so I’m not pointing fingers here.
H.P Baxxter…jekk thares lejn il-Griegi tikkonsla!
Mela se nemigra fil-Grecja, il-benniena tac-Civiltà. Dawk qosra wkoll?
On a completely unrelated subject, I visited the Caruana Dingli exhibition today. It was quite depressing. Nothing but a list of hoity-toity surnames – and the list looks practically unchanged in 2010.
None of the big names in 1930s Maltese high society ever produced an ounce of political thought. Except for the Fascists and Italophiles, but then it was the wrong sort of thought. This is a country that has chosen the wrong heroes.
It came as a bit of a surprise to see my grandad among the artist’s students in the photo shown in the audiovisual show. How have the mighty fallen, eh?
“National figure”?
Shouldn’t that be protected with a specific clause in our Constitution?
The problem is with not knowing how to shop, or what to look for. You can find slim-fit shirts and suits, long and perhaps not-so-long fits too.
Suit-jacket sleeves are easy to adjust from the hem, ideally you’d try on with an appropriate shirt. Any decent tailor would do it, but you wouldn’t touch a shirt cuff.
[Daphne – Yes, you can shorten shirt sleeves, but it costs almost as much as buying a new shirt: you unpick the cuff, chop a bit off the sleeve, make a new ‘gap’ (that open bit at the end of the sleeve before the cuff begins) and reattach the cuff.]
Kemm tifhem fil-hjata, Daph.
[Daphne – Yes, that’s right. All the women in my family were expected to know how to sew, so I was taught early – around the age of 10. And all the men were expected to know how to fix things and do basic carpentry and wiring and so on. Funny how these aspects of our immediate family environment affect us: I was quite grown-up before I worked out that men are NOT born knowing how to do carpentry and women are NOT born knowing how to sew. And to this day, I still find it weird when a woman tells me that she can’t put up a hem or when a man has to ring a handyman to fix something.]
For some reason I got taught both so I can built my children’s bedroom and have to darn their soft toys each time they tear… Maybe because I had no sisters?
[Daphne – Well, I had no brothers but nobody taught us carpentry.]
Ah, but Daphne, he is not ‘typically Maltese’–his head is as thick as his neck.
That comment is pure gold.
Miss Dalli is another wannabe……..wannabe taller.
Troy, I thought she was a wannabe TerminatriX.
I was taught to judge the virtues not the faults. I think Miriam is lovely.
To further insult the audience, the answers were even written down and one could tell what was going on……… oh so this is Vanessa’s question… let’s see….. and the answer to that question is: ‘…………
With suit-jackets one has no problem. Either they are made to measure or, if off the peg, one has a choice of short [corto] regular or long jackets depending on one’s height.
Suit-jackets also come with what is called in the trade as DROP. Example drop 2, drop 4, drop 6 and drop 8. The smaller the number the fatter round the waist.
Why so surprised, that is what WE do to Dr Gonzi, and I’m sure you’d do the same if you had to interview him yourself. Bet you envy Miriam Dalli for her looks and talent.
[Daphne – The only people I envy, Grace, are those who get to live in peace and quiet far away from Malta and attitudes like yours.]
That’s easier to remedy,go and live far away from Malta and attitudes like mine. I try to see both parties from the same glasses, I don’t use rose tinted glasses for anyone of them, which is more than can be said for you. Still there is still hope for Malta.
[Daphne – If you try to see both parties from the same glasses, that might be why you’re predigest towards the Opposition and predigest against the governing party.]
Grace, I don’t think you use the same glasses at all. In fact I think you’ve had too many glasses – you’re talking of parties after all.
Your parting remark is rather mysterious though: “there is still hope for Malta”. Would that hope be walking around with a perpetual smirk while spouting meaningless statements, perhaps?
Envy?
What talent?
What she does on Super 1?
In the right place she could have gone far, but let’s face it, in Malta there is only so much you can do on TV.
Let’s face it Maltese TV as a rule is terrible. One of the few programmes I really enjoy is Dissett. Presenters are not chosen for their talent OR looks.
Looks are essential for TV presenters in any country but Malta, but here we get – let’s be kind and say average looking people dressed in an open shirt, shorts and flip flops presenting tv shows. You get real geeks presenting shows that should be ‘cool’. And ofcourse all try to imitate foreign counterparts so pitifully – I still vividly remember a Simon Cowell wannabe.
Miriam Dalli has as much talent as the next Super 1 hack, but since she has decent looks, nothing exceptional I might add, her viewers say “ara kemm hi brava din”
Maltese TV studios should really invest in a professional make-up and costume department, and enforce an on-screen dress code!
Talent!! do please explain Grace.
@DCG:so the typical maltese has to hide in shame or acknowledge the superiority of the brits:come off it,we are better endowed in other departments and have lesser problems with the backbone,arthritis,and other joints problems.
[Daphne – Did anyone mention the shape of ‘the brits’? Is this a competition?]
There’s a new addition to the repertoire of Byon Jos, Quintons and Rodnicks at Super One: DERSTON Aquilina. He’s a cameraman on TX.
Another chicken brain leading the discussion on cancer on One: Brian Hansford. He is the typical guy who cannot organise a pissup in a brewery.
He has a panel of experts on cancer, like Stephen Brincat, and instead of allowing him to be heard clearly by the public he insists on his stupid interventions and interruptions saying how goverment ought to do more of this and more of that.
From the comments here, it seems quite evident that we may have a section of the population who is either lost in the old social habit of class-hatred or else is just too partisan to see beyond their blue-tinted blinkers.
Let me make it clear that I used to observe the same sort of blinkered and partisan attitudes on the ‘sur Manwel’ broadcasts on Super One…. At least – keeping all fingers, toes, squiggly bits and sundry appendages crossed – the PL has limited quite drastically the sermons from Sur Manwel Ghallimna.
Trying to abase one’s competitor or rival does not nothing but lower one’s own status… Imagine losing out to people you would have abased and – yes – in many cases hated!
Do not forget that Labour has had to endure being in opposition for what was ascribed to it pre-1987 for, until now, 23 years (bar the famous 20 months).
I thinki it is you Whoa there, who should not forget that the Labour Party has been in opposition for two decades. There must be a reason.
Antoine: If you’d remove yourself from a partisan standpoint and examine the growing decay of the current administration, you’d see that our dear PM is doing at a great job into repeating certain ‘mistakes’ done by those political parties which overstay their mandate.
Don’t take my word for it: Just read and listen what certain Nationalist opinionists, strategists and exponents are saying!
Whoa there, perhaps you do not realise how preposterous you sound when you talk, from your partisan standpoint, about my partisan standpoint.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4387323/JoeM.jpg
That tie must be from the Australian Half Yearly Winter Clearance sales.
From The Times of today, page 49, in one of those obligatory notification publications regarding some court case or other :
“Thus, the applicant prays with respect that this honourable court ….. ”
What next ? Visions of polite trench-coat flashers when we read “Thus, the applicant exposes with respect …. ” ?
errr, excuse me your honour, but I thought you might like to see …. this.
I’m sick of hearing “is-sir” or “il-miss”. As if the word teacher or “ghalliem” have never existed. Could the state schools start teaching the pupils to address their teachers with the respective title (MR MISS MRS) and their surname.
@ Antoine Vella
Context is too important an element to ignore when constructing an argument in my opinion and when someone fails to put one’s arguments into context winds me up a little because it makes the whole argument half baked and hence unfair and untrue. My interventions you are referring to are mostly requests to Daphne to be more contextual in her arguments, that’s all. So get a grip.
il-lejburist, if anyone should get a grip it’s you. Labour is again being led in the dark by another no-good leader, led in this abyss by no other than the good-for-nothing Inspector Gadget who I heard is at the moment not a popular person with the Labour elite.
I have no objection having you express your feelings on this blog (unless DCG thinks otherwise) but please do be realistic!
In one of Dale Carnegie’s books, I remember reading about Al Capone, as saying, that, instead of condemning himself, he was an unappreciated and misunderstood public benefactor.
I guess that every time after Dr. Muscat speaks he tells his party,” I don’t see how I could have done any differently from what I have”, which was what Taft said when blamed by Roosevelt for his silly mistakes and for the most disastrous defeat the party had ever known in 1908.